Reader Reviews

Can you spot an author lurking in the shadows?
My favourite reviews are always those from young readers.

I've been thrilled this week to receive three for The Serpent King.  Trinity, Gabrielle and Kezia have all been kind enough to get in touch to tell me that they've enjoyed reading Secrets of the Tombs and have sent in these superbly written reviews.

Thank you girls!

I'm sorry that the series has finished now, but I promise that I'm working very hard on writing of lots of other exciting adventures - I hope they'll be ready for you to read soon!

I hope they'll take me to some more magical places to research the settings for the books. Here's a photo of me sitting among the strangler figs on the steps of the ruins in Calakmul taking notes for The Serpent King last year. 




The Serpent King is a great book by Helen Moss.
The main characters are Ryan Flint and Cleopatra McNeil (Cleo for short).
Ryan and Cleo go on three adventures altogether. In this story, they are in Mexico on an archeological dig with Cleo's parents and Ryan's mum, who is a journalist. They are trying to find out what happened to an ancient king called Jaguar Paw or the Serpent King....although Ryan is also looking for his dad who went missing six years ago.
Then prize artefacts from the dig start going missing and Cleo comes up with her own theory about what happened to Jaguar Paw and his family. She and Ryan start searching for leads and for a mysterious White Finder Tree and that's when things get dangerous!
I loved all three books; The Serpent King has got lots of action and a good plot. I would recommend this book to girls or boys aged 8-13.
I was disappointed to find this was the last book in this series. I like the friendship between Ryan and Cleo and would like to see them have more adventures.
Trinity Lunam (aged 11).
The book is called The Serpent King, by Helen Moss.
The main characters are Cleopatra McNeil and Ryan Flint who are both teenagers. They are very different; Cleo loves tombs like her archaeologist parents and can read all the old glyphs and Ryan is more into drawing and playing football.
They're in Mexico to find the tomb of the Serpent King but Ryan and his mum (who is a journalist) have another reason to be there; they're looking for Ryan's dad who disappeared six years ago!
Cleo finds some clues about the ancient mystery and believes she has to find something called the White Finder Tree.
But soon things go missing from the dig and Cleo's mum is suspected! A woman called Sofia K. Proufork arrives to investigate but Cleo and Ryan start investigating her!
I liked the adventure and humour in the book; I would recommend this book to ages 8+.
I was slightly disappointed because I love this series and I think it's a shame there are only three books.
Gabriella Lunam (aged nine)
 The Serpent King. The book starts when Ryan Flint, Cleopatra McNeil (Cleo for short) and the rest of an archeologist team are exploring King Jaguar Paw's burial chamber in Mexico.

Ryan and his Mum had earlier been told by a member of the Tiger's Claw gang called Miguel, that Ryan's Dad, Eddie Flint was being held prisoner near them in Mexico. They go to meet Miguel, Ryan hiding in the back of the jeep because Miguel would not talk if he knew that someone else was listening. It was good that Ryan did go  though, because they were ambushed by some of the gang! Ryan used a flare to distract the men so that Miguel and Ryan's Mum could escape the men's grasp and climb into the jeep to get away.

Meanwhile,  Cleo and her Mum where busy deciphering glyphs. They found out about the White Finder Tree, a navigation instrument that guides you to the underworld.

But then, disaster strikes! Somebody from the team leaked the story about the discovery of the White Finder Tree.  Soon it was on different journalists' websites and blogs. Some bloggers even said that Lydia McNeil (Cleo's Mum) was a tomb robber!

Sir Charles Peacock, Lydia's boss, sends an epigrapher (a specialist on writing systems) to see if she agrees with Lydia's interpretations of the sarcophagus texts.

Who leaked the story about the white finder tree?
Who is the mysterious epigrapher?
Does Ryan find his Dad?
What happens next?

READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT!

I highly recommend The Secrets of the Tombs series! I thoroughly  enjoyed reading all three books, they are filled with excitement, fun, and mystery.
Thank you Ryan and Cleo! ☺
Kezia Owens