This never really came to life for me. The story was interesting enough that I might give the sequel a try in case it's one of those series that gets better as it goes, but if you're looking for a really good quirky mystery, I would recommend the Skulduggery Pleasant series over this one. ( )

An enjoyable middle grade mystery with just a hint of the supernatural, Knightley and Son introduces readers to Darkus Knightley, devoted son and aspiring detective who's been patiently waiting for his father to wake up. It seems that four years earlier, celebrated detective Alan Knightley fell into a deep sleep while investigating an organization so shadowy, he was the only one convinced of its existence. In the meantime, Darkus has committed to memory all of his father's cases, which proves extremely helpful when Alan finally wakes and, shortly thereafter, finds all his files stolen. Father and son must then work together to uncover the terrible power behind a bestselling book that seems to compel readers toward mindless acts of crime.
Stand back, Holmes and Watson! Out of the way, Hardy boys! Here's a new, modern duo that mystery fans will surely enjoy getting to know.
( )

I was intrigued by this book when I first saw it come up as available on Netgalley, and decided I would give it a go. I had recently read some of the Artemis Fowl series and have become enthralled with middle grade reads.

I found the premise of this story unique and interesting, but at the same time, some of the themes seemed a bit mature for the target audience. While I feel that my middle grade reader could comfortably read this one, he is an advanced reader and the same may not hold true for others in the age group.

The story takes place in England, so the English is British English and not American English like most children here in the US are accustomed to. Though, the Harry Potter sect would be fine.

I did have a sense that something was missing throughout the story, and I was never able to put my finger on what exactly that was.

It took me a lot longer than it should have to finish reading this one, and it could be the sense of something missing in the story that contributed to that. I am really not sure.

Even with that, I found the story interesting enough to still warrant a 3 star rating. It was well edited and a fairly easy read for me. The last half, however, definitely went faster than the first half. ( )

I was intrigued by this book when I first saw it come up as available on Netgalley, and decided I would give it a go. I had recently read some of the Artemis Fowl series and have become enthralled with middle grade reads.

I found the premise of this story unique and interesting, but at the same time, some of the themes seemed a bit mature for the target audience. While I feel that my middle grade reader could comfortably read this one, he is an advanced reader and the same may not hold true for others in the age group.

The story takes place in England, so the English is British English and not American English like most children here in the US are accustomed to. Though, the Harry Potter sect would be fine.

I did have a sense that something was missing throughout the story, and I was never able to put my finger on what exactly that was.

It took me a lot longer than it should have to finish reading this one, and it could be the sense of something missing in the story that contributed to that. I am really not sure.

Even with that, I found the story interesting enough to still warrant a 3 star rating. It was well edited and a fairly easy read for me. The last half, however, definitely went faster than the first half. ( )

I read an amazing book called Knightley and Son. This dark book where mysterious characters lurk on every page is about a 13 year-old boy named Darkus. After his father was in a coma for 4 years, his mom remarried, his new dad and stepsister move in. His new stepsister Tilly is, in general, the most single annoying person in the world according to Darkus!!

One day, Darkus’s father, Alan was awakened from his coma in the hospital by the TV announcement of “The Combination”. He recalled that he is the top secret agent in London. Then, he remembered a very important hard drive detailing his missions was left in Darkus’s room before his coma. One of the most important missions that he was working on is about a big group of criminals called “The Combination”. After recalling, he went to his house to look for the hard drive. When Darkus saw Alan looking for the hard drive, he felt very glad that his father hadn’t forgotten about him.

Recently, a new bestseller book was published called The Code. To most people this book seemed like a very boring book, but some people, after reading it committed crimes, like a kid broke into a shop with only a hammer.

After learning about his mission, Darkus starts working with Alan and his colleague, Bill, to investigate “The Combination”. Through reading the bestseller book, The Code, Darkus found the connection between the book and criminal group. To most people, The Code seemed to be boring, but to others with dyslexia, the book was intriguing to make them to call the number on the book. Is the Combination behind this, convincing these people to commit the crime? What happens when these people call the number? Does the Combination even exist? What are they trying to achieve?

My favorite character is Bill because he is a very smart, intelligent and humorous person. When either Alan or Darkus is in trouble figuring out the problem, he is usually the person giving answers.

If I were the author, I would make the middle section of the book a little bit more interesting. Most of the middle section is about them driving around London trying to find the combination. I would recommend to the author make the middle more action packed.

I would rate this book 7 out of 10. ( )