Return to the Lost World: (Luke Challenger)

Adventure has a new name: Luke Challenger. Action-packed historical adventure set in the 1930s. Luke is caught up in a world of espionage, secret societies and the discovery of surviving dinosaurs! Jurassic Park meets Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Alex Rider. Age 9+ Luke Challenger is no ordinary boy. He's the grandson of George Challenger, the explorer famous for finding 'the Lost World' a South American plateau inhabited by living dinosaurs. So when his mother is kidnapped, by a mysterious group bent on exploiting the Lost World to further their own ends, Luke must step up to the challenge and prove himself worthy of the Challenger name. Can Luke find his mother and defeat the terrifying band of assassins? His life and the survival of the world hang in the balance... Age 9+

About the Author :
Steve Barlow lives in Somerset with his wife, daughter and son. When he's not writing, he enjoys sailing. Steve Skidmore lives in Leicester and trained as a teacher of Drama, English and Film Studies before becoming a full-time author. He is a great rugby fan (he supports the Leicester Tigers). The Two Steves began collaborating in 1987 after meeting while working at Fairham Comprehensive School in Nottingham, and have produced a large body of work, which they are actively involved in making available as Apps.

Review :
With Conan Doyle’s "The Lost World" as inspiration, the authors present a new series of adventures, set in the 1930s with lots of thrills, spills and world survival hanging in the balance with young Luke Challenger the only one capable of sorting it all out. A roller coaster adventure that will grab readers...and hold them gripped throughout. A roller coaster adventure that will grab readers from the dramatic dare devil opening and hold them gripped throughout. Luke is only fourteen but he has an adult-sized thirst for invention and exploration. Following the strands of these exciting, interwoven stories is thrilling. A superb reworking of Conan Doyle's original story, combined with the non-stop action that modern readers adore. The two Steves have taken the premise set up by the original story and used it to create a fast-paced adventure story, which feels both retro and modern at the same time. It feels retro in that it is set in an era that is not often used in kids adventure stories these days (and yet proved so apt for my all time favourite film, Raiders of the Lost Ark); it is all also a good old-fashioned adventure story, without gadgets, mobile phones, the internet, etc. Yet it feels modern as it is written to appeal to children of today, and therefore has a very fast pace, and many a set-piece action scene. It this respect is almost cinematic and I would love to see this on the big screen. Air battles, ambushes, lethal assassins, kidnappings, smuggling and dinosaur attacks...are you out of breath already? You will be when you turn the last page of a brilliant all-action story from the pens of two former teachers who know just how to keep a boy happy...With the dinosaur dilemmas of Jurassic Park, the espionage excitement of James Bond and the thrills and spills of Indiana Jones, Return to The Lost World is guaranteed to put the fun back into reading. An action-packed heart-pounding thriller and historical adventure for 9+ year olds that takes its inspiration from Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic, The Lost World. Luke is a hero who will appeal especially to boys, and they will also appreciate the blood-and-guts plot (particularly when the dinosaurs attack!) Luke’s mum has been kidnapped on a hunt for some heinous dinos! On a rescue mission, he travels to the jungle on a totally bodacious hot air balloon! It’s the start of an awesome adventure! The verdict: 4/5 A crazy adventure with dinosaurs! My son, who is ten, is a reluctant reader, but he was instantly drawn to the dinosaurs on the cover. I found him picking up this book and reading it on his own in his bedroom at night time. That shows that it has captured his imagination and he wants to find out what happens next in the story. It is action packed and fast moving. Any book that captivates his attention is definitely a must have and this certainly did that. The story is full of twists and turns and becomes compulsive reading for the usually 'less than enthusiastic' reader.