Steps Into Darkness
(A Shakertown Adventure)
by Ben
Woodard
Steps Into Darkness is the second book in
the Shakertown Adventure Series by Ben Woodard. You can also read about A Stairway to Danger, the first book in the series, in my previous blog post.
Description
Explosions,
sabotage, caves, deadly warnings and a dangerous red-haired man.
Imagine The Hardy Boys meet Tom Sawyer. Add a layer of teen angst and excitement plus a
mysterious group trying to stop a new dam while stirring up racial tensions.
That’s Steps Into Darkness,
the next book in the Shakertown Adventure Series by Ben Woodard.
Fourteen-year-old
Tom Wallace again makes plans to escape the small town in the 1923 Kentucky
countryside. The town that won’t let him forget his past, when a horrific event
changes his mind. He teams with his cousin Will and young FBI agent Rick
Sweeney to try to solve a perplexing mystery. Attempts on the boys’ lives and a
bewildering list of suspects keep them on edge and confused. An old man gives
them a clue that leads to a false accusation and embarrassment until they
discover the real villain, and then wish they hadn’t.
Steps Into Darkness is a fun, page-turning thriller with a hint of
romance that delivers adventure and mystery while exploring the fears of a teen
living with a frightful memory.
Excerpt
His back was to them as he connected the wires to the detonator. Will
shoved Tom. They had only minutes. They found the last connection point with
blasting caps wired to two sticks of dynamite. The wires to the plunger snaked
up the hill. The connecting strands were twisted together, tightly, as with
pliers. Tom grabbed a rock, but Will took his hand and pointed up the hill. Tom
understood. The man would hear the pounding. They each took a twisted
connection and tried to pry it apart with their fingers. They would need to
break only one.
The wires resisted. They couldn’t get their fingers under a wire. Tom
gritted his teeth, then stopped. He had forgotten his pocket knife. He pulled
it out, flipped the blade open, and wedged the tip between two wires. He
twisted and the blade snapped. The sound startled the man. He whirled around
and looked directly at the boys. Tom forced the broken blade in the gap he had
made with the wires. Will put his finger on top of one of the wires and pulled
as Tom twisted. Blood ran down Will’s hand as the wire bit into his finger.
They strained, and watched the man out of the corner of their eyes. His eyes
darted in all directions. Then he made his decision. He pulled the plunger up,
hesitated a moment, and slammed it down.
Review
By Karen Leet
Steps Into Darkness is a dynamite read - literally and figuratively.
Packed with suspense, adventure, danger and characters to care about, it's a
fast-paced mystery - a great follow up to Ben Woodard's first novel in his
young adult Sharkertown series.
Warning - this book
is not for children under 12 due to some language, violence/very intense scenes
and racial conflict.
About the Author
A spellbinding storyteller of high adventure, Ben has walked the Great
Wall of China, hiked in Tibet, and climbed to 18,000 feet on Mt Everest. And
recently learned to surf in Hawaii.
Ben is active in SCBWI and a member of a local children's writing
critique group. He is a former Marketing Manager for a major corporation and
ran his own marketing consulting business. He started writing children's
stories in 2008 and has written picture books, middle grade and young adult. Stories
of adventure and wonder. Stories that inspire and educate, and, most of all,
entertain. His titles include The Trestle, The Hunt, A Terrible Price, The Boy Who Flew With Eagles, and the newly released sequel to A Stairway to Danger, Steps Into Darkness.
Ben lives in Kentucky with his wife Lynda.
Links
