How many times have you found yourself imagining you were somehow part of an adventure? That you had a part to play in the crazy roller coaster of life? Well, for Doug and Becca MacKenzie, it's not imaginary. It's real. The year is 1920, and the MacKenzie children have gone from one guardian to another, after their parents disappeared in western China. They want answers but no one seems to know what happened to them. Then they board Captain Fitzroy MacKenzie's ship, the 'Expediant', bound for China. But what is the Captain hiding? Why is a large part of the ship out of bounds? Why are there guns on board, and what part does Zoridium (a kind of metal, magnetic, explosive and deadly) have to play in this adventure? When they pick some of the lockers, and find out about the 'Honourable Guild of Specialists', the Captain immediately kicks them off the ship, leaving them at a port in China, with tickets home. So what's so secret about the 'Honourable Guild of Specialists'?
This book was amazing! It starts off in the modern day, explaining how Joshua Mole (the Author) received a letter from Becca, written when she was an old woman, asking him to go over her diary. It also includes Doug's sketches and Becca's letter asks Joshua to finish the project they began. She also adds: "...if you have received this letter, then I (Becca) must be dead". Operation Red Jericho was beautifully presented; it has many fold out designs of, for instance, the fortress on an island that the Captain raids in his ship. There are also many true facts woven into the story, photos of real places and people with captions underneath and drawings, and so that it is extremely hard to know what is real and what is just made up. What is real and what is fiction? You can never be completely sure... I really loved this book, and would recommend it to ages 10 +, and to people who enjoy adventure, facts mixed with fiction and mysteries. In fact, just buy it anyway. You'll thank me one day.

Operation Red Jericho is the magical story of Doug and Becca McKenzie - squabbling and troublesome siblings whose adventurous nature has caused problems wherever they have been. The story starts with the siblings being shipped out to yet another relative after the disappearance of their parents in the seas of China. After being deported by their Aunt Margaret they find themselves aboard their Uncle's (Captain James McKenzie) ship, The Expedient. An extremely different style of life hits them and their adventurous sides appear as they try and solve the mysteries of their parents and the strange zoridium. Along with scientist Luc Chambois and the Sujing Quantaou they start to unveil many dark secrets and warlords; their whirlwind adventure will turn out to be more adventurous than they ever imagined.
Operation Red Jericho is aimed at the ages 11-13 which is strange as the main two characters are older; however the book does not explore any teen issues relevant to the age group. The plot is gripping at most points with the author not allowing for lapses in time between major events. I especially was hooked through the last 100 pages. Amongst the book's intriguing story lies a mass of amazingly detailed and superbly drawn pictures, which supplement the main story brilliantly. They are especially useful when you need some reminding or are confused about the story. Also included in the book are diary extracts from the characters, which gives you an insight into the different sides of the story. Overall Operation Red Jericho is an excellent book, it excites and enthrals from start to finish delivering superiority over other titles in its genre. Anyone aged 11 or over will really enjoy reading it as it keeps even the most reluctant reader hooked. It provides you with adventure, fighting and exploration in a subtle, realistic way, that perhaps Anthony Horowitz and JK Rowling do not and will definitely keep you guessing. If you need fuel for your thirst for adventure then read this book as it is simply fantastic.

As the blurb says "no ordinary book". If this is marketed right this book has the potential to cause a phenomenon. The story is gripping, the characters are well described and if that isn't enough, It is based on a true story! Doug and Becca's parents have been missing for just under a year, they headed of to Sinkiang and never returned.They are desperate to find them but confined in the Expedient with their uncle (who owns the ship and is their latest guardian.) The crankshaft obsessed Doug is beginning to think they are dead and even the strong-minded Becca is starting to accept that they may be gone. But suddenly a new lead! As a result of this they soon end up in a brilliant adventure full of brutal pirates, Sujing Quantou warriors and zoridium torpedoes! This brilliant book is the first in the Guild trilogy and I would recommend it to anyone in need of a good gripping read.