M.G Harris - Joshua Files:BK 4 Dark Parallel - Book Review

                                

• Pages 388
• Published by Scholastic 
• Date 7 April 2011
• Age 11+
• ISBN 9781407111032

One boy. One deadly prophecy. One heart-stopping adventure. This is how the world will end: on 22 December, an electromagnetic pulse will blast through the atmosphere. Technology will fail. Civilization will fall apart. The key to survival lies in a secret Mayan book, protected by Josh and an ancient society. But someone has altered time. To put it back on track, Josh must unravel history itself and face the dangers of a dark, parallel reality. 


We are now on the fourth of Joshua's amazing adventures, with this epic time travel escapade being my favourite, so far. All of the stories feel very fresh, as different worlds and adventures are explored in each book. Whilst there is a little bit of story recapping in each new story (from the previous book) it is just enough to pull the story together. Therefore, if you happen to wander into this book before having read any of the others, you will still have a clear understanding of where the story is and what has happened beforehand.


This is another great action adventure which is oozing with Mayan culture. The book incorporates some amazing places, which Josh and Ixchel visit whilst time travelling from place to place, in order to save the world from the scrupulous villains of the Sect of Huracan. The Snake Kingdom is a particularly amazing historical and mythical place, it is written with such colourful and vivid imagery, that it will leave you breathless. I would have loved to have stayed longer and encountered this place over many more pages but instead, for me, this felt like a very brief encounter.


I really loved the turbulent history between Josh and Ixchel, who is such a great feisty and strong female character. She manages to hide her emotions and true feelings incredibly well. In fact, I found myself wanting to scream at them both,  as I wanted them to tell each other how they felt. However, this tension continually bubbled throughout the book and kept me frustrated until it was finally resolved.


In short, this is another great adrenalin rush of action that will leave every reader wanting more.  A joyous and compelling teenage read like no other. The pace of adventure will leave you feeling mildly exhilarated whilst gasping for breath. The question is, what will happen next to Josh and his friends?