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Accidental Detectives #11
Terror On Kamikaze Run
Book 10 of Accidental Detectives. A free trip to a beautiful Colorado ski resort seems to be a perfect Christmas vacation for Ricky and his friends. However, a hotel ?re and a terrifying slide down Kamikaze Run aren’t the best way to start out! And when a ghostly apparition begins haunting the resort, Ricky must learn new lessons about faith and trust, even as he attempts to solve the mystery…without putting his life in peril!
Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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About the author
Sigmund Brouwer
260 books407 followersSigmund loves going to schools to get kids excited about reading, reaching roughly 80,000 students a year through his Rock&Roll Literacy Show.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 23, 2025
For me this was the best book in the series so far. And it was just as good as when I read it when I was a kid. The only downside was that it mostly featured Ricky, but redt of the gang not so much.
June 19, 2018
When Ricky and his friends are offered a week at a ski resort in Colorado, it seems too good to pass up. They are supposed to be watching out for something odd that might be happening in the lodge, but they don’t know what might be wrong. Their first night there, a fire breaks out in the room where they are staying. Then they see the ghost of a woman who died in the area years ago. What is going on?
As readers, we get to strap in for another fun mystery. The plot is strong again, giving us twists and good clues before we reach the logical ending. The characters are so much fun and better than many we see in middle grade novels. Plus the humor sprinkled throughout adds a nice touch. There are some Christian themes woven into the novel as well, but all without preaching at us once.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
As readers, we get to strap in for another fun mystery. The plot is strong again, giving us twists and good clues before we reach the logical ending. The characters are so much fun and better than many we see in middle grade novels. Plus the humor sprinkled throughout adds a nice touch. There are some Christian themes woven into the novel as well, but all without preaching at us once.
Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.
June 25, 2024
Twelfth in The Accidental Detectives series is Terror on Kamikaze Run, an above-average entry for the teen mystery series by Sigmund Brouwer. This book is notable for several new updates on our favorite characters and for some well-constructed plotlines that never ask too much or too little of us.
After helping catch a wanted con artist who was preying on his local retirement home, Ricky Kidd and his friends are sent to the mountains of Colorado by the elderly Helen Avery, who believes that her brother Abe, who owns the massive Zebulon Ski Lodge that is being plagued by horrific accidents and mysterious sightings of the ghost of a gold miner’s daughter. After sighting the ghost (which is rumored to be a harbinger of disaster), Ricky finds himself on the receiving end of an accident, injuring his ribs but faking a broken leg so he can spy on the inhabitants of the ski lodge. As he uncovers information about tax fraud and bankruptcy, he comes face to face with pure evil and must work to untangle the puzzle before he loses his life.
Terror on Kamikaze Run scores immediate points for its original setting and entertaining side plots. Set in the dead of winter in the Rocky Mountains, our story unfolds quickly and never slows down, though some of the material does end up rushed with the faster pace. Somehow, this book feels a bit more real than some of the previous Accidental Detectives book settings, such as Mexico and New York City. Brouwer includes the first genuinely supernatural element we’ve seen in the series since Phantom Outlaw at Wolf Creek, and his eerie description of the gang’s first encounter with the ghost of the gold miner’s daughter is quite hair-raising. Brouwer is in top form in Ricky’s sardonic, logical narration, made even more hilarious by the subplot of Ricky deciding to fake a broken leg. This is a brilliant plot point because it establishes three different goals at once: (1) making the apparent supernatural danger very real in Ricky’s life, (2) allowing him to spy on the suspects without suspicion, and (3) giving him a chance to pull a massive prank on his friends (though I love that he ends up revealing it to them almost immediately because he realizes how serious the danger is — character growth!).
Unfortunately, some of Terror on Kamikaze Run feels rushed and underdeveloped. After a hilarious opening sequence featuring con artist Fred Norman eating Mr. Lynch’s discarded peanuts, the book moves fast and glosses over some of its key elements, such as character development. Ricky’s humorous encounters with the twins J.P. and Peter Avery are mentioned and never brought up again. Mike, Ralphy, and Lisa have some fun moments in the first half of the book (and Ralphy actually gets to do some solo sleuthing for once!), but they unfortunately do not appear again . Lots of things in the plot work exceptionally well — — but I wish Brouwer had stuck to a slightly less complex mystery so it didn’t feel quite so jerky at times.
We don’t get quite as much of a Christian subplot in Terror on Kamikaze Run, Ricky and Joel have a few brotherly moments, particularly as Ricky realizes how important it is to listen to Joel’s warnings about the fires and explosives, but those too are relegated to side material as the novel moves forward. Also, this marks the first book in which Joel’s ever-present teddy bear has been relinquished in favor of a cowboy cap pistol! It’s sort of a sad moment when you realize that means Joel is growing up a little and leaving behind the boyish traits we love about him, but I really appreciate that added depth to The Accidental Detectives series — the characters do get a little older in every book, and their character growth is made more impactful. I remember hitting the age where I was finally older than Ricky was in the final book; it was a bittersweet moment.
Terror on Kamikaze Run works surprisingly well as a mystery despite feeling rushed at times. The story is well-constructed and suspenseful, and it has all the favorite trademarks of a good Accidental Detectives book. Though there are better books in the series, I always enjoyed this one just because of the fun setting and the ghostly mystery.
After helping catch a wanted con artist who was preying on his local retirement home, Ricky Kidd and his friends are sent to the mountains of Colorado by the elderly Helen Avery, who believes that her brother Abe, who owns the massive Zebulon Ski Lodge that is being plagued by horrific accidents and mysterious sightings of the ghost of a gold miner’s daughter. After sighting the ghost (which is rumored to be a harbinger of disaster), Ricky finds himself on the receiving end of an accident, injuring his ribs but faking a broken leg so he can spy on the inhabitants of the ski lodge. As he uncovers information about tax fraud and bankruptcy, he comes face to face with pure evil and must work to untangle the puzzle before he loses his life.
Terror on Kamikaze Run scores immediate points for its original setting and entertaining side plots. Set in the dead of winter in the Rocky Mountains, our story unfolds quickly and never slows down, though some of the material does end up rushed with the faster pace. Somehow, this book feels a bit more real than some of the previous Accidental Detectives book settings, such as Mexico and New York City. Brouwer includes the first genuinely supernatural element we’ve seen in the series since Phantom Outlaw at Wolf Creek, and his eerie description of the gang’s first encounter with the ghost of the gold miner’s daughter is quite hair-raising. Brouwer is in top form in Ricky’s sardonic, logical narration, made even more hilarious by the subplot of Ricky deciding to fake a broken leg. This is a brilliant plot point because it establishes three different goals at once: (1) making the apparent supernatural danger very real in Ricky’s life, (2) allowing him to spy on the suspects without suspicion, and (3) giving him a chance to pull a massive prank on his friends (though I love that he ends up revealing it to them almost immediately because he realizes how serious the danger is — character growth!).
Unfortunately, some of Terror on Kamikaze Run feels rushed and underdeveloped. After a hilarious opening sequence featuring con artist Fred Norman eating Mr. Lynch’s discarded peanuts, the book moves fast and glosses over some of its key elements, such as character development. Ricky’s humorous encounters with the twins J.P. and Peter Avery are mentioned and never brought up again. Mike, Ralphy, and Lisa have some fun moments in the first half of the book (and Ralphy actually gets to do some solo sleuthing for once!), but they unfortunately do not appear again . Lots of things in the plot work exceptionally well — — but I wish Brouwer had stuck to a slightly less complex mystery so it didn’t feel quite so jerky at times.
We don’t get quite as much of a Christian subplot in Terror on Kamikaze Run, Ricky and Joel have a few brotherly moments, particularly as Ricky realizes how important it is to listen to Joel’s warnings about the fires and explosives, but those too are relegated to side material as the novel moves forward. Also, this marks the first book in which Joel’s ever-present teddy bear has been relinquished in favor of a cowboy cap pistol! It’s sort of a sad moment when you realize that means Joel is growing up a little and leaving behind the boyish traits we love about him, but I really appreciate that added depth to The Accidental Detectives series — the characters do get a little older in every book, and their character growth is made more impactful. I remember hitting the age where I was finally older than Ricky was in the final book; it was a bittersweet moment.
Terror on Kamikaze Run works surprisingly well as a mystery despite feeling rushed at times. The story is well-constructed and suspenseful, and it has all the favorite trademarks of a good Accidental Detectives book. Though there are better books in the series, I always enjoyed this one just because of the fun setting and the ghostly mystery.
March 30, 2016
Still one of my favorite books ever. I think I loved it before I had tried skiing.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews