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Stone #1
Matthew and the Stone
Following the unexpected death of his father, Matthew Brandt is granted a scholarship at an exclusive high school in northern San Diego County, California. He is exceptionally bright and advanced in school so must deal with being over a year younger than the other students in his junior class. He tries to figure out how to fit in with the ultra-wealthy friends he makes during a class trip to France. Then he discovers a stone with strange powers one day while practicing his martial arts forms. He has to figure out how to use those powers and to what purpose.
This is the first book of a new series that follows Matthew as he becomes entangled in a number of cases that he helps to solve.
This is the first book of a new series that follows Matthew as he becomes entangled in a number of cases that he helps to solve.
397 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 1, 2019
376 people are currently reading
620 people want to read
About the author
Bob Blanton
60 books335 followersBob Blanton has been an avid reader ever since his mother first took him to a library at age five. He has toyed with writing for years since college but was always too busy to start a novel. The "stone series" developed almost by itself as he was trying to sleep on long flights to Asia and Europe. He managed to write it and two follow-on novels while he was working, but never had the time to polish them. After he retired to the beach in Mexico, the only thing that competes with writing is the sound of the ocean and sunsets over the water. Now that he has published his series, he hopes you enjoy reading them as much as he has had writing them. Check back for other books as he continues to ply his new trade.
Now that he has published his series, he hopes you enjoy reading about Matthew and his developing powers as much as he has enjoyed writing about them.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
July 31, 2019
Matthew and the Stone is an entertaining, well-written book which young teens will enjoy. The title character, Matthew, is a fourteen year-old boy who has more than his fair share of problems. He is exceptionally bright, so is considered geeky and a target of abuse by the school jocks. To make matters worse, he is a year ahead of his age group, which makes it difficult for him to befriend older classmates, particularly the girls he is attracted to.
The plot is set up by a trip taken by Matthew and his classmates to France, which gives him the opportunity to get involved in some teenage hi-jinks and make a few friends. He also finds – or does it 'find' him? – an odd little stone covered in mysterious runes. From there, the author develops the story on a number of different levels and I can see that a great deal of thought and planning has gone into the book's overall structure, the arcs of at least half a dozen characters, and the pace of plot delivery, which is consistent throughout.
Aside from the 'young teenager trying to fit in' theme, we discover that Matthew's mother has serious financial problems and I enjoyed the imaginative schemes he comes up with to make quick money and the relatively gentle way in which the author deals with the ethical dilemmas he encounters as a result. I also liked the wholesome messages woven expertly into the narrative – they came across naturally and reminded me of the subtle way this used to be done by children's authors of my youth.
Last but not least, there is the stone, which Matthew soon begins to discover is much more than it seems.
The plot is set up by a trip taken by Matthew and his classmates to France, which gives him the opportunity to get involved in some teenage hi-jinks and make a few friends. He also finds – or does it 'find' him? – an odd little stone covered in mysterious runes. From there, the author develops the story on a number of different levels and I can see that a great deal of thought and planning has gone into the book's overall structure, the arcs of at least half a dozen characters, and the pace of plot delivery, which is consistent throughout.
Aside from the 'young teenager trying to fit in' theme, we discover that Matthew's mother has serious financial problems and I enjoyed the imaginative schemes he comes up with to make quick money and the relatively gentle way in which the author deals with the ethical dilemmas he encounters as a result. I also liked the wholesome messages woven expertly into the narrative – they came across naturally and reminded me of the subtle way this used to be done by children's authors of my youth.
Last but not least, there is the stone, which Matthew soon begins to discover is much more than it seems.
August 20, 2020
Rating 3.0 stars
This was a weird one. It is very hard to describe. I liked it, but there were a lot of scenes in the book that just didn't seem to fit. Multiple times I had to ask myself " Where is this story going?" It seemed like the writer knew a lot about some subjects and decided to put them into the book, though those topics didn't really fit into the story as a whole. The story follows Mathew who is a 14 year old genius. He skipped 2 grades in school so he is a Junior and all his classmates are 16 years old. He is on a trip to Europe with some of his class. The typical teenage stuff happens. He is picked on by the quarterback/jock, he has a crush on the hottest girl in class. Some things make him different. His father passed away a year ago and his family is struggling for money. He is on scholarship at a private school while all the other kids in school are super rich. He has an eidetic memory and has a black belt in kung fu. He also has 2 part time jobs, one of them working as a computer programmer (he is better than the adult full time employees). Overall he is the typical genius kid who is an overachiever and good at everything. Then he finds a stone while he is practicing his meditation in Europe. There is something special about this stone. Despite all the questionable choices I thought the author made with this story, I did find that I really enjoyed the characters. That is why it is so hard for me to review this book. I am glad I read this book, but I don't think I will continue the series.
This was a weird one. It is very hard to describe. I liked it, but there were a lot of scenes in the book that just didn't seem to fit. Multiple times I had to ask myself " Where is this story going?" It seemed like the writer knew a lot about some subjects and decided to put them into the book, though those topics didn't really fit into the story as a whole. The story follows Mathew who is a 14 year old genius. He skipped 2 grades in school so he is a Junior and all his classmates are 16 years old. He is on a trip to Europe with some of his class. The typical teenage stuff happens. He is picked on by the quarterback/jock, he has a crush on the hottest girl in class. Some things make him different. His father passed away a year ago and his family is struggling for money. He is on scholarship at a private school while all the other kids in school are super rich. He has an eidetic memory and has a black belt in kung fu. He also has 2 part time jobs, one of them working as a computer programmer (he is better than the adult full time employees). Overall he is the typical genius kid who is an overachiever and good at everything. Then he finds a stone while he is practicing his meditation in Europe. There is something special about this stone. Despite all the questionable choices I thought the author made with this story, I did find that I really enjoyed the characters. That is why it is so hard for me to review this book. I am glad I read this book, but I don't think I will continue the series.
February 13, 2021
After a reasonable start I began to wonder what this book was really about, spoilt rich kids, teenage angst, a sort of high school soap opera, it was not promising. It didn’t help that I also didn’t really like the main character.
It turned out that Matt wasn’t that bad, even though he could be extremely annoying at times. Unfortunately although the ‘Stone’ finally had some effect on the story, in the main it really was a teenage soap opera.
It turned out that Matt wasn’t that bad, even though he could be extremely annoying at times. Unfortunately although the ‘Stone’ finally had some effect on the story, in the main it really was a teenage soap opera.
May 17, 2020
I read 44% of this story before I could not take it anymore. Let me see if I can break it down:
Characters - every time the author starts to delve into character development, he backs away suddenly. By 44% of the way in to the story, I didn't care about a single character. There had been no depth given to any of them. Other than telling the reader how wealthy most of the characters are and showing that the 2 main male characters are bullies (which was not the intent, I am certain), you have no real knowledge about any of them.
Story - it skips! It skips so much the reader will feel as though they missed something. At one point, the characters are talking about how they have 2 days left in France and all the sudden they are taking the test and boarding the plane. I am still confused as to how or even why the author felt the need to tell us about those days if he wasn't going to share them with us. The author continues to skip events that he mentions during the story and it is unsettling to the reader. The way the translation of the stone is described makes no sense at all. It seems like there is more referenced than is shared and it means nothing. The character never even googles the stone or the translation. So he has this stone and is semi-curious about using it only as a voyeur but doesn't dig in to the history? That makes no sense.
The author spends lots of time going in to details about tennis, but the tennis is a means to an end, so why the in depth discussion about play? The martial arts in depth description is the same situation. By almost halfway in to the book, we have done nothing with the martial arts.
SPOILER - Again, 44% of the way through the book...the story is set up for the main character to use the stone for insider trading - that set up was huge and shallow and came out of no where. If this is supposed to be our hero, why is he such a pathetic, shallow, mean person?
Honestly, there are some great story telling elements in this book, but they need a lot more work to flesh them out. This story feels forced and undone and I can't think of any age group that would find it interesting.
Full disclosure - I won this book in a GoodReads giveaway. The review and opinions are entirely my own.
Characters - every time the author starts to delve into character development, he backs away suddenly. By 44% of the way in to the story, I didn't care about a single character. There had been no depth given to any of them. Other than telling the reader how wealthy most of the characters are and showing that the 2 main male characters are bullies (which was not the intent, I am certain), you have no real knowledge about any of them.
Story - it skips! It skips so much the reader will feel as though they missed something. At one point, the characters are talking about how they have 2 days left in France and all the sudden they are taking the test and boarding the plane. I am still confused as to how or even why the author felt the need to tell us about those days if he wasn't going to share them with us. The author continues to skip events that he mentions during the story and it is unsettling to the reader. The way the translation of the stone is described makes no sense at all. It seems like there is more referenced than is shared and it means nothing. The character never even googles the stone or the translation. So he has this stone and is semi-curious about using it only as a voyeur but doesn't dig in to the history? That makes no sense.
The author spends lots of time going in to details about tennis, but the tennis is a means to an end, so why the in depth discussion about play? The martial arts in depth description is the same situation. By almost halfway in to the book, we have done nothing with the martial arts.
SPOILER - Again, 44% of the way through the book...the story is set up for the main character to use the stone for insider trading - that set up was huge and shallow and came out of no where. If this is supposed to be our hero, why is he such a pathetic, shallow, mean person?
Honestly, there are some great story telling elements in this book, but they need a lot more work to flesh them out. This story feels forced and undone and I can't think of any age group that would find it interesting.
Full disclosure - I won this book in a GoodReads giveaway. The review and opinions are entirely my own.
January 23, 2020
Great fantasy read about a young man's magical coming of age.
Matthew is a sensitive young man who is many things, a computer geek, martial artist and finally a magical clairvoyant. His dad is dead, his mom works 2 jobs and so does he. They're always short of money & the insurance company refuses to pay for his deceased father's huge medical bills, leaving them with an overwhelming medial debt & 2 mortgages. So when Matthew is found by a magical stone that gives him a "remote viewing" capability he initially uses it to help his family financially. The majority of the story tells how he starts using his powers for good & for helping others. I'm really looking forward to book 2. Read this book, you'll be very glad you did!
Matthew is a sensitive young man who is many things, a computer geek, martial artist and finally a magical clairvoyant. His dad is dead, his mom works 2 jobs and so does he. They're always short of money & the insurance company refuses to pay for his deceased father's huge medical bills, leaving them with an overwhelming medial debt & 2 mortgages. So when Matthew is found by a magical stone that gives him a "remote viewing" capability he initially uses it to help his family financially. The majority of the story tells how he starts using his powers for good & for helping others. I'm really looking forward to book 2. Read this book, you'll be very glad you did!
June 26, 2022
It's a teen almost romance detective book with a little fantasy or maybe sci-fi thrown in. I enjoy it when you consider some real-world issues such as Habitat for Humanity and the ethical issues faced in the world of finance and big business. I've wondered why people couldn't explore a positive aspect of subject matters. You've done a nice bit on that. The Mexican housing conditions exploration was good but have you looked at how their rich live. Are there organizations in Mexico like Habitat for Humanity or are they all US based? How about housing conditions in the US and how we're addressing those. Native American conditions? etc. I'll continue your series to see what other subjects you explore.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 18, 2020
Great Read
Matthew is a brilliant 14 year old attending a prestigious high school. He also has jobs in web design and computer repair. Being a year younger than his classmates, he has trouble fitting in socially. He finds an unusual stone on a field trip to France that gives him remote viewing powers. I like the struggle he goes through in determining the moral usage of his power. I like the martial arts, humor, and timid dealing with romantic feelings. I look forward to another book.
Matthew is a brilliant 14 year old attending a prestigious high school. He also has jobs in web design and computer repair. Being a year younger than his classmates, he has trouble fitting in socially. He finds an unusual stone on a field trip to France that gives him remote viewing powers. I like the struggle he goes through in determining the moral usage of his power. I like the martial arts, humor, and timid dealing with romantic feelings. I look forward to another book.
November 1, 2020
Wish I Had a Magic Stone
Okay, it's Middle School (Jr. High) reading involving all the angst of "boy meets girl". That out of the way, it's a pretty good story about a fairly normal young man us able to use an impossible "magical" gift in ways to help others. I do wonder about the theology of playing the stock market as stealing and he could not keep his earnings, but it was okay for his church to use them. Blanton speaks on some topics that most of us wish we had a "magic stone" to eliminate, such as child abduction. All in all a fun read.
Okay, it's Middle School (Jr. High) reading involving all the angst of "boy meets girl". That out of the way, it's a pretty good story about a fairly normal young man us able to use an impossible "magical" gift in ways to help others. I do wonder about the theology of playing the stock market as stealing and he could not keep his earnings, but it was okay for his church to use them. Blanton speaks on some topics that most of us wish we had a "magic stone" to eliminate, such as child abduction. All in all a fun read.
April 18, 2020
Coming of age tell
I do like his other series better, but this is still a good book. when I started book was thinking more about boy gets powers and gets rich or start grow something big. no just more of coming of age story. Did think the Mon was an stupid at one point. even with it not developing as I thought was still good read. I found Ed Nelson Jackson Saga ( 5 start) series this January an he has me wanting more of the coming of age tell.
I do like his other series better, but this is still a good book. when I started book was thinking more about boy gets powers and gets rich or start grow something big. no just more of coming of age story. Did think the Mon was an stupid at one point. even with it not developing as I thought was still good read. I found Ed Nelson Jackson Saga ( 5 start) series this January an he has me wanting more of the coming of age tell.
March 9, 2020
Surprisingly entertaining
Had to give it four stars as it was a pleasant read that held my interest. Not a typical super hero story, and the hero was much more restrained in his use of his new abilities then I would have been. But I found myself really liking the young hero and his friends and look forward to him exploring the possibilities further.
Had to give it four stars as it was a pleasant read that held my interest. Not a typical super hero story, and the hero was much more restrained in his use of his new abilities then I would have been. But I found myself really liking the young hero and his friends and look forward to him exploring the possibilities further.
June 23, 2020
A Modern Morality Play
The YA story themes include a variety of religious styles and my overall assessment is this is a morality play. The short description does not adequately explain the story. There is a mysterious rune scribed stone but it plays a minor role to the main religious themes which dominate much of the book. There are sequels but I think I’m done with the series.
The YA story themes include a variety of religious styles and my overall assessment is this is a morality play. The short description does not adequately explain the story. There is a mysterious rune scribed stone but it plays a minor role to the main religious themes which dominate much of the book. There are sequels but I think I’m done with the series.
July 15, 2020
Not sure
This is a young adult novel which is one of the few that I have had a hard time to get into.
Would I recommend it?
It will appeal to a lot of the same people that love this type of storyline!
I however had a hard time getting into this book.
I may try again later to re-read it in the future again.
This is a young adult novel which is one of the few that I have had a hard time to get into.
Would I recommend it?
It will appeal to a lot of the same people that love this type of storyline!
I however had a hard time getting into this book.
I may try again later to re-read it in the future again.
January 19, 2020
Surprise
The main character is someone that you don't for through the entire book . A person who initially is in it for number one. Then finds that inner spark of decency using it to change everything around them. Good book
The main character is someone that you don't for through the entire book . A person who initially is in it for number one. Then finds that inner spark of decency using it to change everything around them. Good book
February 4, 2020
Fun to read
This is definitely a YA book but it was enjoyable to read just the same. With his unusual power, the main character could have gotten himself into trouble. I like the way the author dealt with that issue.
This is definitely a YA book but it was enjoyable to read just the same. With his unusual power, the main character could have gotten himself into trouble. I like the way the author dealt with that issue.
February 5, 2020
Nice middle school reading
This book is mostly for junior high level. If you are looking for a more adult adventure, you won't find it here. As this is a proper book to read to your child.
This book is mostly for junior high level. If you are looking for a more adult adventure, you won't find it here. As this is a proper book to read to your child.
February 11, 2020
This book was neither what I expected, nor as bad as I feared. It's a fairly decent tale, and I'm probably going to read more in the series. I like the main character, and watching him learn how to handle his abilities is entertaining and educational. This should be an interesting series.
November 27, 2020
Annoyingly religious
The whole religious subplot left a bad taste in my mouth. The book overall wasn't great to begin with but the overblown morality lesson was the final nail in the coffin.
The whole religious subplot left a bad taste in my mouth. The book overall wasn't great to begin with but the overblown morality lesson was the final nail in the coffin.
July 12, 2021
Matthew and The Stone: book 1
This series is not a fast action book. It does have really nice action scenes scattered throughout the book so it is not slow. What the book does extremely well is get you involved I’m the life of the characters and their adventures. Great series
This series is not a fast action book. It does have really nice action scenes scattered throughout the book so it is not slow. What the book does extremely well is get you involved I’m the life of the characters and their adventures. Great series
October 19, 2021
Probably Best for Pre-Teen
The plot is interesting, but the writing is simplistic. The entire book is just statements, including the conversations.
I will not be reading the next book in the series.
The plot is interesting, but the writing is simplistic. The entire book is just statements, including the conversations.
I will not be reading the next book in the series.
November 20, 2021
The premise is pretty simple. Matt, a high school Junior goes on a trip to France where he finds a ancient Celtic stone that lets him see things far away. The editing is only so so but the books are short enough that it passes quickly.
December 14, 2021
Good clean fun read
I know this is a YA book, but I really enjoyed the moral compass and right actions taken by the main character. It kept me turning pages to see what happened next.
I know this is a YA book, but I really enjoyed the moral compass and right actions taken by the main character. It kept me turning pages to see what happened next.
November 24, 2022
A good read
I liked the way the character used his powers and was convinced that any power can be abused. He seems to have matured and hopefully will add more adventures to his life.
I liked the way the character used his powers and was convinced that any power can be abused. He seems to have matured and hopefully will add more adventures to his life.
September 12, 2023
Clever coming of age
Teenager overcoming high school problems with some some interesting twists. Very above average intellect and abilities, plus a magical stone is discovered. Just the beginning of amazing feats of heroic deeds.
Teenager overcoming high school problems with some some interesting twists. Very above average intellect and abilities, plus a magical stone is discovered. Just the beginning of amazing feats of heroic deeds.
January 18, 2020
Bad book
Wow I started reading hoping it would actual turn into something worthy of my time..boy I was so wrong!! If you are over 12 this book is not for you!!
Wow I started reading hoping it would actual turn into something worthy of my time..boy I was so wrong!! If you are over 12 this book is not for you!!
January 30, 2020
Good
I had to read this book. I worked with a guy named Bob Blanton many years ago. It was fun and enjoyable.
I had to read this book. I worked with a guy named Bob Blanton many years ago. It was fun and enjoyable.
April 17, 2020
At first wondered why the boy was not home schooled but soon saw that even one friend can change everything. Interesting grabbing your attention from start to finish.
April 23, 2020
if u like bland and very little excitement then this book is for you.
May 22, 2020
High caliber YA literature
Does everyone else dread this 20 word requirement as I do?
Good read. (Foul mouthed bad guy had a small part.)
Does everyone else dread this 20 word requirement as I do?
Good read. (Foul mouthed bad guy had a small part.)
May 24, 2020
A great book. Well written
May 27, 2020
Excellent
This is an excellent book to start a new series (for me)I read his Bob and Nikki series and this is different but just as good.
ENJOY
This is an excellent book to start a new series (for me)I read his Bob and Nikki series and this is different but just as good.
ENJOY
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews