Alex and the Ironic Gentlemen Review

    I read the book Alex and the Ironic Gentlemen by Adrienne Kress. It was published by Weinstein Books. The theme of the book is that you can never escape the past.  You need to face what happened and you can’t do anything about it. I think the book was funny in the way the author wrote it. She wanted you to have a laugh while you were reading. There are parts of it are serious too.
    The book starts out by telling you about Alex. She lives with her uncle who owns a shop that sells only doorknobs. She goes to school at Wigpowder-Steele Academy. She likes learning, but she doesn’t like having to wear a uniform to school each day. She doesn’t really like the teachers there, because she thinks their mean. She only likes her P.E. Teacher, Mr. Underwood. He eventually comes to live with Alex and her Uncle because his house is burned down by the Wigpowders. They burned down his house because he knows of treasure that is in the town. He moved there so he could get his family’s treasure and take it back from the Wigpowders. He has tried to keep it a secret that he is the true heir to the treasure.
    Alex went to a museum in the town she lives that is run by the Da. The elder woman that was guarding the museum asked her where her adult was and Alex told her that she was going to meet her adult there. When the woman left her alone she went into a secret room that was in the museum to see what was in there. She left the room and she thought she had gotten away with sneaking around. Then the people from the Daughter’s of the Founding Father’s Preservation Society went into the secret room that they were only allowed in. They found Alex’s toothbrush and they made Alex stay there and give them wine that belonged to the museum and do other strange tasks.
    When Alex gets back home she finds out that someone had pushed over a self of doorknobs and it landed on her uncle, killing him. The Ironic Gentlemen is a group of pirates that kidnapped Mr. Underwood and accidentally killed Alex’s uncle in the process. At the time Alex didn’t know who it was that kidnapped Mr. Underwood. The Ironic Gentlemen kidnapped Mr. Underwood so they could find out where the treasure is. She has to fight off pirates and save Mr. Underwood. Can she do it? Read the book to find out.
    Alex is a girl that doesn’t get along well with her peers and she is a tomboy. Mr. Underwood is a nice teacher that has a family secret that haunts him. Alex’s uncle was a nice person that cared for Alex after her parents.
    The author wrote this book because she wanted to entertain you. The book has some parts that are very funny and you can get a good laugh from them. Other parts are serious and makes you think about what is going to happen next and it leaves in suspense. A lot of the book is leaned towards making you laugh.
    Do you think that Mr. Underwood knew he would be kidnapped if he came back to the town with the treasure? Do you think that Alex was hurting more about her uncle dying than she showed? Do you think that Alex will have more fun with Mr. Underwood after this experience?
    I liked this book. I thought it was funny and I got a good laugh in some parts of the book. Other parts really made you think about the characters and what was going in the book. The book isn’t realistic and it seems like the events in this book would never happen in real life. They are far-fetched and I think that was the author’s intent.
    Alex gasped, then covered her mouth. It all made perfect sense. These men weren’t kidnapping a sixth-grade teacher, they were kidnapping the heir to a pirate fortune!. Mr. Underwood had been captured by Steele’s men! They had finally succeeded. Well then, there was only one thing she could do. She would just have to rescue him. Somehow, and the task struck her as virtually impossible, she would have to track down the Ironic Gentlemen.
     I think this is the most important passage in the book because it tells you what Alex’s goal is and what she needs to do. It clarifies who kidnapped Mr. Underwood. You know that Alex is going to have a near impossible task to complete. It makes you want to read on to see how Alex approaches this goal.
    The book has parts where its funny and other parts that are serious. The author really does a good job of entertaining you and making you want to keep reading the book. There is suspense and action which keeps you interested in reading. I thought that book was good and was funny and serious at times.

Halloween 3 Season of the Witch Book Review

I read Halloween III Season of the Witch by Jack Martin. It was published by Jove Horror. I think that the theme of this book is that things aren’t always how they seem. I think that the storyline of this book was good, but it was hard to keep track of the book. The author wrote it in a very confusing way. 

Harry Grimbridge was being chased by strange people wearing business suits. He collapsed when he was a a filling station and he was holding a Silver Shamrock jack-o’-lantern mask. He had to go to the hospital where Dr. Dan Challis was taking care of him and watching him while he is staying in the hospital. While he is in the hospital another man is a suit comes into the room where he is staying. The man in the suit kills Harry and he goes into the garage where his car was. He had his car ready to burst into flames when he was ready. He activated the car and he killed himself.

Harry’s daughter Ellie was curious about her father’s death. Ellie and Dr. Challis began to investigate the death of Harry. They went to the town of Santa Mira, California which is the mask factory was. The hotel manager in Santa Mira told them the reason the town was doing well was because of Conal Cochran and the mask factory that he owned. Ellie later learns that her dad stayed at the same hotel that they were staying at. Some of the other people staying at that hotel are shop owners that did business with the mask factory. All the shop owners get killed by the men in suits. They all have something to do with Silver Shamrock masks or the men in suits. 

Dr. Challis get a tour of the factory with some of the people that work there. When the tour was over, they went outside and noticed that the men in suits were surround Ellie’s car. When they get back to the hotel, they try to get in contact with their friends at home, but they find out they can’t talk to anyone that isn’t staying at the hotel. The men I suits kidnap Ellie, and Challis finds out and begins to think of ways to find her and get her back home safely. Challis breaks into the factory so he can save Ellie. He finds out that all of the men in suits are robots that were made by Conal Cochran. All of the Silver Shamrock masks have a chip in them. The company was going to air a commercial that would kill anyone that was wearing any of the hats made by them. They would release a deadly group of snakes and insects killing the people in the masks. 

Dr. Challis was a brave person that cared for Ellie and her family. He wanted to make sure that she was safe. Ellie was a curious person. Her curiosity almost got her killed, so I think that she would be more cautious if she could redo everything. Conal Cochran is a very mean and evil person that was responsible for the deaths of many people. 

Jack Martin wrote this book to frighten you. I think that he achieved his goal, because I thought that the book was scary and very suspenseful. He could have done a better job on making the storyline clearer. It was pretty easy to get lost and not know what was happening. 

What do you think encouraged Conal Cochran to kill all those people?

How do you think the town of Santa Mira would be different in the factory wasn’t there?

How do you think the Ellie and Dr. Challis changed after the events in the story?

I think that the book was very confusing. The storyline was good, but the author could have done a much better job at making the events clearer than he did. Some of the character seem like they could be real but other don’t seem real at all. 

For a split second the tiny flame lit the underside of the man’s smooth, perfect face. His close-cropped head turned so that he was looking directly at Challis from the center of a corona of light. With no expression whatsoever. 

This is an important paragraph because it is the events right after the first death in the book. It was the murderer getting away with what he did. You find out later that he was a robot and that he felt no pain and he burn the car just to destroy himself. 

I think that the book was confusing to read, but the storyline was good. If the author would have done a better job of explaining the storyline, it would have been a very good book. On a scale of one-to-ten I would give this book a 5 because it was very confusing. 

The Omen Book Review

    I read The Omen by David Seltzer. It was published by Signet Books. The lesson in this book is that you should be careful for what you sign up for. I thought that this was a very good and interesting book.

    Jeremy Thorne is the American ambassador to England. He is a man who loves his wife Katherine very much. Katherine is a very loving wife who wants to have a child badly. She wants to take care of a baby of her own. Katherine gets pregnant and has a baby. While the doctors are cleaning the baby, it dies. Jeremy goes to talk to the doctor. The doctor tell him that he could take another baby that was beautiful and had its mother die. Thorne takes the child and raises him as his own. They named the baby Damien.
    On Damien’s forth birthday his nanny, Chessa, hangs herself for Damien. Shortly afterward a new nanny named Mrs. Baylock comes to replaces her. Father Tassone (who was one of the father’s at Damien’s birth) warns Thorne that Damien is the antichrist and that he must be killed. Father Tassone tells him that Damien will kill an unborn child and eventually kill Katherine. During a storm a pole falls on Father Tassone while he is trying to seek shelter and it kills him instantly.
    A photographer by the name of Jennings starts noticing strange things on the photograph the people that have died. Jennings felt that Jeremy had some problems and decided to help him find the truth about Damien. Jennings and Thorne go to the hospital in Rome where Damien was born. They discover that all of the records were destroyed in a fire. They see Father Spiletto who was burned completely on one side to see if he could tell them anything. They ask him what they should do to find out that Damien is the antichrist. He spells out the word “Cervet.” They find out it means that they should go to a cemetery to see what happened to the mother of Damien. They find the skeleton of a jackal. They then look in the grave of Jeremy and Katherine’s baby. They find out that Jeremy’s baby was murdered so Damien could take his place. They start to realize that there is something different about Damien. Jeremy calls Katherine right away to tell her to leave London and to stay away from Damien.
    While Katherine is in the hospital Mrs. Baylock come in and pushes her out a window. She land on an ambulance and dies instantly. Jeremy and Jennings go to Israel to see Bugenhagen, who is obsessed with the murder of the antichrist. He gives Thorne seven daggers. The first one while only kill the body of the antichrist and the other six will destroy the soul. He tells Thorne that the antichrist will have a birthmark with three sixes. Thorne leaves Megiddo and throws the dagger claiming that he won’t kill an innocent child. Jennings goes to retrieve the daggers. While he is picking them up and truck brake goes out and starts rolling back. A piece of glass flies off the truck and decapitates Jennings.
    Do you think Damien knows who he is?
    Do you think Mrs. Baylock is sent from hell to watch over Damien?
    Why do you think that is takes all seven daggers to destroy the antichrist?
    I thought that the book was very suspenseful. It will always leave you guessing what will happhen next. It is very mysterious. All the character seem like something that could actually happen.
    From Page 141
    Thorne read the verse’ “The beast has a human number. The number the beast bears is six hundred and sixty-six.” He looked at Jennings and asked, “What does this have to do with my son.”
    Jennings answered, “If he has the number somewhere on his body, we know he is the beast.

    This paragraph tell what Thorne must look for to see if Damien is the antichrist. If Damien has that mark he is the antichrist. If he doesn’t he is a normal child. The mark will determine everything.

    I thought that it was a very god book and that anyone who like horror or suspense would love reading this book. Remember that you don’t always know what you are signing up for. It may seem like a good idea at the time but think about your future. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

Holocaust book review

    I read the book Holocaust by Gerald Green. It was published by Bantam Books. The theme of the story is to never give up and try to succeed in life. I thought the book was very graphic and it shows you what it was like during the Holocaust if you were a Jewish person.
   
        A German Jew, Karl Weiss, is getting married to Christian, Inga Helms. His father, Dr. Josef Weiss, is a well-known doctor in Germany. Josef has a wife named Berta, another son named Rudi, a young daughter named Anna, and a brother named Moses. The story also follows a Nazi officer named Erik Dorf. He is promoted to lieutenant in 1939.
    Dr. Josef Weiss is forced to stop treating patients because he is a Jew. There are riots and Rudi’s grandparent are forced out of their home. A Nazi officer hits him in the head with the but of his gun because he wanted him to March for the Nazis. Dr. Weiss and his brother, Moses, are forced to go back to Poland. Right after Dr. Weiss leaves Karl Weiss is taken to a prison for Jews. Inga tried to convince the officer that he did nothing wrong and that he was just an artist. After Karl, Josef, and Moses are taken away, Inga takes care of the Weiss family. Soon after, Rudi runs away to Berlin and then goes to Czechoslovakia. When he gets there he meets a girl named Helena Slomova. Her family went there because they were trying to get away from the fighting.
    After getting to Czechoslovakia Helena and Rudi get caught. Helena gets killed, but Rudi escapes during an uprising. Having no one or no where to go, he travels Europe in search of his family. Moses Weiss finds out that the S.S. are planning to kill all of the Jews that are present in Europe. He starts a resistance movement. They start winning the battles, but the S.S. discovers where they are hiding. They get them out with gas and shoot the all dead.
    Inga one day decides that she would rather be with Karl, then have her freedom. Karl is threatened to hard physical labor.

    I thought that this book was very good and that it painted a good picture of the Holocaust. It showed an amazing story of a Jewish boy’s life during the late 1930s and early 1940s. You always want to turn to the next page and see what happens next. It is full of suspense.
    The book will make anyone more aware of the Holocaust. The book has an amazing storyline. It shows the story from a German Nazi and a young Jewish boy. It shows the points of view from both of them. The German Nazi thinks they are doing good for Europe and the world. The young Jewish boy shows his point of view by telling how much he think the government of Germany is corrupted.

Scorpia Rising Book Review

    I read the book Alex Rider: Scorpia Rising by Anthony Horowitz. It was published by Philomel. The theme of the story is that you can never escape the past. I thought that the book was action packed and a good book for anyone who like suspense.

    Scorpia is a criminal organization that specializes in murdering or capturing innocent people. Alex Rider had defeated them two times in the past and they wanted to get back at him. They were holding an executive meeting to discuss what they were going to do to him. They decided to have a vote on who agreed with killing on of their men and throwing them into the lake. The vote was unanimous except for one person who had been with Scorpia since the beginning of the organization. He said that he wasn’t going to be the person that was killed. He pulled a gun on Razim, another one of the executives, and he was shot by a sniper that had been waiting for the moment to happen. They put his dead body in the freezer so it would stay fresh. When they were ready to use him they thawed out his body. They threw his body into the river hoping that MI6 would find it.
    MI6 did find it and tried to find out some things about him. They found an iPhone in a pocket that was in his shirt. They saw that something was to take place at Cairo College where a lot of rich kids go to school. Scorpia actually used this as a trap so they could get MI6 to assign Alex Rider to another job and finally get their revenge. MI6 had actually said that they were never going to use Alex Rider in a mission again. Alan Blunt, who is the head of the MI6, was the person who originally recruited Alex into the MI6 a year earlier. Alex at the time was only fourteen years old. MI6 had used them in many missions and he always came out alive. Every time he was used as the element of surprise. His last mission had been in Kenya. He was involved in stopping a celebrity, Desmond McCain, from causing mass chaos around the world with his poison dome in the Greenfield’s facility. He ended up kill McCain in the end and suffered some bad burns from jet fuel.
    Alex, who was now fifteen and had grown a lot since his first mission with MI6, was enjoying his time as a normal school kid. Scorpia heard about a clone that looked exactly like Alex. His name was Julius. He hated Alex more than anyone else on the planet. He was locked up in the most secure prison in the world. There were only seven prisoners in the prison. They were the most dangerous criminals on the planet. Each one was either a murderer or insane. Scorpia helped him break out of the prison as long as he helped them get rid of Alex Rider. They had to fake his death so that no one would suspect Scorpia to be doing anything out of the ordinary. They took Julius and kept him hidden. One day Alex went to school then a sniper shot the desk he was sitting at and Alex made everyone get down. His best friend, Tom Harris, got shot in the process of all this. He went chasing after the sniper and when the sniper got into a helicopter Alex made it crash into a river. When he got home, his guardian, Jack Starbright, found out what happened that day at school. They had no idea who to go to and MI6 found out about the shooting and called Jack. Alan Blunt and Mrs. Jones then came over to their house to discuss what they were going to do to keep Alex safe. Alan Blunt mentioned that Cairo College may be under threat by Scorpia. He said that Alex could go over to Egypt and register as a student at Cairo College. Alex went over to Egypt and he began to make friends and find out about the new head of security of Cairo College.
    That night, his friend Smithers, who was also a spy, arrived at the apartment building that Alex and Jack were staying in. He told him what he was going to do and why he was there with Alex. Alex went into his office one day and he found three pictures and a gun. He left the room remembering what the pictures were. He told Jack and Smithers about the pictures. Smithers was more suspicious than Jack was. One day after school Alex, followed Erik Gunter, the new head of security, until he lead Alex to a souvenir shop called the House of Gold. Gunter went into a secret room where one of the world’s biggest illegal gun makers was waiting for him to buy a gun from him. He looked at the gun he was trying to sell him and Gunter shot the gun maker and ran out of the shop. Once Gunter was out of the shop, there was an explosion that sunk the boat that was the store. Jack was chasing one of the people that was associated with Scorpia. The person lead her away from Alex and she then went back to the apartment. Alex asked Jack what had happened with the person that she was chasing. The next day when Alex came home from school he went to see Smithers. When he went to see Smithers a delivery man came to the apartment door. Smithers had an x-ray machine outside the door and he looked at the man’s x-ray which showed there was nothing in the box and that he had a gun on him. Smithers got rid of him, but then a whole bunch of people from Scorpia came and chased them all around. Smithers got away by getting out of a fat suit that he had been wearing for the past ten years which made him look different. Alex then went home and he notice a note on the closet door. It stated that he had to go to a certain place or Jack was going to be killed. He went to where he was told to go. When he got there he met Julius for the second time ever. Julius told Alex that he was going to get what he had been wanted for a long time. He took him down Razim’s house to have dinner. Razim had a cigarette and finished the pack after that. He set the pack on the table. After dinner Jack snuck out a fruit knife from the dining room. The next day Alex was going to get tortured by Razim and Julius.
    I thought that the book as a whole was very good. All the character go together very well. Alex is brave, as he has always been. Jack is protective over Alex and doesn’t want him to get hurt at all. Once again, Alan Blunt uses him even when he said he was done.
    The plot is action packed like every book in the. It is will make you want to keep one reading the whole time. I think almost anyone would love the plot.
    The theme of the story that Anthony Horowitz is trying to get across is to that you can never escape your past. This means that no matter what you do to forget the past, it can always come back to bite you.
    It think that Alex Rider: Scorpia Rising is one of the best books I have ever read. It is a great conclusion to the Alex Rider series. I give the book 5 out of 5 stars.
    This book is an action-packed and suspense filled book that almost anyone would love to read. Its a great book for teenagers and young adults. I loved this book and I encourage anyone to read it.