Monday 14 September 2009

The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle - Catherine Webb

The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle - Catherine Webb

Pages: 311
Publisher: Atom
Release Date: 7th September 2006

Other Titles in the Series: The Obsidian Dagger, The Doomsday Machine

The Bank of England robbed!
Murder on the streets of London!
Hypnotism! Mystery! Pursuit!
Saint Paul’s Cathedral ablaze!

Horatio Lyle is a former Special Constable with a passion for science and invention. He’s also an occasional sleuth. Thrown together with Tess (a reformed pickpocket) and Thomas (a rebellious young gentleman), Lyle and his faithful hound Tate find themselves pursuing an ancient Chinese plate, a conspiracy that reaches to the highest levels of polite society and a dangerous enemy who may not even be human…

Welcome to the world of Horatio Lyle: when mystery beckons, he gathers his courage, sharpens his wits and fills his pockets with things that explode.

The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle is a fun story full of murder, mystery and utter mayhem.

The story is full of wonderfully individual characters. Horatio is an incredibly clever inventor who is a Special Constable in his spare time. He’s eccentric and likes to carry around explosives, but isn’t very sociable! Tess is cheeky and has some really funny lines; especially when talking to Horatio and Thomas is a bit of a rebel!

I loved the mixture of genres in The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle. There was the murder mystery, the setting of Victorian London and the supernatural beings behind all of the trouble. It has something for everyone!

As a self-confessed science geek, I loved all of the science that Horatio, Tess and Thomas used to get themselves out of trouble and help solve the crime. I especially enjoyed it when Horatio used lit magnesium to blind people so that they could get away one moment and used it as a light source the next. Brilliant!

I really enjoyed The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle and fans of Y.S. Lee’s A Spy in the House will love it too.

Sophie

5 comments:

  1. This sounds like a fun book! Great review!

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  2. This sounds great! I love the idea of using science tricks like that. Thanks for the review!

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  3. This sounds like a good book for people who like curious facts and Science. Not really my thing but I will order a copy for the library because I think the kids at my school will love it. Thanks!

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  4. I sounds zany, fast and full of fun. Never heard of it but I'm adding it to our libray list. Thanks!

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  5. I was not sure wether to read this book or not, great review!

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