Review of The Riddle of Prague by Laura DeBruce

From amazon.com:

 

Book Description

Publication Date: December 7, 2013

When 18-year-old Hana Silna travels to Prague to reclaim her family's ancestral home, she finds herself on an unexpected adventure in a city brimming with ancient secrets. She discovers a riddle by the infamous alchemist Edward Kelley that claims to lead to a long-last flask. The contents of that flask could change the fate of the world. 

When a ruthless enemy kidnaps her family, Hana has to find the flask to rescue them. On her quest she meets a mysterious man with a penchant for poetry, a Gypsy girl with a haunting past, and Alex, the motorcycle-riding son of a U.S. diplomat. Alex -- who's trying to save his sister from a crippling disease -- joins Hana on her race across Bohemia to find the hidden flask. It's hard to trust anyone when the stakes are this high -- especially when surrounded by experts at deception.

There's only one flask and Hana desperately needs to find it.

The Riddle of Prague is the first of the Quicksilver Legacy Trilogy.

Leona's Review:

This was a really good read about mystery and searching for the 400 year old flask that holds the elixir for immortality.

Hana Silna is flying to Prague from the United States to sign the papers for the home of her mother that has been returned to them by the government. This book takes place in 1991 before the luxury of cell phones and lap top computers. Hana's mother is having surgery and is unable to travel.

Hana meets Davis Borton on the plane; he becomes a major part of the book.

She is greeted by her mother's cousins and meets her mother's mother, Babi. She does not know who Hana is as she is somewhat senile. I wish Babi had been more of the book because I felt she knew a lot more and could do more that the story allowed.

Babi does warn Hana that Simona is not who she says she is.

Hana meets Alex Williams, the son of a U. S. Diplomat and his sister, Thalia, who suffers from Werner Syndrome. Alex owns a motorcycle and descriptions of the driving in the city of Prague are pretty real.

There are so many names in this book I will list some of them that become so much of the story. Hana Silna, Alex Williams, David Bolton, Simona, Michal, Elizabeth Weston, Valentina, Stefan, Denisa, Nadja, Don Julius, Julian, Luminitsa, Edward Kelley, Marketa, Ben Williams, Niku, L'ubo, Franta and many more. Some are not characters in the book but the names are part of the past and the story.

Places are described in the book: The Charles Bridge http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=598,

The Faust House http://www.prague.net/faust-house and St. Vitus Cathedral http://www.pragueexperience.com/places.asp?PlaceID=602.

See http://www.pragueexperience.com/index.asp for more sites. I like the historical features in The Riddle of Prague.

There is intrigue, murder, escapes and fear in this gripping book. At one point Hana feels "So many radically unexpected things have happened that I'm feeling like Alice after she fell down the rabbit hole" (page 96). It is rated for Young Adults but as an older adult I enjoyed it. I give it a 5 star even though I was disappointed in the end. I finally decided to think of as Sherlock Holmes always running into Professor Moriarty and continuing the story.

I won a copy of The Riddle of Prague from LibraryThing.com. The opinions are my own. I will re-read this book even though I know the ending.

You may find Laura DeBruce at http://theriddleofprague.com/.

Leona Olson

www.mnleona.blogspot.com

The Silver Madonna and Other Tales of America's Greatest Lost Treasures By W. C. Jameson

From goodreads.com

The twenty-four tales in this book are of the most famous lost treasures in America, from a two-foot statue reportedly made entirely of silver (the Madonna ) and a cache of gold, silver, and jewelry that was rumored to also contain the first Bible in America to seventeen tons of gold its value equal to the treasury of a mid-sized nation buried somewhere in northwestern New Mexico. What makes these tales even more compelling is that none of these known-to-be-lost treasures have been discovered, although modern detecting technology has made them eminently discoverable.

Paperback, 208 pages

Published September 6th 2013 by "Taylor Trade Publishing" (first published January 1st 2013)

ISBN

1589798392 (ISBN13:9781589798397)

Leona's Review:

 

The Silver Madonna and Other Tales of America's Greatest Lost Treasures

 by W. C. Jameson.

This is the first book I have read by W. C Jameson and one I really enjoyed.

The first of the book has a map, always appreciated, which identifies the locations of the Treasures in this book. I must say I was excited to find my hometown of Monahans, Texas and the Monahans Sandhills State Park. I have been going to the Sandhills since I was a child.

This is a fast reading book and certainly for the readers who like the treasure magazines and tales. The stories are short and interesting.

Other books by W. C. Jameson are Buried Treasure of The America Series ( 28 books) which include treasures in Texas, California, Missouri, New England and more. Beyond the Grave Series which are about Billy the Kid, John Wilkes Booth and Butch Cassidy.  More series on food, poetry, fiction, books on writing, mysteries, ghosts and monsters.

Contents of The Silver Madonna stories are:

Map (before introduction)

Introduction (page 1)

1. The Silver Madonna (page 3)

2. The Lost Treasure Ship of the California Desert (page 11)

3. The Goat Herder's Lost Treasure (page 23)

4. The Lost Treasure of Shafter Lake (page 31)

5. The Lost Dutchman Mine of the Superstition Mountain (page 37)

6. The Huachuca Canyon Treasure (page 45)

7. Seventeen Tons of Gold at Lost Mesa (page 53)

8. The Lost Treasure of Cancino Arroyo (page 59)

9. The Lost Grierson Fortune (page 67)

10. The Red Bone Cave Treasure (page 73)

11. The Silver Bullets (page 79)

12. The Lost Gold Mine of the Cossatot (page 85)

13. The Lost Treasure Skeleton Canyon (page 91)

14. The Lost Yoachum Dollars: An Ozark Mystery (page 101)

15. The Beale Treasure (page 113)

16. Incan Treasure in Texas and America's First Bible (page 121)

17. Lost Treasure in the Monahans Sandhills (page

18. Chief Victorio's Gold (page 129)

19. The Lost Billy Bowlegs Treasure (page 137)

20. Gasparilla's Lost Treasure (page 147)

21. Colonel Dunham's Lost Payroll (page 153)

22. Cumberland Mountain Silver Mines (page 163)

23. Devil's Canyon Gold (page 171)

24. The Incredible Journey of the Confederate Treasury (page 179)

A Word About Sources (page 187)

About the Author (page 189)

This book is dedicated: For Laurie

The author lives in Llano, Texas. (If you get there, there are great Bar B Q places).

W. C. Jameson may be found at http://wcjameson.com/.

I won this book from LibraryThing.com. The opinions are my own. I give it a 5 star because of the interest and research.

Leona Olson

www.mnleona.blogspot.com

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