Freakish Friday

5 Flames

Good Evening my Fellow Book Dragons,

Fall is in full swing and I celebrated my 590th birthday on the 11th. If you would like to participate in my Birthday Bash go to my Facebook page.

Our gem this evening came to me in the form of a beautiful Bavarian carved egg shell. Imagine my delight when I realized that unlike the usual bucolic scene and colorful egg, instead I found a black and white egg with cryptids and creatures of all sorts, including Flying Monkeys, a Pegasus and a Gryphon! I knew immediately who this tale was about, my old Veterinarian, Dr. Xavier Doolittle Pratt!

This is first time Gem Maker, Julie Fudge Smith’s debit novel, The Beast Keepers. She has captured my old stomping grounds of Carrollton, Ohio perfectly. I still live in a spacious cave in the foothills of Appalachia in Ohio, as this area gave me more room to spread my wings, but I still saw Dr. Pratt for small issues that didn’t require the Knights Templar Hospital deep in a Welsh Cave.

This particular tale includes Centaurs, Gryphons, a Faun and even a Unicorn. Even my species is mentioned. These are my tribe. Everyone believes we are mythical but you and I know better, do we not? This particular tale is a mystery, a romance and lastly an adventure with

Dr. Pratt decides to bring in a new vet as a partner because he’s getting a bit long in the tooth and he’d like to take it easier. He decides on Dr. Jonathan St. Roche. Jon is young, a graduate of Cornell and a true animal lover. Jonathan takes to the practice like a Mermaid takes to water.

When he’s introduced to the local cryptid population he doesn’t flinch (much) and comes to love them, too. Everything in this story is absorbing. I could not put it down! I had to see how Jonathan’s romance would turn out, how he would get along in the community, and lastly how he would cope with a deadly beauty who could not be trusted, whose deadly manner was a danger to all who crossed his path.

This is a sort of fairy tale for grown ups, though older children and teens may enjoy it as well. It is wholesome, I can’t remember a single curse word, no blatant sex and no gore. This was, without doubt, refreshing and exciting.

If you are an animal lover, if you loved stories like Old Yeller, and Narnia, if you are still a kid at heart, this is for you. I know you will love the drama, the adventure and the love found between its pages. Julie Fudge Smith could hold her own at a meeting of The Inklings. I hope this isn’t the only adventure we get in Carroll County. Sold wherever fine books are sold.

Until next time, I remain, your humble Book Dragon,

Drakon T. Longwitten

I thank Boyle & Dalton and Ms. Smith for the review copy. And as always, my opinions are my own.