The Mask of Destiny (Archer Legacy Series #3)

by Richard Newsome

Overview

The life of Australian teen Gerald Wilkins changed forever when he inherited twenty billion pounds and a mystery to solve. In The Mask of Destiny, Gerald believes his enemy Sir Mason Green will be put in prison for murder. Instead, Gerald is accused of murder himself. He’ll have to find the last of three emerald caskets to clear his name. The search takes him, Ruby, Sam, and Mr. Fry to Paris, Rome, Athens, and Delphi. They discover Delphi once held the greatest treasure on earth. It could still be there, waiting to be found by someone good. Or evil…
 
Anthony Horowitz fans will love the extreme adventure, exotic locals, and illustrations in The Mask of Destiny, the rollicking conclusion to the Archer Legacy trilogy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062114624
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/19/2024
Series:	Archer Legacy Series , #3
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	389
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Richard Newsome is the author of the first two books in the Archer Legacy, The Billionaire's Curse and The Emerald Casket. In researching the trilogy, Richard traveled to England, India, France, Italy, and Greece, visiting many of the historical sites featured in the books. He lives with his family in Brisbane, Australia.

Editorial Reviews

A frenetic dash across Europe that leads both to hidden treasure and the resolution of a 1,600-year-old mystery brings Newsome's once-promising trilogy to a muddled, heavily contrived close. Framed for the (supposed) murder of archenemy Sir Mason Green, jumped-up preteen billionaire Gerald Wilkins and his twin sidekicks Sam and Ruby are on the run. They repeatedly escape police and a beautiful poisoner while following a trail of baroque clues that take the three from an ossuary deep within Mont Saint-Michel to Grecian Delphi. This, improbably, turns out to have been secretly roofed over beneath fake ruins centuries ago to protect its fabled treasures and still-functional oracle. Newsome seems far more intent on chivvying his characters along than in setting any credible challenges for them. He pitches the trio through one chase scene or rescue after another, giving them easy access everywhere by leading them directly to a series of conveniently discovered open doors and cave entrances. All is revealed in a climactic subterranean faceoff during which the (surprise, surprise) still-living Green explains his nefarious purposes in great detail, before Gerald knocks him unconscious and expedites the death of his pet assassin. Occasional jokey dialogue won't be enough to carry readers over a story riddled with logical gaps, extraneous characters, massive coincidences and laboriously fabricated suspense. Illustrations not seen. (Adventure. 11-14)

Kirkus Reviews