Book Review: The Gate of Days by Guillaume Prevost

Book:  The Gate of Days (The Book of Time #2) by Guillaume Prevost, translated by William Rodarmor, Arthur A. Levine Books, 2008, 256 pages.

Source:  Library.

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
Sam Faulkner now knows his father is trapped in Vlad Tepes's castle, but he can't save him without the seven coins that will allow him to direct his travel to the right year in Time. So he sets off on a desperate journey through the ages to collect the coins -- to the oracle at Delphi, Pompeii before Mt. Vesuvius -- even Chicago in 1932, where he meets his seven-year-old grandfather. But things get wilder still when he finally finds his father, who is sick, dying, raving . . . and who insists they must rescue Sam's dead mother from Time!

My Thoughts:
The Gate of Days is another time traveling adventure full of stories of Sam visiting various places in search of his father.  In many ways, this book is an extension of the the first one - it picks up right where the other left off.  Again, the history involved seems genuine and well researched.

I enjoyed Sam and Lily's (Sam's cousin) characters and liked how they evolved in this book.  They both grew and used their brains to figure out the puzzle.

Sam's aunt and her boyfriend are a bit over the top, though I have a feeling that his aunt's nervous disposition may have some purpose in the last book (this is just a guess).

The book begins great and pulls us right in, not only with a burglary, but with the mystery of who the burglar is.  Prevost adds more depth to the story with the addition of the burglar and his tattoo of the horns with the circle in it, and how this theme is carried out through the book.

And then there is the great cliff hanger ending - I can't wait to get my hands on the next book in order to see how this series ends.  I can really see middle school and early teens liking this book, especially ones who like history and adventure stories.  I can also see the book appealing to both boys and girls.