Review 38: The Blood Guard

The Blood Guard. Roy Carter. Year 2015. [June] Publisher: Two Lions. Pages 279. [Source: NetGalley]

First sentence:  

It wasn’t me who burned down our house.

From Amazon:
When thirteen-year-old Ronan Truelove’s seemingly ordinary mom snatches him from school, then sets off on a high speed car chase, Ronan is shocked. His quiet, nerdy dad has been kidnapped? And the kidnappers are after him, too?
His mom, he quickly learns, is anything but ordinary. In fact, she’s a member of an ancient order of knights, the Blood Guard, a sword-wielding secret society sworn to protect the Pure—thirty-six noble souls whose safety is crucial if the world as we know it is to survive.
Now all those after-school activities—gymnastics, judo, survival training—she made him take, make sense. For suddenly Ronan is swept up in a sometimes funny, sometimes scary, but always thrilling adventure—dashing from one danger to the next, using his wits to escape the Bend Sinister, a posse of evil doers with strange powers. Falling in with two unlikely companions, Greta, a scrappy, strong-willed girl he’s never much liked and Jack, a devil-may-care teenage pickpocket, Ronan is left with only his wits and his mom’s last words of advice: Trust no one.
That’s a lot for an ordinary kid to deal with. But then again, maybe Ronan’s not ordinary at all.

My thoughts:  

This story was an interesting read.  There is a definitive good versus evil feel going on, however you do not really know what is going on aside from the main characters running for their lives from sword wielding crazy people for the better part of the book.  You get tiny snippets of what is going on here and there but it is not until the last I would say quarter of the book that you really get a feel for what the under lying plot actually is.  I am sure that parts were supposed to feel intense but I never really got that edge of your seat intense feeling.  I give the author kudos for a great plot twist at the end!  Surprise turns are always a nice touch.

The Good:  Fun light-hearted read. 

The Bad: Took a little too long to reveal the meaning of what was going on.

Rating 7.5/10

Recommendation:  I think this was a good introduction to a new series and I am quite confident that younger readers will find great enjoyment from reading this.

*I received a digital review copy for free from the author via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*