D. M. Trink

The premise of The Crimson Eyed Dragon is a good one. The main character, Jared, is attracted to a dragon sculpture with ruby eyes when he and his mother visit an antique shop. Because one of the dragon's eyes falls out while Jared is examining it, his mother buys the sculpture. When Jared stumbles upon a secret compartment in one of the wings that contains a key and a paper with mysterious numbers, he and his friends embark on an adventure to find out where these clues might lead them.

Unfortunately, the story is hampered with teen dialogue that is somewhat trite and unrealistic. Unimportant events bog the story down, while many parts of the story are left unexplained even though the climax of the story comes well before the end. In the end, this promising story is simply disappointing.… (meer)