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Alex Neptune: Zombie Fighter by David Owen – Blog Tour Book Review
About the Book
When a creepy fog rolls into Haven Bay, Alex, Zoey and Anil are ambushed by terrifying crab-riding zombies, controlled by the evil spirit of Brineblood the pirate.
The only weapon that can stop Brineblood’s zombie army is a powerful trident – but it’s been broken into three pieces. Alex, Zoey and Anil must enter three deadly worlds that have been magically trapped in bottles to retrieve the hidden pieces, all before the zombies can catch them. But with some penguins, an octopus and a frozen dragon on their side, how can they go wrong?
About the Author
Having worked as a freelance games journalist and taught on a BA Creative Writing course for three years, David Owen’s debut novel, Panther, was longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, and was followed by three further highly acclaimed YA novels. Alex Neptune is his first series for younger readers, born of his love for nail-biting heists, fantastical monsters and heartfelt friendships.
Instagram – https://instagram.com/davidowenauthor
What I Thought
Book 1 Review – Alex Neptune: Dragon Thief – https://kirstyes.co.uk/2022/08/03/alex-neptune-dragon-thief-by-david-owen-blog-tour-book-review/
Book 2 Review – Alex Neptune: Pirate Hunter – Alex Neptune: Pirate Hunter by David Owen – Blog Tour Author Interview and Book Review
Book 3 Review – Alex Neptune: Monster Avenger
Monster Avenger is my favourite book of the series to date. In it a parasite is infecting all the ocean creatures starting with Loaf the seal and there’s evidence that the Water Dragon is losing its battle with the infection and the results of that would be catastrophic.
Alex, Zoey and Anil get a distress call from new friend Meri and go in search of them, the missing baby dragon and a cure for the infection.
Then we take a very Inner Space like journey into the belly of the dragon, and its heart, lungs etc in order to administer the cure. As well as deadly stomach acid there are more foes lurking inside to keep them from their goal. There was also a highly entertaining Tarzan of the Jungle type scene featuring mucus vines!! (Spoilers for this book will feature in the book 4 review below).
Book 4 Review – Alex Neptune: Zombie Fighter
With Zoey and Anil having been gifted water magic Alex is no longer alone but instead finds himself in the role of teacher, while he is still coming to terms with the power himself.
But there is not much time for lessons when a mysterious fog and the mysterious clicking noise it contains rolls over Haven Bay and the safety of the town is once again threatened.
The zombie crabs are after Brineblood’s skull and after previously deciding that Argosy was not trustworthy enough to hold onto the skull his house is a last refuge to keep it from a greater evil.
Faced with a frozen water dragon it is up to the three fledgling magic holders to locate three trident prongs that when reunited would have the power to save them all.
What follows is a portal adventure and treasure hunt featuring volcanos, floods, penguins, monsters and some people who may not be what they seem.
The loss of the water dragon to icecubeness in this one drives Alex, Zoey and Anil to work together and learn from each other to achieve their goals.
As with the other books I really enjoy how the kids aren’t completely on their own with this and benefit from ongoing help from family and a variety of sea creatures. Alex’s Grandpa and sister Bridget are also excellent human characters to have along for the ride.
This is such an enjoyable series. Fast paced and action packed with an undercurrent of climate change/protect our oceans messaging that weaves into the plot smoothly.
Book 5 Review – Alex Neptune: Dragon Champion
Zombie Fighter’s ending has set – 2025 release Dragon Champion – up to be an epic concluding battle to a very fun series and is a book I will definitely be on my anticipated reads list for next year.
Huge thanks to Bee at Kaleidoscopic Tours and the publisher Usborne for the gifted copy for the purposes of an honest review. Do go check out the rest of the tour stops too.
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The Midnight Switch by Samuel J Halpin – Blog Tour Extract and Giveaway
About the Book
A spooky, quirky adventure of curses and magic, perfect for fans of Malamander and A Place Called Perfect.
When Lewis’s family moves to a faraway town called Barrow, he can’t quite put his finger on what feels so strange about his new home. Everyone is obsessed with superstition, and an old story about floods and witches and a curse, while a mysterious bird watches his every move.
Then his family friend Moira arrives to stay. Only, there’s something peculiar about Moira too. She doesn’t know where she’s from, or even when she’s from, and strange things happen around her. Lewis and Moira are determined to figure out what’s going on in Barrow, but as they unravel secret symbols, riddles and stories of a midnight curse, they find that there might be some truth in the old town tales.
Time is running out, before magic switches up everything they know…
About the Author
Born in Tasmania with Irish roots, Samuel J. Halpin writes daily. Having studied journalism at the University of New South Wales, Samuel went on to take cinematography at AFTRS, the national Australian film school in Sydney before moving to London and working in comedy TV production. His children’s books are his answer to a childhood raised on a hodgepodge of fairy tales, crowded bookshelves and cups of hot chocolate.
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/samueljhalpin
Instagram:
https://instagram.com/samueljhalpin
Giveaway
Can you break the riddle and stop the curse:
My first sounds like a body of water.
My second is in STORIES but not TALES or FICTION.
My third is LORE but not LEGEND nor REALITY.
My last is what starts it flying.
Post your answer on my The Midnight Switch Instagram story which will be pinned on my profile until the giveaway closes on Friday 3rd November.
Extract
In the meantime read chapter one here!
Huge thanks to Bee at Kaleidoscopic Tours and the Publisher Usborne for the gifted copy. I will be adding my review to this post when I have read. Follow along with the rest of the tour too.
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The Spirit Snatcher by Cat Gray – Blog Tour Book Review
About the Book
Welcome to Elbow Alley, home of the most monstrous mystery…
Pip was not expecting his new neighbours to be vampires, banshees and ghosts. Worst of all is the mysterious spirit snatcher, which appears out of nowhere and sucks away people’s personalities. When it attacks Pip’s parents, the only way to save them is to find and destroy it. But no one knows who it is…
Along with his new friend Fliss and her dog Splodge, Pip sets out to investigate, facing murderous ghouls, werewolf attacks and a dangerously mouldy cheese. Because if he and Fliss can’t stop the creature by their thirteenth birthdays, they’ll be spirit-snatched too.
About the Author
Cat Gray is an author and journalist, based in London and Ireland. She started her journalism career at the age of 19, interviewing musicians and celebrities in between attending classes, then went on to be an editor at a series of glossy magazines, including Harper’s Bazaar and Town & Country.
Since she was very young, she’s always believed that there’s an adventure just around the corner, and this is reflected in her magical fantasy stories.
Twitter: http://twitter.com/_catgray
Instagram: http://instagram.com/cat.gray
What I Thought
Another wonderful magical tale by Cat Gray and this one is perfect for Spooky Season. I really enjoyed following Pip, and his new friend Fliss, along on their adventure. But the whole of Elbow Alley was full of interesting ghouls, vampires, banshees, werewolves and much more. We are presented a smorgasbord of unique characters. Even Pip’s very human parents are flamboyant – until they are not.
A spirit snatcher has targeted the new kid on the block but he isn’t eligible for spirit snatching until he turns 13 on Halloween. But a monster has to eat in the meantime – and what better way to get parents out of the way of an adventure than to make them the reason for the adventure to occur.
The mystery was fun, spooky and sometimes a bit scary but when you have a dog called Splodge on your side what can’t you face?
Really hoping that we get to hear more from Pip, Fliss and all the other residents of Elbow Alley – and if you spy any secret streets in London beware there may be magical folks living there that don’t take too kindly to outsiders.
Huge thanks to Bee at Kaleidoscopic Tours and the publisher Usborne for the gifted copy for the purposes of an honest review. As ever pop along to everyone else’s blog to see what they thought too.
kirstyes 