209. Monster in the Mountains by Shane Peacock

Monster in the Mountains by Shane Peacock (Canada) - (US) (Out Of Print)
A Dylan Maples Adventure, #4

Pages: 207
Ages: 9+
Finished: Sept. 17, 2011
First Published: 2003
Publisher: Puffin Canada
Genre: children, adventure
Rating: 4/5



First sentence:

Walter Middy tossed and turned.

Acquired: Borrowed a copy through Inter-Library Loan.

Reason for Reading: next in the series

After the terrifying incident in the last book instead of taking Dylan home to Toronto his parents decide to take him to a resort in the BC wilderness to wind down and relax. He is introduced to his Great-Uncle Walter Middy, who used to be an all around circus performer but whose specialty was tight-rope walking. Dylan becomes fascinated with the Sasquatch tales and being in Sasquatch Provincial Park only flames his fires. The next thing he knows he, his Uncle and his new found friend Alice have sighted one up close. They decide to track it and the uncle brings along a video recorder to get the evidence on tape. Of course, along the way they meet bad guys who want evidence of the monster too, but they won't be happy with a video tape. That's why they include a group of snipers who have no intention of bringing the beast back alive.

Another action-packed adventure for Dylan and his new found "girl" friend, nothing remotely romantic as usual but this guy seems to attract girls like flies to candy! Having all the usual aspects I've come to expect from these stories, Shane introduces us to another area of Canada. This time the Harrison Lake area from the Harrison Hot Springs all the way along the Fraser River to well past Hell's Gate to the tiny town of Boston Bar. This is all new territory to me, though I did see a sign for Sasquatch Provincial Park on a drive to Vancouver once. Unlike the other books, this one did not inspire me to want to visit the area as I am not an outdoorsy mountain-type of girl, but still the descriptions of the area are wonderful and could certainly entice certain people to want to visit.

A fast, fun, thrilling read. But I will say that out of the four this is my least favourite as Peacock ventures into the fantasy world here in this book. While the others have all been fairly straight forward realistic fiction this one ventures off into the "unknown" for want of a better word. The author does deal with this and we have our feet firmly planted in reality by the end, but it does make this book a bit of an oddball in the series. Still a joy to read though and I'm sorry to see an end to Dylan Maples as this was the last book.

I have two non-fiction books left to read now. One Young Adult and one for adults, then I will have read Peacock's entire backlist!  And I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of his latest Boy Sherlock book due out in Oct. '11