The Dragon's Tooth (review)

After their father died at sea and their mother slipped into a coma two years ago, twelve-year-old Cyrus Smith and his sister, Antigone, have found life difficult. Things get even worse when a tattooed man shows up at their roadside motel, hands Cyrus a strange set of keys, and is shortly thereafter killed by several men wielding fireball-shooting guns; the shooters also burn down the entire motel and kidnap Cyrus and Antigone's older brother. One of the fire enthusiasts is Maxi Robes, or Maximilien Robespierre, and it appears that the transmortal (mostly immortal, save for a key vulnerability) former French tyrant is intent on bringing his reign of terror to the Smiths' front door. Thanks to the tattooed man, however, Cyrus and Antigone find themselves bestowed with membership in the elite Order of the Brendan, a group of talented explorers that have been battling Maxi and his boss, the evil Dr. Phoenix, for some time now; not everyone in the group is pleased to see the Smiths, though, and the siblings are forced to endure a series of grueling tests before they can invoke the help of the Order. So yes, the Smiths have it pretty bad, but fortunately for readers, their poor luck leads to a wild adventure that features swarms of deadly, carnivorous spiders, one gigantic snapping turtle, animal/human hybrids, and a double-timing cook—not to mention the occasional cameos by Amelia Earhart and Rasputin. The mythology behind the Order is neatly woven into the action-packed plot, offering a brief reprieve from chases and hunts without slowing the pace. Even at a hefty 400-plus pages, this exhilarating story reads like a breeze, and fans of adventure will have a hard time putting it down.