The Keeper

By Author / Illustrator

David Baldacci

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Pan Macmillan

ISBN

9781447288299

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

10-09-2015

Synopsis

David Baldacci is back with The Keeper, the follow up to his instant #1 global bestseller and award-winning YA fantasy debut The Finisher.

Vega Jane was always told no one could leave the town of Wormwood. She was told there was nothing outside but the Quag, a wilderness filled with danger and death. And she believed it - until the night she stumbled across a secret that proved that everything she knew was a lie.

Now Vega and her best friend Delph must find a way to make it across this terrifying land of bloodthirsty creatures and sinister magic. But the Quag is worse than Vega Jane's darkest imagining. It's a living, breathing prison designed to keep enemies out and the villagers of Wormwood in.

The Quag will throw everything at Vega. It will try to break her. It will try to kill her. And survival might come at a price not even Vega is willing to pay.

Master storyteller David Baldacci unleashes a hurricane of action and adrenalin that takes readers to breaking point in this second instalment in the Vega Jane series.

Reviews

This is the 2nd book in this series and it will not disappoint the fantasy reader. The story picks straight up from book 1 (The Finisher) Vega, Delph and Harry Two are now in the Quag and have to deal with the Five Circles that make up this dangerous wilderness. Through this journey our two main characters develop skills, become more confident and mature. They face untold dangers and meet friends and enemies along the way. This sequel is a fast paced adventure once again, however, if things could go wrong they did and then they got sorted out! As an adult reader of this book and thinking about its target audience (YA) at times found this a little patronising and believed it to be for a younger audience. Lots of repetition of ideas, nothing really new for the well read fantasy reader, as I found strains of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Maze Runner all thrown in there. Having said this, I did enjoy the book and eagerly turned the pages to see how Vega developed her skills and how the group got together to defeat the challenges that were thrown at them. I liked 'the Keeper' as secrets are exposed and their survival draws them closer to freedom. David Baldacci builds a world filled with strange creatures and incredible magic. Paperback has 459 pages that will entertain fantasy readers 12+, confident younger readers 10+ and once again would think this to be suitable for group reading with reluctant readers as there are lots of discussion points that could be developed. Looking forward to reading the 3rd book and to seeing how the characters develop. 459 pages / Ages 10+ / Reviewed by Linda Brown, school librarian.