Lacey, Josh. The Sultan’s Tigers.

Lacey, Josh.  The Sultan’s Tigers.  Houghton Mifflin/Harcourt Brace  2013  298p  $16.99  ISBN 978-0-544-09645-5  ms  Mystery/Detective  VG-BN

The Sultan’s Tigers is the second volume in a quirky action adventure series about young Tom Trelawney and his thieving Uncle Harvey as they embark on a new globe-trotting adventure in India to recover family treasure.   Tom and Harvey are thrown together by a family funeral, during which Tom is still grounded for his participation in the adventures of the previous volume, The Island of Thieves.  Left alone in his grandfather’s house while the rest of the family goes out to dinner, Tom is roughed up by thieves searching for clues to a rajah’s golden treasure.  The thieves flee when unexpectedly interrupted, but continue to follow Tom and Harvey on their adventures.

The action-packed plot, with its unbelievable (but engaging) twists and interesting characters, results in a nonstop page-turner that will satisfy the expectations of readers looking for a fun swashbuckling tale filled with danger, treasure-hunting, and thieves, plus a small glimpse of India thrown in for spectacle.  Tom hasn’t changed much since his last adventure.  Unrepentant, amoral, and easy-going, he looks after himself while Harvey pursues a fling with an itinerant tourist.  Too much action takes place for characters to be fully developed, but the banter between uncle and nephew is amusing.  It is Lacey’s gift for humor that tempers the recurring violence throughout the book and keeps readers turning pages (although they may also be drawn by the lure of lost treasure and a string of unbelievable risks, coincidences, double-crosses and escapes).

Summary: Tom and his Uncle Harvey set off for India to find the family treasure.  But they are not the only ones looking for it. 

Adventure-Fiction                                                 --Hilary Welliver

Lacey, Josh. Island of Thieves.

Lacey, Josh.      Island of Thieves.      Houghton Mifflin  228p  $15.99      978-0-547-76327-9 elm/ms            VG      Realistic fiction

Both boys and girls will enjoy this adventure, which begins when Tom sets fire to the shed outside his family home.  Neighbors who have previously watched Tom when his parents took vacations decline to do so for the first time, and Uncle Harvey reluctantly offers to “baby sit”.  An incomplete diary alluding to hidden treasure that Harvey finds on a trip to Peru sparks the interest of both uncle and nephew, and instead of staying in New York, they set out for adventures unknown.  Author Lacey uses humor, sinister Mafioso-type characters, a fast-paced writing style, and lots of action to win over his readers.  As it turns out, Uncle Harvey is not a particularly scrupulous guy, having sold a fake painting to one of Peru’s most notorious criminals, Otto Gonzalez.  To save himself (and Tom!) Harvey shows Otto his treasure map, and they negotiate a deal.  Harvey’s survival instincts set in, and he manages to escape Otto’s control, with Tom in tow.  What the two discover at a farmhouse in a remote part of Peru is simply amazing!  Pages and pages of notes written by Sir Francis Drake’s brother are everywhere, as wallpaper, wall stuffing and even toilet paper!  The resourceful Tom deciphers the notes to discover the whereabouts of a tremendous treasure, on the Island of Thieves off the coast of Peru.  In a finale reminiscent of exciting pirate days of old, Uncle Harvey, Tom, and Otto come to blows.  The climax is certain to please young readers who are looking for a fast-thinking protagonist, lots of sinister types, and danger.  Lacey certainly knows how to interest his audience and will undoubtedly continue to find success as a writer for children and/or young adults.         

This book is a very good choice for the elementary-school and middle-school reader who likes a good story with both humor and action!

Hidden treasure–Fiction, Adventure                                                       -- Martha Squaresky