The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp [Audio Cassette]

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Listening Library; Unabridged edition
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307284557
• ISBN-13: 978-0307284556
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,605,394 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Rick Yancey is the author several books for adults, including The Highly Effective Detective. He is also a produced playwright and former theater critic. He lives in Gainesville, Florida with his wife and three sons. Visit him at www.rickyancey.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A breathtaking and action-packed blend of modern superheroes and ancient legend, November 1, 2005

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (Alfred Kropp Adventures) (Hardcover)

Fifteen-year-old, down-on-his-luck Alfred Kropp seems to have drawn the short straw in life. Cursed from birth by his unusually large proportions, including his big head, big hands and big feet, the kids at school call him Frankenstein and everyone thinks he's mentally handicapped, even though he's most definitely not. (His worried mom once even had his IQ tested and confirmed that he was "just a big boy meant for big things.") His shy, awkward personality doesn't help matters, nor does his tendency to hole up in his room listening to music instead of playing sports and pursuing girls like the other boys his age.

Alfred's unfortunate luck in the family department hasn't made things any easier either: he never knew his dad, who left before he was even born, and his mom died of cancer when he was just 12. Shuttled between foster homes until being taken in by his well-meaning but clueless Uncle Farrell, poor Alfred has lost just about everything in the world of value to him, except his hilarious sense of humor.

Besides being funny, the only thing Alfred seems to excel at is failure --- failing at math, failing at taking his drivers test (twice, to be exact), and failing at being even a second-string player on the school football team (he can't seem to memorize the playbook). But little does he know that his underachieving status is about to undergo a supersized overhaul when his uncle latches onto a dodgy get-rich-quick scheme to retrieve a stolen sword from the office building where he works as a security guard.

Against his better judgment, Alfred is roped into being an accessory to the crime, which goes horribly awry and sets a deadly chain of events in motion. Too late, he comes to the shocking realization that the sword he stole is no ordinary sword at all, but the most powerful weapon ever wielded by man --- Excalibur, the legendary sword of King Arthur. And Alfred has just placed it into the hands of an enemy with intentions of the evilest kind.

Determined to atone for his mistake, Alfred embarks on a daring mission to restore the sword to its rightful owners, in the process stumbling into a world of modern-day knights bound by a sacred oath to protect Excalibur with their very lives. As he becomes the de facto apprentice to the powerful knight Bennacio and begins to unravel the mysteries of the sword's illustrious history, he discovers an ancient secret that reveals he might not be so "ordinary" after all. In fact, to Alfred's immense chagrin, he learns that the entire future of the world may just rest in his oversized, underachieving hands.

With its dazzling displays of death-defying swordplay, white-knuckle high-speed car chases, and breathtaking helicopter air battles, THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ALFRED KROPP plunges us headlong into a daredevil world of international intrigue where nothing is as it seems. In a high stakes air and land race that crosses continents and spans centuries, modern superheroes must risk everything they have to uphold an ancient Arthurian oath that could save the fate of the world.

With bumbling, lumbering, wisecracking Alfred Kropp by our side, there's never a dull moment on this bumpy ride that proves just how extraordinary "ordinary" can be.

--- Reviewed by Joni Rendon

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary Adventures, Indeed, April 2, 2006

By 

Jennifer Robinson "Editor of Jen Robinson's B... (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (Alfred Kropp Adventures) (Hardcover)

I'm not normally a fan of the hapless hero. I prefer my heroes to be smart and brave and action-oriented. And Alfred Kropp is definitely of the hapless breed of heroes. He's big-headed and slow on the uptake, and a self-declared screwup. He fails at playing football, doesn't have any friends, and spends most of his time lying around in his room watching TV. And yet ... he falls into an epic sort of adventure, and through sheer tenacity he manages to save the world. And somehow as I listened to the book he got under my skin, and I found myself caring what happened to him.

I think that this would be an excellent book for early teens who are feeling awkward, or uncertain about their place in the world. For anyone who sometimes feels too big or too slow or too different, but who INSIDE knows that he or she has the potential for greatness.

The book is also a fun read for anyone, full of chases and sword-fights, and bravery and betrayal. Arthurian legend is juxtaposed against modern-day espionage, with all of the associated trappings of both. Picture black helicopters, Ferrari Enzos, and Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycles along with Stonehenge, King Arthur's sword, and bows and arrows, and you begin to get the idea. The character of Bennacio is also highly entertaining, with a wonderfully dry sense of humor, and little patience with young Alfred's mis-steps.

All in all The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp is worth checking out.

This review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on February 10, 2006.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nothing ordinary about it!, January 10, 2006

By 

Mark V. Filosi "M Filosi" (FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp (Alfred Kropp Adventures) (Hardcover)

Hats off to Richard Yancey. I just finished this book. I read straight through to 1 in the morning, I couldn't put it down.

It is a book that makes you want to cheer for the main character Alfred. He is the ultimate underdog. He is the epitome of all gangley goofy middleschoolers everywhere.

It reminds me of my childhood, when you doubt yourself and feel like you cannot accomplish anything. Alfred feels like everybody is better than he is. He doesn't have any particular thing that he accels in. But he meets some people who change all that and a wild adventurous ride begins. It is loaded with lore, adventure, swordplay and quips from Alfred.

This is one of those stories that is good without being vulgar or obscene. I would let my nephew in middle school read it without hesitation.

The book is inspirational, fast paced, blending all that we know about knights with exotic cars, father-son interaction, thoughts about values and things important to life. You can tell that Yancey has three boys. This would be the kind of story I would like to invent if I had boys their age.