This is exactly the sort of book I'd give young readers who are ready to read at an advanced level but aren't ready for the themes, plots, or humor available in those advanced-level books. The Ominous Eye introduces science, vocabulary, and sentence structure that older readers might encounter with a focus on friendship, problem-solving, and a mystery that any younger reader might enjoy.

Reading as an adult, I found the characters distinct but a little repetitive and the story more static than I prefer. As always, my rating is based in my own experience of the book, but I wouldn't hesitate a moment to recommend this to a young reader. ( )

The second book in a series geared for junior high aged kids. It involves an unlikely combination of animals - a fox, a sugar glider and a pangolin who go on adventures. They meet other unique animals along the way. A crack opens in the earth and a beast is released that seems to be plotting to kill off vast numbers of the animal population. Our gang must stop it. Each character is well developed and interesting. The sugar glider is very funny. I think that this will be a hit with the kids. ( )

The Nocturnals: The Ominous Eye, by Tracey Hecht, is a fun, adventurous and very annoying tale. It tells the story of a sugar glider, a fox and pangolin, leaders of The Brigade and defenders of those in need. When something enters their homeland, a threatening beast, it's up to The Brigade to find out what 'it' is...
My son and I read this book together. We hadn't heard of The Nocturnals before, so we didn't know of book 1, but it didn't stop us from enjoying the story. The Brigade has (Dawn) who is more like the leader of the trio and the forest, (Tobin) who was empathy and concern, and then the very emotional and ever annoying Bismarck- a sugar glider! OMGoodness was he a mess!

We enjoyed the story because it was simple, yet mysterious. The story showed how teamwork gets things done and jealousy can damage friendships. Lastly, it told you that if you ever meet a talking sugar glider, kick it into the next century! Bismarck talked way too much and couldn't decide if he wanted to be French or Italian! He was also very conceited, adds my son, but it all added to the fun of the tale!

All in all, the story was a great, but predictable adventure that can be enjoyed be readers of all ages! Check out The Nocturnals: The Ominous Eye while I move on to the next read. Cheers!

For the full review: http://bit.ly/TheNocturnalsNovel

Rating: 5 out of 5 specs
*The Doldrums is next.
**Novel won through a Shelf Awareness giveaway. ( )

I received this as a review copy. It just happened to be a day when I was looking for something light to read when this arrived. I immediately started reading when finished it the next day. The story of three friends, a fox, a pangolin and a sugar glider. A jolt fractures the earth and the team set out to investigate the cause, getting into all types of trouble along the way. Great read. I had never heard of a pangolin but imagine my surprise when that evening it was mentioned on a tv show ( )