Snow Day of Death

First, that would be an awesome title for a book. It's probably a good thing that I haven't been able to find Northrup's Trapped to read during these days we've been off! I feel sorry for our superintendent, because it's a horrible job to decide to cancel school. Since it is 39 degrees and raining, I was just about ready to leave, but NOT looking forward to the trip. (Even considered getting a ride in, but since my children couldn't, I would have to walk!)

Zindel, Paul. Reef of Death.
PC is used to following after his adventurous Uncle Cliff, so when he gets a call to go to Australia, he takes his trusty computer and goes! Cliff is helping an Aboriginal girl whose tribe is in a grave financial situation and whose brother was killed while looking for the tribe's treasure. She has memories of a giant sea monster eating him, but how can this be? Well, given Zindel's flair for horrific monsters, very likely! In short order, Cliff is also mauled and digested, and PC and Maruul decide to keep this from the authorities so that they can figure things out themselves. Enlisting the help of Wally, an older man who runs a surf shop and is sympathetic to Maruul's plight, they discover that the horrible noise that set the creature off on a feeding frenzy is being made by Dr. Ecenbarger's boat, the Anemone. Dr. Ecenbarger is beyond evil-- claiming to be a geologist, she is trying to make money from the ocean's resources but also performing terrible experiments on animals and in insistent on feeding PC and his friends to the sea monster. After lots of gut wrenching, things work out.

Strengths: For years, I could not read past the first chapter of this one! Like Rats and Raptor, lots of killing and destruction caused by evil animals or creatures instead of humans. Why are there not more books like this? Surely someone could write them!

Weaknesses: No one is writing books like these and my copies are all falling to little bits! I also wish I could get the entire PC Hawke mystery set in PermaBound, but it is also out of print.