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Steve #2
Broken Arrow
Steve thinks he made the right choice turning down a snowy week with his cousins at a cabin in northern Ontario in favor of a relaxing (and perhaps romantic) time under the Spanish sun with his friend, Laia. But when an email from his brother DJ arrives, implicating their grandfather in some shadowy international plots involving nuclear bombs, Steve and Laia immediately put aside all thoughts of a lazy, sun-drenched vacation. In a desperate attempt to find out if Steve’s grandfather was a Cold War-era spy, they crack mysterious codes, confront violent Russian mobsters, dodge spies, unearth a bomb and avoid nudists. But the more they uncover, the more Steve whose side was Grandpa really on?
Broken Arrow is the sequel to both The Missing Skull , part of The Seven Prequels and Lost Cause , part of Seven (The Series).
Broken Arrow is the sequel to both The Missing Skull , part of The Seven Prequels and Lost Cause , part of Seven (The Series).
- GenresYoung AdultTeenAdventure
240 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2014
4 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
John Wilson
876 books52 followersJohn Wilson, an ex-geologist and frustrated historian, is the award-winning author of fifty novels and non-fiction books for adults and teens. His passion for history informs everything he writes, from the recreated journal of an officer on Sir John Franklin’s doomed Arctic expedition to young soldiers experiencing the horrors of the First and Second World Wars and a memoir of his own history. John researches and writes in Lantzville on Vancouver Island. There are many more details in his memoir, Lands of Lost Content, https://www.amazon.com/Lands-Lost-Con...
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 2, 2018
In “Broken Arrow” John Wilson’s exciting sequel to “The Missing Skull” Steve is missing a weekend with his cousins at their grandfather’s cabin in Northern Ontario to spend his Christmas vacation with his friend Laia in Barcelona Spain.
The plot heats up when he encounters an enigmatic investment banker on his flight; receives an email from his brother DJ implicating his grandfather in some shadowy spy activities involving the explosion on a B-52 in the late 1960’s; and is kidnapped by Russian mobsters. Sent a Spanish passport, cash and a code book to decipher, intensity and suspense escalate as events unfold that have Steve and Laia decrypting the code that could lead to a hidden plutonium bomb in Palomaris while being tracked by a black SUV and a motorcycle. Blending history and a conspiracy into the twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat, the plot rushes headlong into a high-raising confrontation near the end.
Plot-oriented rather than focused on character development, Steve and Laia are compelling personalities that charge the story with realism and high-energy. Clever teens who love adventure they join forces to solve the puzzle of his grandfather’s undercover activities and the code to be deciphered. A cute couple who avoid the nudists at their hotel, they look to each other for encouragement and support especially when facing thugs and exploring the nearby hills for the hidden site of the bomb.
“Broken Arrow” is a well written and intriguing adventure teens will enjoy as much as I did.
The plot heats up when he encounters an enigmatic investment banker on his flight; receives an email from his brother DJ implicating his grandfather in some shadowy spy activities involving the explosion on a B-52 in the late 1960’s; and is kidnapped by Russian mobsters. Sent a Spanish passport, cash and a code book to decipher, intensity and suspense escalate as events unfold that have Steve and Laia decrypting the code that could lead to a hidden plutonium bomb in Palomaris while being tracked by a black SUV and a motorcycle. Blending history and a conspiracy into the twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat, the plot rushes headlong into a high-raising confrontation near the end.
Plot-oriented rather than focused on character development, Steve and Laia are compelling personalities that charge the story with realism and high-energy. Clever teens who love adventure they join forces to solve the puzzle of his grandfather’s undercover activities and the code to be deciphered. A cute couple who avoid the nudists at their hotel, they look to each other for encouragement and support especially when facing thugs and exploring the nearby hills for the hidden site of the bomb.
“Broken Arrow” is a well written and intriguing adventure teens will enjoy as much as I did.
August 8, 2020
Another fun, quick read in this series. Just as in ‘Sleeper,’ by Eric Walters, the grandsons of David McLean are finding out information about David’s past. In this book, it was Steve’s turn. He is in Spain visiting his girlfriend Laia when he receives a text from his brother DJ regarding secrets from David’s past. Steve and Laia learn about more of Spain’s history, as well as more of what David had been doing in his life before kids and grandkids. It did connect very well with ‘Sleeper,’ although the initial background given in Sleeper did help me understand this story more.
August 14, 2022
Steve is spending Christmas in Spain with his girlfriend Laia. His cousins and brother are at their grandfathers' cabin where they discover a secret stash. Spain is mentioned so while he's there Steve and Laia are trying to find answers to the cryptic clues his grandfather left behind. They get caught in an old dispute involving bombs and the mob which leads to trouble. Was his grandfather a traitor, a spy or what? Steve needs to know.
January 17, 2019
Fans of Conspiracy 365 will enjoy this series that is similar in style. Short chapters that end with cliff hangers will keep readers turning the pages.
April 13, 2016
Plot:
Broken Arrow is part of a seven-book series called Seven: The Sequels, which basically tell the story of seven different cousins who are each given missions by their grandfather's will after he has passed away. (There was an original series called Seven with a set of seven books that preceded the current ones.) Because each book is written by a different author and they don't have to be read in any specific sequence, there are multiple different stories that are connected, but they don't all have to be read. There was a book that came before this one in the first series, called Lost Cause, which began the story. Without having read that, I found this book quite confusing in the beginning, because the backstory is complex and involves historical details from not just the grandfather;s life, but various aspects of life and literature in Canada, Russia and Spain as well.
The story begins with Steve taking a trip to Spain during Winter Break to see his girlfriend, Laia. Steve and Laia had met in the past because Steve had found out after his grandfather passed away that this grandfather and Laia's great-grandmother had been romantically interested in each other, and had worked together in some way to help save Spain from fascism.
Steve goes to Spain to see Laia, but he ends up getting a text from his brother about some secret information that he and the five other cousins have found at his old grandfather's old home. Their findings include notes and secret codes that have to do with Spain. Steve and Laia work to solve these challenging riddles, and they are successful far too quickly. The obscure historical and geographical references would be extremely difficult for anyone to decipher with such ease!
The unraveling of these codes and where they lead in the story cause the teens to be kidnapped not once, but twice, and they don't even tell Laia's father (their traveling companion) after the first kidnapping occurs because they don't want him to be worried!!
The teens are on a mission to find a missing plutonium bomb that may be hidden somewhere in Spain, and they eventually find out that they are being followed and have been under surveillance. In fact, Steve has been under surveillance by a man named Chad (whom he met on the plane and who works with Laia's dad) ever since his grandfather passed away!
There are many extraordinary coincidences and complex details that come together a little too easily to lead to the solving of riddles, the uncovering of information, and the eventual rescue of the two teens from a dangerous situation.
Characters:
There is very little depth in the description or motivation of any of the characters, and the reader barely gets a chance to know anything about Steve and Laia outside of the information about the clues they are working on. They also exhibit certain behaviors that don't seem to line up with normal reactions people would have in extreme circumstances (such as having a rational discussion about their location based on different clues after being kidnapped and transported by car to an unknown location). Though their relationship is supposed to be romantic, it feels more like they are business partners or polite acquaintances until the very end of the book.
Overall Evaluation:
This story is hard to get into because of the confusing amount of information and pieces of backstory available at the beginning, but it picks up steam about halfway through as the adventure starts to make a little more sense. The writing is fairly good, but the plot is often confusing and/or unbelievable.
There are many elements that just don't seem realistic--for instance, the "young man" they have been meeting with and talking to (and who had worked with their grandfather) is actual 70 years old and had had plastic surgery to keep looking younger than he is! It may be plausible to reduce one's appearance by a few years with exercise, good health, and surgery, but it would definitely be difficult to alter one's looks enough to look decades younger!
Also, the fact that Steve (a teenage boy) could so easily head off on his own on an international trip to see his teenage girlfriend and have enough freedom to sightsee (and enough opportunity to get kidnapped twice) seemed a bit unrealistic.
This story might also be a tough read for a struggling reader, because it can be very confusing at times, especially at the beginning when all of the backstory is being mentioned and the many pieces and fragments of history are being partially explained.
Broken Arrow is part of a seven-book series called Seven: The Sequels, which basically tell the story of seven different cousins who are each given missions by their grandfather's will after he has passed away. (There was an original series called Seven with a set of seven books that preceded the current ones.) Because each book is written by a different author and they don't have to be read in any specific sequence, there are multiple different stories that are connected, but they don't all have to be read. There was a book that came before this one in the first series, called Lost Cause, which began the story. Without having read that, I found this book quite confusing in the beginning, because the backstory is complex and involves historical details from not just the grandfather;s life, but various aspects of life and literature in Canada, Russia and Spain as well.
The story begins with Steve taking a trip to Spain during Winter Break to see his girlfriend, Laia. Steve and Laia had met in the past because Steve had found out after his grandfather passed away that this grandfather and Laia's great-grandmother had been romantically interested in each other, and had worked together in some way to help save Spain from fascism.
Steve goes to Spain to see Laia, but he ends up getting a text from his brother about some secret information that he and the five other cousins have found at his old grandfather's old home. Their findings include notes and secret codes that have to do with Spain. Steve and Laia work to solve these challenging riddles, and they are successful far too quickly. The obscure historical and geographical references would be extremely difficult for anyone to decipher with such ease!
The unraveling of these codes and where they lead in the story cause the teens to be kidnapped not once, but twice, and they don't even tell Laia's father (their traveling companion) after the first kidnapping occurs because they don't want him to be worried!!
The teens are on a mission to find a missing plutonium bomb that may be hidden somewhere in Spain, and they eventually find out that they are being followed and have been under surveillance. In fact, Steve has been under surveillance by a man named Chad (whom he met on the plane and who works with Laia's dad) ever since his grandfather passed away!
There are many extraordinary coincidences and complex details that come together a little too easily to lead to the solving of riddles, the uncovering of information, and the eventual rescue of the two teens from a dangerous situation.
Characters:
There is very little depth in the description or motivation of any of the characters, and the reader barely gets a chance to know anything about Steve and Laia outside of the information about the clues they are working on. They also exhibit certain behaviors that don't seem to line up with normal reactions people would have in extreme circumstances (such as having a rational discussion about their location based on different clues after being kidnapped and transported by car to an unknown location). Though their relationship is supposed to be romantic, it feels more like they are business partners or polite acquaintances until the very end of the book.
Overall Evaluation:
This story is hard to get into because of the confusing amount of information and pieces of backstory available at the beginning, but it picks up steam about halfway through as the adventure starts to make a little more sense. The writing is fairly good, but the plot is often confusing and/or unbelievable.
There are many elements that just don't seem realistic--for instance, the "young man" they have been meeting with and talking to (and who had worked with their grandfather) is actual 70 years old and had had plastic surgery to keep looking younger than he is! It may be plausible to reduce one's appearance by a few years with exercise, good health, and surgery, but it would definitely be difficult to alter one's looks enough to look decades younger!
Also, the fact that Steve (a teenage boy) could so easily head off on his own on an international trip to see his teenage girlfriend and have enough freedom to sightsee (and enough opportunity to get kidnapped twice) seemed a bit unrealistic.
This story might also be a tough read for a struggling reader, because it can be very confusing at times, especially at the beginning when all of the backstory is being mentioned and the many pieces and fragments of history are being partially explained.
July 31, 2014
I found this book a bit difficult to rate. On the one hand, the writing is smooth and makes for an easy read, and I appreciated the historic underpinnings to the story. On the other hand, the tale is rather slight, with little character development. Kids may like the adventure and figuring out the codes, and may find their curiosity sparked concerning another place and time. But the way I judge a kids' book as a four or five star is dependent upon my willingness to mail it to my granddaughter. I won't bother doing that with this, but if she spots it on my shelf when she comes to visit, I certainly won't mind her reading it.
I received this book for free through Goodreads.
I received this book for free through Goodreads.
August 3, 2016
Not bad, just not great. Interesting world, a few interesting takes on magic, familiars and good potential for action. Arol's character had a lot of potential to be interesting, but he never really achieved it. By the end of the book I was just ho-hum about him, not really interested in future endeavors.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was pretty good...no excellent, but certainly didn't take away from the story. Apparently the rest of the series doesn't have audiobook versions, which is a definite minus...anyone interested in the series should consider that this is as far as you'll get.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was pretty good...no excellent, but certainly didn't take away from the story. Apparently the rest of the series doesn't have audiobook versions, which is a definite minus...anyone interested in the series should consider that this is as far as you'll get.
November 12, 2014
Broken Arrow follows the story of Steve who is in Spain visiting his girlfriend Laia. They are soon involved in Steve's Grampa's past life as a possible spy, searching for clues he's left behind about a nuclear bomb. Full of codes and mystery, the teens find themselves in the crosshairs of Tattoo Head and Blue Eyes, bad guys who aren't messing around. Recommended for teens and fans of the 7 the series.
February 24, 2015
All I want to say is that the subway was so bad that I finished this book this morning before I even got on the train...
April 8, 2017
Good mystery, but most importantly, finally one in the series that actually gave some answers!!!!
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews