Synopsis: Welcome to the Scatterhorn Museum - the setting for this irresistible adventure through a world full of dust, insects, magic potions, missing jewels and stuffed animals ... This is no swanky, new-fangled museum - it's cold and dingy, crammed fully of tatty curios, and you never know what you are going to find. But when Tom is sent to live there he soon finds that there's more to the museum than meets the eye. What seems at first glance to be shabby and worn, possesses an incredible secret, which will lead Tom on a breathtaking adventure in and out of time.

Review: This is an enjoyable, often well-crafted story which is at its best in some excellent and gripping action sequences - my favourite is the hunt for the man-eating tiger. The plot is interesting, pulling together strands from a number of genres and there is plenty here to keep the reader intrigued such as the rather humourous stuffed animals that come to life, the sinister time travelling Don Gervase and August Catcher's mysterious life giving potion. However, it is a lengthy book that sometimes loses its momentum as Tom puzzles over what to believe or what to do next and will require a reader with some stamina.

2008-08-31