LitPick Review
Twelve year old Nick McIver is always up for an adventure. Especially if it has to do with sailing around Greybeard Island, which he calls home, in his self made boat. While off gallivanting around the island with his sister Kate, Nick comes across a washed up chest. Nick and Kate manage to hide it in a cave until they are able to come back for it, but on the way back home, they encounter a terrible storm and run to their old friend Gunner's Inn for shelter. There they meet two mysterious pirates who scare them senseless. When the pirate, Billy Blood, hears Nick, Kate, and Gunner discussing the chest, he becomes very interested in it. Could Billy Blood possibly know the contents of the chest? After realizing Blood's suspicious fascination with the chest, Nick is determined to find out what lies in it and keep it away from Blood. In order to protect the chest, Nick decides that he must take it to a supposedly abandoned castle. When he reaches his destination, Nick finds that it is far from deserted! There he finds that Lord Hawke and his trusty sidekick Hobbes are still living in the castle, hidden away from society, and know quite a lot about the contents of the chest. Even with the chest safely guarded at Lord Hawkes castle, Blood finds it and is hot on Nicks trail. It seems that blood will do anything to gain possession of the mysterious chest. Will Nick be able to keep the chest away from Blood?
Opinion:
While the plot was interesting, I can't say I loved the book. For me, there wasn't that extra something that completely pulled me into the book. When I was reading the book, I thought it was excellent. Once I put the book down, I found it very hard to pick back up again. However, there were many good things about the book. The story was a combination of spies, pirates, mystery, adventure, and war. Some of the scenes in the book reminded me a lot of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, which I really enjoyed. One other thing I enjoyed was the author's ability to make you vividly picture the scene in your mind. Every scene played like a movie in my head making it easy to relate to the characters. I would recommend "Nick of Time" to middle school boys as it deals with topics that we just seem to love!
