“Fourteen-year-old Ronan Boyle
is the youngest and lowliest recruit to the secret Garda, an Irish police force
that handles the misdeeds of numerous magical creatures. Ronan’s parents are in
jail, but Ronan is convinced that they were framed by the wee people. So,
despite his small size, poor eyesight, and social awkwardness, he’s determined
to learn all he can in the Garda in order to prove his parents’ innocence. To
show he’s got what it takes, he’ll have to confront a fiery leprechaun, a
sinister harpy, and a whole world of monsters hidden in plain sight next to
real-life Ireland.”
In an age of Harry Potter knock-offs, actor/screenwriter and first time
novelist Thomas Lennon gives us a delightfully weird, funny, oddly charming
fantasy novel that resembles the legendary wizard boys series, but never fully
becomes embolden to it (I was also reminded of Piers Anthony’s Xanth series at
times). This fantasy genre does have limitations, so it’s nice when someone
comes along and can give us variation on a theme, but is able to build on it,
as well.
I loved the idea that leprechauns are drunkin-addled creatures who are,
basically, rotten-to-the-core and will do anything and everything to make their
lives better at the expense of others. While Lennon takes on the traditional mythology of these Irish wee-folk,
he adds a bit sinister aspects as well -who knew that sub-genre of crime thrillers
involving leprechauns would be so fun and interesting? There is a lot of
slapstick, some spookiness, and some chaos to go along with some potty-humor
and some deliberately designed gross-out passages to amuse the kids.
All of that leads up to a cliffhanger ending, which was a surprise and
means I’m reading another series of kids books.
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