Originally written: 23-24/11/19. Contains spoilers.
Found another Alpha Force book and decided to give it a read. I normally enjoy these books, but I think I’m starting to find less and less to say about them with each one I finish.
In Desert Pursuit, I liked the same things I always do; I like how the characters gel together and I like them all as individuals, and Ryan does a great job of putting the kids in scenarios that feel very real (for the most part) while managing to keep the books suitable for kids.
Desert Pursuit featured discussion of child slavery and sexual slavery, and even as a grown woman it made me wince, but the book was still, undeniably “for kids”.
As always, Alpha Force is fun, informative and creepily reminds me in places of my OG book series.
In Blood Money, however…
To be honest, not my favourite Alpha Force book. In fact, probably my least favourite so far. By the end I was skipping over whole pages and paragraphs to get to the end. The set up was good; the kids are building a school in India when a little girl is kidnapped for her kidneys, which a rich buyer needs to live.
I liked the opening, the handling of the kidnapping and the team’s initial response, but after that I felt like the book dragged and I was making myself continue just so I could be done with it.
I’m not sure I can even pinpoint what it was that I think went wrong, or that I care enough to try. All I know is that this went from potentially four starts, right down to two. It just… stopped being interesting.
The Tea Room 