I'm A Sucker For a Great Book - YA or Not!

(From one of the lost letters

of Hingrit Grim)

http://seanjquirk.weebly.com/excerpts.html

"What a truly fascinating world

 we have been introduced to. 

There are plants and animals that exist here

 which even the most imaginative minds

 could not conceive of. 

I received my first lesson today at the helm

 of one of these magnificent beasts.

 Skittish yet willful, they present many

 challenges I hope to overcome. 

I have not received a response 

to my last two letters. I hope

 this one finds you so that I may 

finally hear word that you are alright..."

The Betrayals of
  Grim's Peak


By Sean J. Quirk
(note several links to Author's site where there's
great stuff for the kids!)




I normally enjoy reading and reviewing YA books! Especially when they are creative and full of imagination! Reading all of my life has been a pleasure and I'm happy to share my thoughts on books for the young, hoping they'll catch that love of reading early...

The Betrayals of Grim's Peak is a title that tells you little about what is it about! So, let me say that Grim's Peak is the location of the majority of the novel...

And it is located entirely underwater, maybe somewhere near where you live!

The thing that impressed me most about the world that Quirk has created is that it is "not" magical--it is instead a creative, wonderfully designed imaginative place that "could" exist if some of us decided to move under water. Well, maybe some of the characters are fantasy, but pay attention to the accommodations for travel, the use of the local creatures of the sea harnessed to, for instance, act as taxis, and you'll realize just how much thought has been put into this wondrous world! Wouldn't it be wonderful to walk out the door of your home and automatically be in the water, ready to go wherever you wanted? And use a hippocamp (think horse) to ride!

Augie Tomlin is the main character...He was "found" by his parents along the beach near where they lived and they took him in as their son--but he is soooo much more!

But somebody knew he was there--and what he possessed! And when he was 14, they came after him! Who are they? You'll have to find out, but they are ugggggly! Fortunately, he was saved by a young girl...and her dragon... (Ok, I already told you that there was some fantasy with the characters...LOL)

Now, imagine, a boy who had never learned to swim, suddenly being taken deep underwater, to learn about his birth, his parents, and what he was to do to save Grim's Peak! And to do that, they had to discover the secrets of the past going back to the time when Hingrit Grim first came!

I loved the adventure and everything else about this book. It is definitely a book that will entice your young sons and daughters as well--after all, how many girls have a dragon (actually a drac) all their own? And wait until Augie gets to ride "Red..."

Have your children check out the site and verify their interest...But I reallllly think this is one you won't want your children to miss...don't know the official age but, say, 8-10 and up to 99 should cover those interested if they love fun, fantasy and finding themselves in deep, deep water! Highly recommended!

GABixlerReviews

Well...I am a writer. I love the process, although I could do without those days where you just want to bang your head against a wall hoping to jar something loose; a single idea; a word ... something ... anything to get the cogs of creativity rolling once again so I can find my way through the maze, and let the characters take me where they please ... 
My new books, CATCH and THE BETRAYALS OF GRIM'S PEAK are out, and I'm hoping you guys will like them. 
Catch has a kick-ass editor (Pat LoBrutto), who has won the World Fantasy Award for editing, and is the current editor on the DUNE books.
I have one book in the works. It is titled Remedy, and while it is related to Catch, it is not a sequel because it actually occurs during the same timeline and involves a mostly new cast of characters.
The other is The Betrayals of Grim's Peak, which is a Young Adult crossover centered around a hidden world located deep beneath the ocean.