The Colonel and The Bee
Title: The Colonel and The Bee
Author: Patrick Canning
Genre: Young Adult Action Adventure
Fiction
Rating: Five Stars!
Have you ever started a book
expecting one thing, but then you get a little ways into it and you suddenly realize
that it’s an entirely different thing—but in a completely awesome way? Well
that’s exactly what happened to me when I started The Colonel and The Bee. That isn’t to say that the book synopsis isn’t
right on point—I mean, it’s a pretty accurate description of the plot, but it
somehow didn’t prepare me for all of the fun and adventure that was in store. But,
before I dive into how great the book is, here’s the actual book blurb . . .
“The Colonel and the Bee” Book Synopsis
A peculiar explorer and downtrodden
acrobat span the globe on a building-sized hot air balloon, in search of a
precious artifact and the murderous treasure hunter who seeks it.
Beatrix, a spirited but abused
acrobat in a traveling circus, seeks more than her prison-like employment
offers. More than anything, she wants to know her place in the world of the
halcyon 19th century, a time when the last dark corners of the map were being
sketched out and travel still possessed a kind of magic.
One night in Switzerland, the
mysterious Colonel James Bacchus attends Beatrix's show. This larger-than-life
English gentleman, reputed to have a voracious appetite for female conquests,
is most notable for traveling the world in a four-story hot air balloon called
The Ox.
Beatrix flees that night to join the
Colonel, and the two of them make a narrow escape—Beatrix from her abusive
ringleader, the Colonel from a freshly-made cuckold. Beatrix, feeling the
Colonel may have the answers to her problems, pledges to help him catch the
criminal he seeks in exchange for passage on his magnificent balloon.
The criminal seeks a precious
figurine, The Blue Star Sphinx, but he's not alone. The Sphinx's immense value
has also drawn the attention of the world's most deadly treasure hunters. A
murder in Antwerp begins a path of mystery that leads all the way to the most
isolated island on Earth.
What dangers await the Colonel and
the acrobat?
Evolved Publishing presents a
globe-trotting adventure in the tradition of such greats as “Around the World
in 80 Days.”
Summer’s Take On “The Colonel and the
Bee.”
As I said earlier, it’s a great book
description, but it really doesn’t do justice to the exquisite writing style of
the author and the amazing rapport that develops between the Colonel and Bee—think
The Doctor, but a charming male version who really fancies the ladies, and his
companion, this one like the kick-ass reincarnation of Nancy Drew or the
younger version of Carmen Sandiego. The book, at its core, is fun, and while
there are some serious underlying issues, like the abuse that Bee suffers at
the hands of the ringleader and the horrific living conditions of the carnival
employees and animals, the book itself never skips a beat with its humor,
charm, wit, and mystery. Hence, I give The
Colonel and The Bee a five out of five star rating and I hope that I’ve
inspired you to grab a copy soon!
