Necropolis by Anthony Horowitz

Four of the Five have been found and have come together in Peru. Just as they are about to leave the country to go off in search of the Fifth, they are attacked and their plans are thrown awry, forcing Matt to make decisions he would rather not have to make. Should he keep them all together or should he split them up? It seems whatever he does is doomed to fail. What use is finding the Fifth if the rest of the group is scattered to the winds? Meanwhile the Fifth, Scarlett, is fighting a destiny she does not yet know is hers while she tries to figure out what’s wrong with the world.

Necropolis is the fourth book in The Power of Five series. Again, this book shifts perspective as Scarlett is introduced and her tale is told. In itself, this wouldn’t have been a problem, but Horowitz not only switches between perspectives but sometimes goes backwards and forwards in time. This gets a little irritating as much of it seems repetitive. The story loses continuity and I can’t help but feel that it’s as if he wasn’t paying much attention to the book while he was writing it. It’s as if he had too many other things to think about to concentrate on making the novel a really good one. Almost as if he’s frankly just tired of writing the series and wants to get it over with so he can move on.

Having said that, it’s still a pretty good story and younger readers will certainly like it. Personally I don’t think it’s as good as the last two so it only gets 3 out of 5 from me.

Evil Star and Nightrise by Anthony Horowitz

These are the second and third books in the Power of Five series by Anthony Horowitz. I reviewed the first, Raven’s Gate not all too long ago. Although I don’t really feel either of these books warrants a blog entry a piece, I will say that they are much better than Raven’s Gate. Raven’s Gate felt like it never really got off the ground, but Evil Star and Nightrise were both what I was expecting for the series. I did like Evil Star just a bit better than Nightrise, but I think that’s because of the switch in characters. Just as you were feeling comfortable with Matt, Nightrise takes you somewhere different. However, that’s not to say that Nightrise isn’t worth the read, it just foreshadows lots of change for the series.

Evil Star is the continuation of Matt’s story. Just when he thinks it’s all over and can resume his life, he’s whisked away to Peru to try and prevent the second gate from opening.

Nightrise is the story of two twin brothers, Scott and Jamie, who are performing on stage in Reno, Nevada with their mind reading trick, only there is no trick. They really can read each other’s minds. That is their power as given to them as two of the five. Scott and Jamie must flee for their lives when men from the Nightrise corporation come for them. They don’t know it yet, but Nightrise is their greatest enemy and they will do anything to get their hands on the boys for reasons Scott and Jamie have yet to understand.

None of these will ever be my favourite YA books, but they are a good read none the less. Maybe I would be more enthusiastic if I were in the target age range, but I still think they’d take a back seat to books like Harry Potter or the Bartimaeous Trilogy. Still, I can recommend them as a good, light read to anyone who likes the magic genre. 3 out of 5.

Raven’s Gate by Anthony Horowitz

Matt Freeman lost his parents when he was 8 years old. Ever since, his life has gone downhill. He aunt allows him to live with her, but doesn’t like him, he hooks up with the low life little brother of career thief and his school work starts to suffer. Then, one evening, he is caught stealing DVDs with his new best friend, who then stabs the security guard and then blames it on Matt. Matt is given one more chance to get his life back on track, the New Leaf Program. He is taken off to live with an elderly lady in the depths of Scotland, out of the tempting reach of criminal life in the big city. Only this old lady is not what she seems to be, and neither is Matt.

I had purchased Necromancer in an Audible sale without realizing that it was the 4th book in The Power of Five series, so I decided to go back and read the others first. Raven’s Gate is the first and sets up the story line for the rest of the books. There’s a little magic, a lot of stealthy mystery and sinister happenings but little proof of anything. Anyone trying to help Matt simply dies in a convenient accident before they can really do anything for him. Matt is alone and must learn to help himself.

I was a little disappointed in this one. I like a lot Anthony Horowitz’s work and assumed that this would be his usual high quality writing, but it just lacked something. You never really connect with the characters, possibly because you just keep expecting something more of them that’s constantly foreshadowed, but never comes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good story, just not a great one. I will however, continue to read the series because, not only do I already own book 4, but I want to see where he takes it and if it gets better as it goes along. I know they usually don’t, but I’ll give it a chance all the same.

3 out of 5, readable, but not brilliant.