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The Neil Flambé Capers #4
Neil Flambé and the Tokyo Treasure
World-class chef Neil Flambe isn’t thrilled when his cousin Larry moves to Japan to work on an online manga comic book. Now who’ll help him in the kitchen? But he finds a replacement in Gary the bike courier, and life, and the restaurant, moves on without Larry. That is, until the news that life may have really left Larry behind—he’s been lost at sea.
Neil is devastated. But then he checks Larry’s online manga. There’s a subtle change in the plot, something Neil and Larry had discussed—something only Neil would notice. Is this a cryptic message from beyond the grave—or is Larry still alive? Determined to find out, Neil heads to Japan to solve his next mystery.
Neil is devastated. But then he checks Larry’s online manga. There’s a subtle change in the plot, something Neil and Larry had discussed—something only Neil would notice. Is this a cryptic message from beyond the grave—or is Larry still alive? Determined to find out, Neil heads to Japan to solve his next mystery.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2012
19 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Sylvester
59 books156 followersKEVIN SYLVESTER is an award winning illustrator, writer and broadcaster.
His new sci-fi series MiNRs is now out from Simon and Schuster. MINRs was named a 2017 Honour Red Maple and Manitoba Reader's Honour book and a 2015 CLA Honour Book. MINRs2 is out. MINRs3 will be released in 2018.
His series The Neil Flambé Capers is already a bestseller and critical success. Students across Ontario picked 'Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders' as the Silver Birch winner for fiction in 2011!
There are 6 books in the series so far, Neil Flambé and the Duel in the Desert is the latest.
Super-chef Gordon Ramsay calls the series “Good Fun”.
Kevin also does picture books - "Super-Duper Monster Viewer" is out from Groundwood. GREAT (with the Gretzky family) is out from Penguin.
Kevin’s first picture book 'Splinters' was published in fall 2010 by Tundra. It’s about a young girl who only wants to play hockey, but the mean coach and her daughters won’t let her. Can her fairy goaltender come to the rescue?
Kevin non-fiction titles include Follow Your Money, Baseballogy, Basketballogoy, Sports Hall of Weird and Gold Medal for Weird.
Kevin has been a broadcaster on national radio in Canada for years and years and has covered eight Olympic Games. He also produced documentaries on topics ranging from racism in hockey to the history of church bells in Canada.
He now splits his time between his attic studio in Toronto and the radio. He was named a Massey Journalism Scholar in 2007 and used the time to study theology at the University of Toronto.
His new sci-fi series MiNRs is now out from Simon and Schuster. MINRs was named a 2017 Honour Red Maple and Manitoba Reader's Honour book and a 2015 CLA Honour Book. MINRs2 is out. MINRs3 will be released in 2018.
His series The Neil Flambé Capers is already a bestseller and critical success. Students across Ontario picked 'Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders' as the Silver Birch winner for fiction in 2011!
There are 6 books in the series so far, Neil Flambé and the Duel in the Desert is the latest.
Super-chef Gordon Ramsay calls the series “Good Fun”.
Kevin also does picture books - "Super-Duper Monster Viewer" is out from Groundwood. GREAT (with the Gretzky family) is out from Penguin.
Kevin’s first picture book 'Splinters' was published in fall 2010 by Tundra. It’s about a young girl who only wants to play hockey, but the mean coach and her daughters won’t let her. Can her fairy goaltender come to the rescue?
Kevin non-fiction titles include Follow Your Money, Baseballogy, Basketballogoy, Sports Hall of Weird and Gold Medal for Weird.
Kevin has been a broadcaster on national radio in Canada for years and years and has covered eight Olympic Games. He also produced documentaries on topics ranging from racism in hockey to the history of church bells in Canada.
He now splits his time between his attic studio in Toronto and the radio. He was named a Massey Journalism Scholar in 2007 and used the time to study theology at the University of Toronto.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
April 10, 2013
This book is about a chef named Neil Flambé. Once again Neil has went on a very dangerous, but amazing adventure with everything at stake. This time, the adventure is set in Tokyo, when he finds his chef cousin, Larry, was going to meet this Japanese person named Hiro, a manga artist who Larry was working with. A few days later, Neil gets a message saying Larry has supposedly "died" in the sea with Hiro. Once in Japan, Neil faces many obstacles along this dangerous duel, trying to search for that ancient treasure. At the end, Neil and Larry find out that this was all set by Hiro, who wanted to rule Tokyo, by using the treasure.
After finishing this book, I thought to myself, this was quite intense. There was always times, where I was just like 'gosh this boring' but when I kept reading on, something new would happening unexpectedly, and it would kind of make you start guessing. This might be crazy, but it seemed like the author knew when I was getting bored.
Reasons why I picked up this book was because, I have read all the other Neil Flambé book, so might as well read this one. For me, if I start on a book series, and I find it pretty interesting, I am determined to finish all the books, no matter what. Also because, I really like how the author draws these little pictures, so you could actually imagine the scene that is happening. It just seems cool.
I would recommend this book for someone who is really looking for a good adventure book! And whoever has read the previous Neil Flambé books. This book is enjoyable, and mysterious.
After finishing this book, I thought to myself, this was quite intense. There was always times, where I was just like 'gosh this boring' but when I kept reading on, something new would happening unexpectedly, and it would kind of make you start guessing. This might be crazy, but it seemed like the author knew when I was getting bored.
Reasons why I picked up this book was because, I have read all the other Neil Flambé book, so might as well read this one. For me, if I start on a book series, and I find it pretty interesting, I am determined to finish all the books, no matter what. Also because, I really like how the author draws these little pictures, so you could actually imagine the scene that is happening. It just seems cool.
I would recommend this book for someone who is really looking for a good adventure book! And whoever has read the previous Neil Flambé books. This book is enjoyable, and mysterious.
December 20, 2018
I have a lot of opinions about Japan and Food and I don’t know that Neil Flambé really got the chance to experience what the local food scene is like because he’s trying to solve the mystery of Larry Flambé. I enjoyed this volume more than the third entry to the series. I might even suspect that Neil is maturing as a person and becoming a better chef. Recommended for fans of the series.
October 21, 2020
This was very action packed, but also a lot darker in content than the previous books. Some of it was a bit much, as usual, butvdtiil good. I still think that Neil needs to shrink his ego a bit, but there were a few good one liners in here.
October 5, 2019
An awesome read !
April 23, 2023
Not as good as the first two, but better than the third, this book is pretty much what you'd expect from a Neil Flambe novel.
May 23, 2024
Good book with cooking fun and mystery
August 20, 2015
World-class chef Neil Flambe isn’t thrilled when his cousin Larry moves to Japan to work on an online manga comic book. Now who’ll help him in the kitchen? But he finds a replacement in Gary the bike courier, and life, and the restaurant, moves on without Larry. That is, until the news that life may have really left Larry behind—he’s been lost at sea.
Neil is devastated. But then he checks Larry’s online manga. There’s a subtle change in the plot, something Neil and Larry had discussed—something only Neil would notice. Is this a cryptic message from beyond the grave—or is Larry still alive? Determined to find out, Neil heads to Japan to solve his next mystery.
This is the fourth book in the Neil flambe series and I think it's my second favorite aside from the second book in the series because it was in Mexico but this time it takes place in Tokyo and it was really cool how the author set up the book. What made me really like the book was that there was a hidden message at the close end of the book its what Hiro said to Larry about something that made me think that this is a good message to be hidden so people can see and understand it. I will be talking about the plot, the characters and what I thought about it.
The plot: So it takes place after there trip to Paris with the whole curse that was on his family and Larry gets a letter from his Manga partner saying that a company wants to turn there online manga into a book manga and he has to come to Tokyo so they could discuss it more. So Larry leaves and after a week or so they get a letter saying that Hiro and Larry are dead and that where the adventure begins.
The characters: Well there the same characters except you don't see much of Angel in this book because he's helping Gary out in the restaurant. But there is the same characters and I love Isabella and Larry but there wasn't much of Larry for the first half of the book cause they were trying to find him but then after he was back to making puns and making everyone laugh.
What I thought: This is my second favorites Neil flambe book because I learned a little history about Tokyo and Japan and it was awesome and I like how described it was and and vivid the places were that I imagined it and it would be wonderful to visit there someday.
So there going to be a 5th book but that's not coming out till next year which I'm excited for but I have to wait a year and there was a semi cliff hanger at the end.
Neil is devastated. But then he checks Larry’s online manga. There’s a subtle change in the plot, something Neil and Larry had discussed—something only Neil would notice. Is this a cryptic message from beyond the grave—or is Larry still alive? Determined to find out, Neil heads to Japan to solve his next mystery.
This is the fourth book in the Neil flambe series and I think it's my second favorite aside from the second book in the series because it was in Mexico but this time it takes place in Tokyo and it was really cool how the author set up the book. What made me really like the book was that there was a hidden message at the close end of the book its what Hiro said to Larry about something that made me think that this is a good message to be hidden so people can see and understand it. I will be talking about the plot, the characters and what I thought about it.
The plot: So it takes place after there trip to Paris with the whole curse that was on his family and Larry gets a letter from his Manga partner saying that a company wants to turn there online manga into a book manga and he has to come to Tokyo so they could discuss it more. So Larry leaves and after a week or so they get a letter saying that Hiro and Larry are dead and that where the adventure begins.
The characters: Well there the same characters except you don't see much of Angel in this book because he's helping Gary out in the restaurant. But there is the same characters and I love Isabella and Larry but there wasn't much of Larry for the first half of the book cause they were trying to find him but then after he was back to making puns and making everyone laugh.
What I thought: This is my second favorites Neil flambe book because I learned a little history about Tokyo and Japan and it was awesome and I like how described it was and and vivid the places were that I imagined it and it would be wonderful to visit there someday.
So there going to be a 5th book but that's not coming out till next year which I'm excited for but I have to wait a year and there was a semi cliff hanger at the end.
March 1, 2013
Larry is dead, died with Hiro, gone forever. Neil can a clue that Larry was alive, a clue that no one else would notice, he has to get to Japan to help solve the mystery of his missing brother. Nori, the richest man in Japan will have a duel with Neil, whomever won 3 duels gets a reward, if Neil won he would get a lot of money to pay for the restaurant bills and the trip to Japan, if Nori's chef won Neil would have to cook food for Nori until the end of his life. Little by little the pieces fit together and they 'saved' Hiro and Larry and won the duels between Niel and Nori's chef.
Why did I pick up this book:
I like to finish the series of books that I already started to read, so when I heard that Kevin Sylvester was coming to our school in grade 5, I bought one of his books so he can sign it. Sure enough, it was 'Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders'. From there I started to read the next of the series, and the next, until I got up to this book. Ever since I started listened to the audio book of 'The series of Unfortunate Events; The Bad Beginning' I liked to finish the series of books I've read. I had to read the next and the one after that, sometimes it was confusing because I had to read the books out of order, but when I knew I finished the series, it felt like I had achieved my goal. So from there my 'series reading' sprouted.
Who would I recommend this book to:
I would recommend this book to anyone that liked to read books about cooking, mystery and learn about Japan. All of the books in the series are about Neil solving mysteries by cooking and traveling around the world.
Why did I pick up this book:
I like to finish the series of books that I already started to read, so when I heard that Kevin Sylvester was coming to our school in grade 5, I bought one of his books so he can sign it. Sure enough, it was 'Neil Flambé and the Marco Polo Murders'. From there I started to read the next of the series, and the next, until I got up to this book. Ever since I started listened to the audio book of 'The series of Unfortunate Events; The Bad Beginning' I liked to finish the series of books I've read. I had to read the next and the one after that, sometimes it was confusing because I had to read the books out of order, but when I knew I finished the series, it felt like I had achieved my goal. So from there my 'series reading' sprouted.
Who would I recommend this book to:
I would recommend this book to anyone that liked to read books about cooking, mystery and learn about Japan. All of the books in the series are about Neil solving mysteries by cooking and traveling around the world.
March 21, 2016
The book that I read this month was Neil Flambé and the Toyko Treasure (The Neil Flambé Capers #4) by Kevin Sylvester. The genre of the book is fiction and adventure because the events that took place in the book were mainly at dangerously poisoned food battles that were unbelievable to even spend time thinking about. The settings that took place in the book were as well as Neil Flambé's five star restaurant, Chez Flambe, the city of Toyko, Japan, and Nori's boat. The time set of this book is most likely present day because the characteristics of this book are all updated to our point in time. The main characters in this book are overall Neil Flambé, his chef employee cousin Larry, and Nori, the villain and enemy of Neil and all his friends. Neil Flambé and the Toyko Treasure is about how a teenager superstar chef, Neil Flambé, isn't overly ecstatic when his chef employee and cousin, Larry, moves to Toyko, Japan to write his online manga comic book. Then, Neil must find a replacement chef employee for his restaurant, which eventually is Gary. Sooner or later, Neil finds out Larry has been involved in a horrific boating accident and is lost at sea! Now Neil starts receiving clues hidden in Larry's online manga comic book that could lead him to the conclusion if Larry is still alive. Adventure is the key to this mystery, inly Neil could solve. I rated this book four out of five stars because at some points in the book, it was thrilling and I couldn't put the book down, but at sometimes it was confusing to understand and boring.
February 10, 2013
Once again, Neil Flambe goes on a dangerous adventure with everything at stake and solves everything while still looking cool. This time, the adventure is set in Toyko, where Larry supposedly had 'died'. Neil somehow gets wound up into joining a dangerous duel and searching the bottom of the sea for some ancient treasure.
I picked this book up because I have read all the other Neil Flambe books and I love how the author combines cooking with all sorts of crazy things. I like how there's pictures in the book as well. Not every novel has pictures and very few of them are drawn well.
Somehow, Neil can be a top chef, a detective and travel all around the world at the age of 15. The idea is so crazy that you can't help but finish reading it in one day. The author also seems to know when the reader is getting bored because everytime I start to yawn, something totally unexpected comes up and wakes me up.
I guess I would recommand this book to anyone who's bored of reading the same story plot over and over again and want to try something new. This book can make you laugh, smile and cry all at the same time, so I reccomand you keep a box of tissue nearby!
I picked this book up because I have read all the other Neil Flambe books and I love how the author combines cooking with all sorts of crazy things. I like how there's pictures in the book as well. Not every novel has pictures and very few of them are drawn well.
Somehow, Neil can be a top chef, a detective and travel all around the world at the age of 15. The idea is so crazy that you can't help but finish reading it in one day. The author also seems to know when the reader is getting bored because everytime I start to yawn, something totally unexpected comes up and wakes me up.
I guess I would recommand this book to anyone who's bored of reading the same story plot over and over again and want to try something new. This book can make you laugh, smile and cry all at the same time, so I reccomand you keep a box of tissue nearby!
March 18, 2014
This book was hilarious, especially Larry's "bad puns". My most favourite part was was Larry's fake funeral with the mad libbs and the crying girlfriends.
I think this book was also intended to draw attention to the problem of the over-fishing of the oceans. There is a section devoted to the billionaire Nori
were he's started to eat some endangered species of turtle cooked in beluga whale fat which is illegal but then he gets interrpted so he throws the turtle soup to the sharks. The book is also partialy devoted to the decadent and uterly crazy life of the über rich. Most of this upper upper class are death mad thrill seekers who belong in mental asylumns.
What I would improve is the clearness of the dialogue sometimes it is'nt clear wich caracter is speaking
Also the character transitions sometimes are'nt as smothe as they should be.
On the whole the book is really well written with many jokes and hilariously wierd parts.
I'll give this book a 4.8 out of 5 stars.
I think this book was also intended to draw attention to the problem of the over-fishing of the oceans. There is a section devoted to the billionaire Nori
were he's started to eat some endangered species of turtle cooked in beluga whale fat which is illegal but then he gets interrpted so he throws the turtle soup to the sharks. The book is also partialy devoted to the decadent and uterly crazy life of the über rich. Most of this upper upper class are death mad thrill seekers who belong in mental asylumns.
What I would improve is the clearness of the dialogue sometimes it is'nt clear wich caracter is speaking
Also the character transitions sometimes are'nt as smothe as they should be.
On the whole the book is really well written with many jokes and hilariously wierd parts.
I'll give this book a 4.8 out of 5 stars.
January 25, 2013
This was my first Neil Flambe reading and I have to say, I was not expecting such a fun, hilarious story! I loved the characters with their catch phrases and quirks, the puns that flew which way throughout, the emphasis on food and cooking (who knew I would actually learn how to make a perfectly delectable omelette??), and the great story that kept me flipping through the chapters.
I think what I especially like about the Neil Flambe book is its unique character: a teenage, business-running, mystery-solving, successful chief. Normally I'd think, "A chief who ... solves mysteries? Okay..." but Sylvester hooked me into the idea with Flambe's flair for good culinary quality (making that an essential part of the story) and taste for mystery (a nice balance of page-turning action and suspense).
This book's definitely got me curious about the others in its series!
I think what I especially like about the Neil Flambe book is its unique character: a teenage, business-running, mystery-solving, successful chief. Normally I'd think, "A chief who ... solves mysteries? Okay..." but Sylvester hooked me into the idea with Flambe's flair for good culinary quality (making that an essential part of the story) and taste for mystery (a nice balance of page-turning action and suspense).
This book's definitely got me curious about the others in its series!
February 10, 2014
Neil Flambe and the Tokyo Treasure treasure is an adventuress book that doesn't always succeed. The plot involves world renowned chef Neil Flambe. His cousin Larry's manga (comic) was starting to take off so his illustrator invited him to Tokyo. Though when he got there things went awry as Larry and his illustrator were caught in a storm where the ship they were on sank and killed them. Neil in absolute disbelief finds a clue and subsequently flies down to Tokyo to search for his cousin. Of course since he is Neil Flambe he gets into all sorts of adventures. This book constantly kept me interested wanting to know more. This is a book that should be read, but only after you've read the first three books.
January 7, 2014
This book is about a person named Larry who decided to go to Tokyo to meet up with this man named Hiro so they could work on the manga they were working on in person. Very suddenly there was news about Larry and Hiro lost at sea, Neil Flambe, Larry's cousin, went to Tokyo to search for him. Neil brought his friends along with him to Tokyo to solve the mystery together. During the search for Larry Neil also had to go for cooking duels.
I picked this book because I've read the other Neil Flambe books and I really enjoyed all of them.
I finished this book because I really enjoyed the suspense and the mystery in this book.
I would recommend it to whoever likes mystery and adventure books books.
I picked this book because I've read the other Neil Flambe books and I really enjoyed all of them.
I finished this book because I really enjoyed the suspense and the mystery in this book.
I would recommend it to whoever likes mystery and adventure books books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2014
i really liked neil flambe and the tokyo treasure. To me it's a little slow at the start, but then it get's alot better. i like the character's personality's and how they all act around each other. Getting off of that, Neil flambe and the tokyo treasure is about neil who is sad to hear about his cousins death Larry, who died by being sunk while on a whale protesting ship in japan. But Neil soons finds clues that make it pretty certain that Larry is alive. So Neil and Nakamura travel to tokyo to find Larry na dprove everybody wrong. travel to tokyo with the gang in the 4th book in the Neil Flambe series.
February 26, 2014
So much fun! Neil's character has really taken on shape and dimension since the first book (which I thought dragged). I like the kid. And the other characters. But what I really loved was Sylvester's talent for piling the unbelievable on the outrageous. Wild! A dense, fast-paced, preposterous plot that kept the surprises coming to the last drop. And the whole thing held together about as tightly as I needed it to, given how much fun I was having along the way.
March 25, 2016
Best book so far! Neil faces the tragedy of losing his cousin Larry, but ends up on a chase to find out if Larry is actually alive, and also to solve another mystery, this time involving treasure hunting in Japan. Add to that a crazy cooking duel series, a bunch of good friends, and it's an exciting, fun-filled adventure.
Love Isabella in this book, very strong, yet kind, a force to be reckoned with. Bravo for a match for the teenage cooking whiz!
Love Isabella in this book, very strong, yet kind, a force to be reckoned with. Bravo for a match for the teenage cooking whiz!
August 11, 2016
Another great read. This book I found quite different from the others. It really focused on the qualities of one characters, Larry. There were a lot of twists and turns. You are always on your toes because you never know what will happen next. It does a good job of confusing as well as intriguing you so that you're sure to come back. It would only make sense for me to read the next book in the series. I'm looking forward to it.
December 10, 2012
I read this out of order, but minus a couple of references to the previous book, it reads well as a stand-alone. Lots of interesting information about Japan, though without doing any research I have no way of knowing whether the author's facts are accurate or if the details are imaginative. Either way, an enjoyable addition to the Neil Flambe series.
June 6, 2013
Funny, entertaining mystery about a teenage chef who goes to Tokyo to find his missing and assumed dead cousin. He also enters a cook off sponsored by an evil Japanese man who enjoys unusual foods. Characters all have distinct personalities. Mystery has enough layers to make the story fairly sophisticated for young readers.
January 21, 2014
Neil Flambe and the Tokyo Treasure was fantastic book! This book was a mix of funny and adventurous mystery book that I think anyone looking for a mystery book or something new to read. It was certainly a new book for me! kevin Sylvester has also wrote other books about Neil Flambe like the Marco Polo murders, the Aztec Abduction And the Crusaders Curse!
January 15, 2013
I just love this series. It is quite fun, with lots of dry wit and humour. The fact that the author is Canadian makes for some great place names and facts. This isn't a book for sissies though, there is quite a bit of violence, which could be hard for some younger readers. As an adult it is okay.
November 16, 2013
I think that the book was very great. It was very funny and very interesting.Neil Flambé books are very awesome
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April 10, 2018
Definitely one of the better Neil Flambe books. I'm glad that he's finally maturing into a semi-normal person.
Update: I spent over a week attempting to read the fifth book in the series. I just couldn't get into it, so I think my time with this series is done.
Update: I spent over a week attempting to read the fifth book in the series. I just couldn't get into it, so I think my time with this series is done.
April 30, 2020
The characters didn’t take me on an adventure of a lifetime nor did I care for their personalities. I will be donating this book to a school library hoping the true age range it is meant for will fall in love with it.
September 11, 2012
I got to read an advance copy -- it's coming out soon, and it's a worthy 4th book in the series. Fun, and fast-paced!
February 9, 2013
Great book for grade 5-6 students. Adventure, mystery with exciting twists at the end.
January 18, 2013
I really liked this book! It was extremely action packed. The only reason I did't give it 5 stars is the violence was a little disturbing.
March 31, 2013
Silly, fun. Fast-moving and lots of good food and cooking.
October 30, 2013
GREAT BOOK MUST READ.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews