Opinions of a Wolf

Summary:
Brother/sister duo Ryan and Regan are back only this time they’re officially part of the team of scientists working in the top-secret alien city discovered deep underground in Pennsylvania.  They rush off every day after school to work in the city of Prometheus.  One weekend they convince their parents to let them sleep over in the city, only to wake up to discover all of the adults captured by a ruthless alien escaped convict whose mind control abilities mysteriously fail to work on the kids.  It’s up to them to save not just the adults, but the earth itself from alien rule.

Review:
This follow-up to The Prometheus Project: Trapped (review) brings even more action and science than the first time around.  It’s also a longer length that is more suitable for the older middle grade crowd.

Ryan and Regan’s relationship with each other has progressed from sibling tolerance to a level of respect for each other clearly due to working together in the city.  It’s nice to see a healthy sibling relationship modeled in a middle grade book.

Again the plot fooled me with a twist ending I didn’t see coming, but that made perfect sense when it was revealed.  This is the sort of thing I’d have loved as a middle grade reader.  A mystery that manages to out-wit me without playing any tricks.

The villain is threatening without being too frightening.  Although the kids’ parents are held captive, no undue violence is shown.  Predominantly the scientists are held with plastic ties on their wrists and a simple verbal threat of “do this or else….”  It seems an appropriate level of suspense for the age-range.  The enemy is formidable, but it is possible to out-wit him.

Although the science, plot, and characters are strong, something just couldn’t let me jump from liking it a lot to loving it.  Perhaps this is because I am out of the age-range intended, but it does seem to me as though sometimes the story expects a bit too little of the young reader enjoying it.  I hope in future books that Richards challenges young readers a bit more with the writing in addition to the science.

Overall, this is another strong entry in this middle grade series.  I firmly believe the series will keep young readers with an interest in scifi and secret government operations happily engaged while parents and guardians can have peace of mind about what they are reading.

4 out of 5 stars

Source:  Won copy in exchange for my honest review from the author via LibraryThing

Previous Books in Series:
The Prometheus Project: Trapped, review

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