Max Cassidy: Escape from Shadow Island [Hardcover]

Paul Adam (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Max Cassidy

Max Cassidy can escape from anything

Only fourteen years old, Max is the world's foremost escape artist. Chained, handcuffed, locked in an airtight water tank, there's nothing he can't get himself out of. He learned the art from his father—a man who just two years ago was murdered, and Max's mother went to jail for the crime.

Now a mysterious man has shown up backstage after one of Max's shows, telling Max that not only is his mother innocent, but his father is still alive. He can provide only one clue: a slip of paper with eight digits written on it. It is this clue that will lead Max from his home in London to the exotic and deadly Central American country of Santo Domingo and the impenetrable fortress on the sinister Isla de Sombra.

Max Cassidy can escape from anything—but given the chance to finally know the truth about what has torn his family apart, escape from Shadow Island is the last thing on his mind.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5–9—Onstage, Max, a 14-year-old London-based escape artist, is an up-and-coming wunderkind pushing the envelope of his inherited art form. Offstage, he is barely holding on. His father, the legendary escapologist Alexander Cassidy, has been missing and presumed dead since mysteriously disappearing in Santo Domingo two years earlier. Max's mother was hastily convicted of murdering her husband by a corrupt court and is now imprisoned, her health quickly deteriorating. Max has always believed in his mother's innocence, but it's not until he is visited by a mysterious stranger that he finally believes he has a chance of unraveling the truth. Lopez-Vega tells him that his father is still alive and that his mother was framed, and he invites Max to meet him the next day because he has something for him. Unfortunately, when Max arrives for the appointment, he finds Lopez-Vega slain in his room. Convinced that the cryptic message on the underside of the man's toupee is somehow key to discovering his father's whereabouts and clearing his mother's name, Max convinces Consuela, his guardian, to accompany him back to the scene of his father's disappearance. Readers who enjoy this solid mystery/adventure—one made more interesting by its insider insights into escapology—will have to wait to have this mystery fully uncovered, but Adam does a good job of whetting appetites for a sequel.—Jeffrey Hastings, Highlander Way Middle School, Howell, MI
(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

“Action-adventure at it’s best, a la Alex Rider, James Bond, and Dirk Pitt....Tons of fun.” (Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA) (Starred Review) )

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Walden Pond Press; 1 edition (February 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061863238
• ISBN-13: 978-0061863233
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,992,384 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Next Great YA Book Series, May 6, 2010

By 

Lori Lynn Lydell (Newport, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Max Cassidy: Escape from Shadow Island (Hardcover)

I read "Max Cassidy Escape from Shadow Island" ALOUD to our boys in three days! They would not let me stop reading. At the end of every chapter they would chant, "Read another chapter! Read another chapter!" This book keeps you on the edge of your seat from the very first chapter.

Max Cassidy will become your teenager's hero after reading "Max Cassidy Escape from Shadow Island." He is a likeable character. As a teenage boy, he doesn't have an attitude and he's a hard-worker who has come upon a lot of tragedy in the past 2 years of his life. I believe the theme of "Escape from Shadow Island" was that children and teens are often underestimated. But Max proved those unbelieving adults wrong. And that's why he's a great hero.

I loved this book and so did our two sons. I would recommend it to a reader who is 14 years or older. There are a few "bad" words. The Lord's name is taken in vain and the "H" word is used once or twice. Since I was reading aloud, I could replace them with my own words. All-in-all I rate this book a 10+++. We can't wait to read the next installment!

I received a complimentary copy of "Max Cassidy Escapte from Shadow Island" from Walden Pond Press in exchange for my honest-unbiased review.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Young Bond Meets Houdini, April 6, 2010

By 

SciFiChick "The SciFiChick" (Fishers, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Max Cassidy: Escape from Shadow Island (Hardcover)

Teenage Max Cassidy is an escape artist, following in his father's footsteps. But his father was murdered two years ago, and his mother wrongly accused and imprisoned. When a strange man shows up after Max's latest show, he claims that Max's father is still alive. Max's one clue is a piece of paper with only numbers written down. But Max will return to the place that his father was last seen in Santo Domingo, a country with a corrupt regime. Max's search leads him to a small island with a former prison that is still guarded with armed men. Risking his life to save his family, Max begins a dangerous journey to discover the truth.

Max is talented, smart, and extremely brave. When faced with a hard decision, he does the brave thing and won't stop until he rescues his loved ones. He's a brilliant combination of a young James Bond and Harry Houdini. And Max's adversaries are just as mysterious and deadly as any Bond villain.

The story is fast-paced, with heart-pounding suspense. Excitement and mystery abound. As the climactic ending approaches, Max just begins to unravel the secrecy behind Shadow Island that ends in a fun cliffhanger. I devoured this book in record time, loving every minute of it. Young action and adventure fans shouldn't miss this new series.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Max Cassidy adventure- review by Giulia Schwartz, September 10, 2010

By 

gab - See all my reviews

This review is from: Max Cassidy: Escape from Shadow Island (Kindle Edition)

When Max's world is turned upside down by the presumed death of his father and his mother being put in jail by a corrupt Santo Dominican court, he will do anything to discover the truth. But the plot that he dicovers is a lot more then the murder of his father...

Betweem corrupt police, ex-military friends, beautiful assistants, evil millioners and some unexpected new friends, Max will live the biggest adventure of his life.

Fast paced, exiting and full of suspense, this book gets from me 10 out of 10.

Giulia Scwartz 10/09/2010