LitPick Review
"The Island of Mad Scientists" by Howard Whitehouse is a wild book, indeed. The stories of over ten characters are intertwined when an island used for scientific research comes into play. Not far from this island, the Collector spies on the scientists and kidnaps the ones he wants to hold prisoner. In the book, he is after two young avionics. The other characters in the book are are related to the kids, friends of the kids, or merely people the kids meet on their journey. The story kicks off when a mad scientist steals a car and all those associated with him are on a most wanted list. So, the characters split up to flee to the isolated island of mad scientists. Little do they know what this island will have in store for them.
Opinion:
This book has the stories of characters divided in each chapter. It is rare for all the characters to actually be in the presence of the others. Also, the infamous island is not reached until well after the midway point in the novel. The plot events are hard to keep track of, and some are a bit incongruous (hence the madness). Sometimes satirical and other times just plain silly, this book is definitely unique. Due to the accents in some of the dialogue, grammar is thrown off. While this adds depth to characters, it can be detrimental to little eyes just learning sentence structure.
