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