Max Cassidy: Escape from Shadow Island

Thriller writer Adam makes an inauspicious children's book debut, delivering a tale driven by characters making nonsensical choices. Max Cassidy, a 14-year-old schoolboy, is also a famous escape artist. When he was 12, his mother was arrested for the murder of his escape-artist father in the fictional Central American nation of Santo Domingo. A visit from a mysterious stranger convinces Max that his mother was framed, and he travels to the small country to uncover the truth. While there, he witnesses political corruption and discovers the titular island, now serving as a prison. When Consuela%E2%80%94his caretaker and his father's former assistant%E2%80%94vanishes, he knows he has to break into the nigh-impenetrable prison and try to discover the truth about what really happened to his father. Max's discoveries are moved ahead by boneheaded decisions on the parts of the villains%E2%80%94notably kidnapping Consuela for no logical reason. A few well-written escape sequences don't make up for the lack of thought put into the plot. The story ends with a cliffhanger, leaving plenty of questions unanswered. Ages 10-up. (Feb.)