Graham Marks

This review can also be found on my blog Love at First Write

Kaï-ro is about Setekh, God of Chaos, and Horus, God of the Sky.

"Remember this... Gods are like Tinkerbell, if you don't believe in them, if you don't need them, they fade away. But, because they're gods, they don't die. And if the need returns, so, too, do the objects of belief. Remember this, because it is true."

Kaï-ro is the dark city across the River Isis built by Mr.Nero. Nero found a god who speaks to and through him. He carries out his Setekh's orders and starts building 3 huge black structures. Well, he himself isn't building them... People from Dinium (the original city on the other side of the Isis) are kidnapped and become slaves of Kaï-ro. Once you're taken to the other side of the crocodile infested river you're never seen again.

With his Dark souldiers (that's how they spell it) and his army of Risen, Mr.Nero pretty much has this 'bring a god back and destroy the world' thing in the bag. But there's one thing he doesn't plan on. Just like Setekh was brought back, so will the god's brother, Horus, by one abandoned lonely boy. Stretch Wilson.

Stretch is a scav. Tons of them crawl over Bloom's Mount, a mountain made up of discarded items nobody wanted, and they search for anything that's valuable. If they don't, well, then they don't get food for the day. On top of that, Bloom's Mount is a terrible place to work. The rubbish could collapse on you or worse, parts of the heap could explode as they always do when the methane gas builds up. Stretch scavenged Bloom's Mount with his dog named Bone. The dog had found Stretch a couple months after his dad was kidnapped for slave labour, and Bone hasn't left his side since. But one event changed Stretch's life forever. He is the only person who can stop the evil that lives in Kaï-ro from taking control, for eternity. How did this boy, this insignificant street-boy who can't read or write, become the one to save them all? You'll just have to read it to find out!


This was a pretty good book. Very original. But it wasn't Special. It didn't grab my attention and pull me in hook,line, and sinker. I liked it but didn't really get into it and enjoy it till about halfway through. I don't get how Jazmin fits into the story. She's an orphan girl who they pay to give them a donkey then she comes with them to Slip-End and all of a sudden they're friends? I also thought that their war was too simple and easily won. I mean sure a lot of people/Others die but they're facing a frickin GOD! A god of CHAOS I might add. War IS chaos! But it was like: *poof* war's over, oh Ty's dead? Come on Jazmin let's go find my dad now! And then that whole thing with the Witch-Lady? Tanith/Phaedra? I did NOT see that coming. AT ALL. Also, while they were all at slip-end trying to get an army for Horus so that they could take down Kaï-ro, I felt like that was just *poof* u have an army *poof* make that TWO armies. And it wasn't very believable I liked how when the Guild dresses Stretch as a god-on-earth he felt out of place. An imposter. A fake. It made him seem more down to earth like Just days ago I was a scav so now the whole "I'm a gods messenger on earth" shabang doesn't feel real. Even though it IS real. He IS Horus' messenger. The god talks to and through him just like Mr.Nero and Setekh.… (meer)

Not bad. Gabe lives in LA and is upset because his Dad is laid off and the family are struggling for money. ON one of his bike wanderings after school, he falls and uncovers a skeleton covered in Ancient gold. He takes the bracelet and thinks if he sells it then his family will have money to live. On the way home, he feels someone is watching him and is followed by a strange trio of animals. That night he has horrific dreams of a sacrifical ceremony where a boy has his beating heart torn from his chest. What is going on, and who is the strange girl who knows all about him and his temptation to run drugs for the local shady dealer?

Bit gruesome in parts. Supernatural part is different in that it involves the concept of good and evil having to exist with each other, and brings in a Catholic priest as the older, wiser figure. Bit like a tamed down Stephen King book for boys.… (meer)