Customer Reviews

The Riddles of Epsilon

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jessica is angry with her boring new hometown and the total unfairness of life in general. But she's especially angry with her parents. So what if she's been hanging out with so called troublemakers and getting her nose pierced? Is that reason enough to be yanked away from her friends and home to live on a secluded island named Lume in an ancient, rundown house that her mom had inherited?

According to her parents, yes, it's reason enough. And there's not a whole lot Jess can do about the situation. But she certainly isn't going to be happy about it, or talk to them about her day, and she definitely isn't going to help them with their projects. So when her dad asks her to fix up the coop in preparation for the chickens' arrival, and her mom assigns miles and miles of house rehabilitation chores, Jess decides it's time to disappear for a few hours.

That's when she discovers the mysterious cabin with the overgrown garden completely hiding it from view. Right away, Jess feels as if she's not alone there, that she's being watched. But despite the small case of the willies, this secluded cabin provides the perfect hideaway from her demanding parents. Besides, the cabin is intriguing with lots of ancient artifacts lying around, the comfortable hammock, and the interesting doorstep with the strange symbols etched on it.

But then things really start getting weird. Later on, Jess hears flute music calling her back to the cabin where she finds a journal entry by a boy written 100 years earlier. The boy writes about a dream he had, of a girl who wears pants and who lights a "lantern" at the flip of a switch. On the back of the entry, he has drawn a sketch of the strange dream girl, and Jess is shocked to see a drawing of herself! Then there are the mysteriously encoded messages, the three locked boxes, the ghost-like images fading in and out, and then to top it off, her mom starts behaving very strangely. And then there's the dark tower that has no doors or windows, being guarded by the four sinister stone gargoyles. Jessica is drawn right into the middle of this mysterious battle between good and evil, but will she be able to figure out whom to trust in time?

Author Christine Morton-Shaw takes a slightly different and fresh approach to arranging her story, alternating chapters of Jessica's diary entries with transcriptions of chat room visits. She weaves a fast-paced story full of mystery and action. Every chapter --- in fact, almost every page --- offers colorful excitement and attention-grabbing events. Readers will enjoy trying to solve the many riddles Morton-Shaw has planted throughout the story ---- that is, if they can stop turning the pages long enough to think through the clever conundrums. Prepare for an exciting adventure on the island of Lume with Jessica and her mysterious co-islanders!

--- Reviewed by Chris Shanley-Dillman, author

When Jess gets moved to the remote island of Lume, she isn't happy. She was with exciting friends, had gotten her nose pierced, and was looking forward to a great summer. Unfortunately, it was for these very reasons that parents chose to move. And when her parents force her to do chores around the house, Jess can't stand it. So she runs away to a mysterious ,rundown cabin to spend some time alone.

The cabin is the perfect place for a hideout, besides the facts that Jess feels she is watched, there are strange symbols on the doorstep, and she finds a bucket with the words "Epsilon" carved onto the base.

From there on out, Jess is caught into a whirlwind of adventure, action, betrayal, and the ever consistent battle of good-versus-evil. Made up of confusing riddles, spine tingling escapades, and fast-moving plot, Christine Morton-Shaw has written a horror, a thriller, and an adventure that is to captivate many.

The Riddles of Epsilon starts off engaging when the main character Jess is contacted by an entity who calls himself "Epsilon". He then ties her into the distant past where a young boy named Sebastian seems to be struggling with the same strange familiar problems she is now.
The problem is that the key relationship between Jess and her mother is too vague at the beginning of the book, along with a lot of other important connections. I don't want to give anything away but it also feels like things aren't "settled" at the end.
Still, the book kept me engaged up until the end and was a fun read that kept me trying to solve "the riddles of Epsilon."

When she gets into some trouble at school, Jess's parents think they have the perfect solution: they'll move to Lume, an island in the middle of nowhere. She thinks there is absolutely nothing interesting about Lume--until she discovers a derelict old cottage. There's something creepy about the cottage--some sort of presence that Jess can't describe. It turns even weirder and scarier when that same presence shows up in her instant message conversations--with no record of it on her computer.

This ghostly being, whatever he is, is soon revealed to be the owner of the cottage. He calls himself Epsilon, and he is leading Jess on a dark sort of treasure hunt--where the treasure, if she solves his riddles properly, will be saving her mother.

The eerie quest mirrors that of Sebastian Wren, a boy who lived in the same house, and faced the same dangers, a hundred years ago. Can Jess succeed where Sebastian did not?

This supernatural mystery/fantasy is certainly a suspenseful page-turner, but, in the end, it is quite forgettable. It's a nice way to pass an afternoon. The best part of the story is the heart-pounding suspense! It's great for that, and it'll have you checking nervously over your shoulder at times. It's even good enough for me to want to look for more by Christine Morton-Shaw, but I might check it out of the library first rather than buying it.

Reviewed by: Jocelyn Pearce

I could not put this book down! It only took me a single weekend to read it cover to cover! It was so good. There are riddles and puzzles. There is a connection to the past and there is a long kept family secret lurking around the new home of Jess. Never a boring part in this book your eyes are always looking towards the next page, anxious to know what will happen next.
This book tells of a secret on an island just off shore of the mainland. A secret about the new house her mother had inherited. When Jess finds an old cottage on her family's land she meets a being not from this earth. Epsilon is his name and riddles are all he give Jess. Scared and curious, Jess is determined to figure out why her mother, upon moving here, has changed so much. Sleep walking and humming an eerie tune, her mother gathers sea shells from the shore. Can Jess figure it all out to save her mom in time?
I really did like this book a lot. There are some hard parts to understand, like when there are the odd letters that once translated it will tell a riddle. There were a lot of those and then there were chat room conversations. I have never seen a book with that. I really like that the author had a different alphabet in this book. That added to the mystery and mind reeling turns. And of course, deep down, I think, that this book showed that every teen, no matter how much she or he tries to hate them they do try to protect parents. This book was about courage, problem solving, and family love. I really do recommend you to read this book. It was very good book!

The Riddles of Epsilon was amazing! It has an intriguing plot, and makes you think. You have to work out the riddles and who is on who's side to fully understand it. I'm not going to include the summary, because I'm not good at writing those, but I highly recommend the book.

the Riddles of Epsilon is a great book, and i really enjoyed it. Suspenseful, inspiring, exciting...it is all these and more! it is about a girl, who finds herself caught up in an ancient legend that is taking effect today. if she fails, her mom is a goner. loved the book soooo much that i bought it. you'll love it too.

This is a really good book. Once I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading it. I finished it all in one night. I have read a lot of books, and they all fell into patterns except for some. This one just woke me up. If you are an avid reader and need something refreshing, read this. I recommend it.

This is a really good book. Once I picked it up, I couldn't stop reading it. I finished it all in one night. I have read a lot of books, and they all fell into patterns except for some. This one just woke me up. If you are an avid reader and need something refreshing, read this. I recommend it.

Mystery, shells, spirits, maps, and most of all, riddles! If you're looking for a book that might contain some of these things, and probably even more, Riddles of Epsilon by Christine Morton-Shaw, is definitely the book for you. I am a big fan of Morton-Shaw, and this book just might be one of her best works.
I would be willing to recommend this book for just about any age group, from teenagers to adults.. It was very enjoyable, and also very mysterious. It had me reading faster and faster just so that I could turn the page to find out what was going to happen. When you read this book, you don't even realize the time that goes by. You could be reading for hours, and not even realize it, I know I was.
In Riddles of Epsilon, Jessica, a teenage girl, is living with her mother and father in a big city. Her mother, a very talented artist, and her father, a professional photogropher, are ready for a move. Elizabeth's mother had inherited a house on the island of Lume, and they decide that's the place for them. Jessica doesn't want to leave her friends behind in the city, but she doesn't really have a choice. As Jessica is exploring the island, she comes upon an old, worn down cottage. She doesn't realize, but this cottage is about to play a huge part in her life for the next couple of weeks. She starts hearing strange music, getting messages in a chat room, messages that her friend can't see. She notices that her mother is acting strange, and that all of the paintings her mother has done lately are of a strange and distant face, a face that Jessica is not familiar with. Eventually she meets Epsilon, the `ghostly' owner of the cottage. He starts sending her messages through riddles, and in code. Eventually he introduces her to Sebastian Wren, a boy from 100 years ago that went through everything she is going through right now. He left some diaries that will be very essential to her. She figures out every single riddle from Epsilon, eventually leading her to understand that her mother is in very grave danger. However, the question is, will she be able to save her mother in time? Will Jessica be able to figure out all of the riddles in time to find out exactly what's going on, and even more important, will she be able to do in quick enough? On her own, will she be able to distinguish between who is the `friendly enemy,' and who is the `evil friend'? I guess that's something for you to find out.
Personally, I believe that readers are going to find this book captivating, and thrilling. I did. It was definitely a book that would be appropriate for school, with just enough edge to keep the reader very interested. Readers will end this book just waiting in anticipation for the movie to come out. That's what I felt. All in all, it was an excellent book, and was definitely worth the time to read.