Ring of Fire

When four 12-year-olds--one from Shanghai, one from New York, one from Paris, and one the hotelier's daughter--unexpectedly find themselves sharing a hotel room in Rome, adventure is bound to ensue. On this December 29, as the friends set off in a blacked-out city, an unusual man gives them custody of his briefcase a short time before his death. The contents of the briefcase lead to a whirlwind of intrigue and danger. Carrington MacDuffie modulates the flow of events, speeding up as Elettra and her new friends scramble to keep ahead of those who are also pursuing the Ring of Fire and slowing down to recount key story details. MacDuffie gives individuality to each character, adding a hint of her native country to each of the main characters and giving spice to the myriad of supporting ones. A.R. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

September 7, 2009
In this first book in the Century Quartet, Baccalario offers an uneven tale of four children discovering their crucial roles in an event of global proportions. When 12-year-old Elettra's father mixes up the reservations at her family's hotel in Rome, she is forced to share her room with Harvey, Sheng and Mistral (visiting from America, China and France, respectively), who all share the same birthday. After they inadvertently cause a blackout across Rome, the new friends head out into the city, where an encounter with a doomed old man lands them a briefcase full of clues, hints about their shared destiny and the attention of Mahler, a ruthless killer armed with a magical violin. As the children crisscross Rome to unravel the puzzle, they are fed information about the secret history of the world and the momentous events that they have been chosen to be part of. The children feel underdeveloped and have basically been reduced to the role of pawns of fate and of the adults who are manipulating them, but there are some genuinely exciting moments and the premise is intriguing. Ages 10–13.