Customer Reviews

The Chase: The Chase (Lionboy Trilogy)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Adventure abounds with the return of young, fearless Charlie Ashanti in Book Two of this proposed Lionboy trilogy. He's outwitted many foes (most notably a dreadful lion tamer) in the past, helping lions to escape the wretched confinement of a circus train. Together, they've managed to make their way from Paris to Venice.

Now, challenges begin with Charlie and the lions stuck on a train in a snowstorm. Yet, as Charlie says he "felt as close to safe as he had felt in weeks. The beautiful lions were lying in a pile around him: the three lionesses resting after their chase; the oldest lion calmly triumphant at their escape; Elsina, the young girl lion still weak from their adventures on the train's roof but so excited to be out in the real world; and the young lion, Charlie's friend, fast asleep with his head in Charlie's lap."

Yes, that's the picture listeners are able to see through the mellifluent voice of British actor Simon Jones (who won acclaim for his performance of the first book). With pauses, inflections, and remarkable range Jones engages listeners as we hear from a cast of both human and animal characters.

It seems Charlie is feeling pretty relaxed, believing that King Boris will offer them a safe haven. However, what was supposed to be refuge in King Boris's small palazzo on the Grand Canal, Palazzo Bulgaria, may not be protection at all. What should Charlie have thought when he saw that the second floor balcony on this structure "was supported by carvings of lions"?

And, did he really think he had seen the last of the evil lion tamer, Maccomo?

Listen and discover the secrets Charlie finds hidden in this old building. "Lionboy The Chase" is a blend of intrigue and humor resulting in topnotch entertainment.

- Gail Cooke

The second Lionboy book from the trilogy, Lionboy: The Chase, I have to say was a major step up from the first book, Lionboy. The dialogue was smoother, the plot was much more interesting and held my attention much better, and the characters are even more memorable. My new favorite character has to be Sergei, the rangy North English feline who has a very peculiar accent and very funny, dry humor. I don't like to give much away on the plot of books, but here it goes. The only reason that I didn't give this book five stars is that in the beginning, when Charlie is trapped in the Palazzo Bulgaria, this whole segment of the book and meeting the Bulgarian King and Edward seems quite pointless and doesn't further the plot. But, after this rough segment of the book, you finally find out what allergenies are and what Primo the mysterious cat is there for. My only nag is that most of the time in Venice (from the reader's point of view) seemed completely pointless in furthering the plot. Now, on to the ending. At first for the ending, I was almost screaming no because it was only the 2nd book in the trilogy and how could it have such a happy, kiddish ending where everything turns out great. Well, to my happiness, it doesn't! The last paragraph is the most tantalizing thing that Zizou Corder has offered in this book other than those cruel, last three words ; to be continued ...

I cannot wait for the 3rd book in this rising series!

When readers last saw Charlie Ashanti, the boy who can talk to cats, at the end of LIONBOY, he had liberated a band of lions from Major Thibaudet's floating circus and was rocketing through Europe on the Orient Express, heading to find his imprisoned parents. LIONBOY: THE CHASE picks up right where the first book in this wonderfully entertaining trilogy left off, and the pace of this engaging sequel keeps right up with the speed of an express train.

Charlie is off to Venice with the aid of King Boris of Bulgaria, hoping to find where his scientist parents, who seemed to be on the verge of finding a cure for asthma, are being kept prisoner. What he doesn't know is that his parents aren't in Venice --- they're in Vence, in the south of France. There his brilliant parents slowly are being brainwashed, their independence and free thinking sucked out of them by the evil corporation that is holding them hostage.

Soon Charlie, too, is a prisoner in the Palazzo Bulgaria in the heart of a ruined Venice. King Boris's right hand man has his own plans for Charlie's lions, especially the mysterious and sad lion Primo. With the help of his lions and an optimistic gondolier, Charlie must hatch a plan to escape and return his lions to their rightful home.

All this adventure has a nostalgic feel, complete with sheet music, painstakingly detailed line drawings, and maps and diagrams. Although the book is set in the future, readers will also learn a lot about Venice's past and (according to the book) its uncertain future.

Since LIONBOY: THE CHASE is book two in a trilogy, it's probably no surprise that it doesn't quite have a happy ending. The lion tamer Maccomo is still hot on their tail, as is the money-hungry Rafi Sadler. When readers see those three maddening words --- "To be continued" --- on the last page, they'll be growling with impatience until they can find out how Charlie's adventures will come to an end.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

"LionBoy: The Chase" is the best book i've read since the first "LionBoy". I'm dead serious. I'm seventeen years old and this is the first book that has ever made me cry. There is so much Charlie Ashanti goes through to protect his Friends, the lions, and to find his parents that it almost seems real. This book follows Charlie on his continuing adventure picking up from where it left him in the first book. Charlie finds himself traveling across The Alps with six Lions; "surviving a shipwreck, escaping from a Venetian palazzo and helping a revolution, rescuing lions from a snowstorm, traveling the sea and making difficult decisions." Ha, that was actually a quote from the book. I can't steal Zizou Corder's work. I respect them too much. Plus I don't want to go to jail. The ending was the most difficult part to read. I almost cried again when I read the three most horrible words in the world, "to be continued..." Now I feel relieved though knowing that I get to read another fantastic book by Zizou Corder. I can't wait until "LionBoy: The truth". Until then I guess I'll just read the first two books in the "LionBoy" trilogy again and again and again. That's how good they are! Then when I'm done with the third book, I can read all three again. Then maybe one more time. Please folks, read this book. But don't forget the first "LionBoy". I demand you read it first. This really is the best trilogy ever written! But don't take my word for it, go read it yourself!

Right after he saved his parents, Charlie Ahsanti is kidnapped and taken away! Being the third book in the Lion Boy series, this book is where Charlie is kidnapped away from his parents. His parents were just kidnapped away from him, meaning that his parents weren't going to take any chances. They made him stay in their hotel room and not come out. Charlie can speak to cats, so he was itching to hear some news about the kidnappers and his enemies. When his parents went out to the bank, Charlie didn't waste any time to go to the docks and search for his cat-friend Sergei. As he walked along to the beach, suddenly a sack was pulled over him and he was picked up. From the sound of the voice, Charlie knew it was Rafi, his old enemy who had tried to kidnap him before. Fortunately, Sergei was there with his little chameleon friend who knew many different languages. Quickly, Sergei told the chameleon to tell Claudio (Also Charlie's friend) to tell Charlie's parents that he's been kidnapped. Then he jumped onto the ship with Charlie and his kidnappers. Claudio rushed back told Charlie's parents and rushed back to his boss King Borris (The king of Poland). Charlie's parents rushed to the docks, got a solar powered ship, and followed Charlie's ship. A few minutes later, Claudio and King Borris arrived who also got, a ship, but this time followed Charlie's parent's ship. Charlie's ship was headed for the Corporacy headquarters, in San Antonio, Texas. The Corporacy is an evil company that takes all the gifted people in the world, and keeps them, even animals. In Charlie's case they wanted his cat speaking gift. To make a long story short, everyone arrived there, and Charlie's Dad got a job in the Corporacy pretending he came back because he agreed with their methods (In recent books, he and his wife were captured but escaped). He got close to Charlie and they made plans to crash the Corporacy. First they disconnected all the weapons, then the computers. By the time the security reached them, they couldn't shoot or do anything about him. This was a fantastic futuristic book that many other people would also enjoy.

This book was very distressing. Not in a bad way, but it does make you kind of angry and stressed. First Charlie's parents are kidnapped, so he rescues them. Then he gets kidnapped, and is taken away. And for a long part of the book, Charlie's not able to do anything because the Corporacy is so secured.

This book was very interesting. It was cool to hear about the solar powered ships and stuff like that. And because it was in the future, there was a lot more high tech stuff. On the Corporacy campus people had little chips in their ears so that the boss could hear everything going on around them. Or the cell phones that Charlie and his parents carried around for most of the book. If they needed to charge, Charlie just had to set them in the sun, they were solar powered!

Even though this book was very, very good, it went very slow. For instance, half the book is their journey on the sea. Then the rest is all in the Corporacy. In the end I was getting tired of the same settings.

This book was great. It had its ups and downs, but I still enjoyed it. I would tell anyone to read this trilogy, and this book.

Anne M. Lindemann

This was a great book.It really keeps you on the edge of your seat.It was so good I had my husband read it and he loved it too.

The narrator (Simon Jones) is always superb. The first book in this trilogy was superb. The Chase is the second and it is very good. The Truth (the third book) slips a bit more. My rating is for the second book! There was a bit too much political messaging in it for my taste. But this audio book is still a joy.

A few more enemies and the police are after Charlie and his friends. Charlie and company hide out in an king's castle in Venice. However, it seems that an ally is betraying them. And the journey to Africa continues...

It always impresses me when an author manages to show the bad guys' point of view as reasonably as the good guys'. These authors prove to be stars at this.