OPERATION RED JERICHO

When Mowll inherits his late great-aunt Rebecca MacKenzie’s British estate, including her archives and 1920 diary, he is charged to prepare her memoirs. This first of a trilogy chronicles the fictional adventures of 15-year-old Rebecca and her 13-year-old brother Douglas who travel to Shanghai in 1920 to board a research ship with their uncle, Captain Fitzroy MacKenzie, after their parents mysteriously disappear. Excerpts from Rebecca’s diary, four beautifully produced gatefolds detailing ships, weapons, and submersible crafts, wonderful pencil sketches, photographs (and more) add dimension and authenticity to the high-seas hijinks. Readers will revel in the exciting setting, the abundant science and history, a dangerous tiger, ruthless pirate warlords, the mystery of an ancient secret society and even a battle to keep the volatile substance zoridium out of the hands of evildoers. Unfortunately, the urgency of the siblings’ search for their parents, the emotional core of the story, drowns in the wake of swashbuckling action. Budding scientists, inventors and fans of all things nautical, however, will still be enraptured by this lovingly created, highly visual offering. (reader’s note, map, appendices, selected sources) (Fiction. 12+)