Sabotage on the Solar Express by M.G. Leonard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sabotage on the Solar Express is the 5th-book in my favorite Middle Grade series, Adventures on Trains.
If you haven’t seen me gush about this series before, let me just give you are brief overview of what it is about.
This series follows Hal, a talented young artist with a penchant for solving mysteries. Hal’s Uncle Nat is a travel writer, who specializes in trains, and he takes Hal along with him on some of his journeys.
Hence the name of the series.
In this installment, we travel to Australia, where billionaire tech mogul and train enthusiast, August Reza, is set to run the maiden voyage of the winning design of his Reza’s Rocket competition.
We first met August Reza, and his daughter, Marianne, in the second-book of the series, Kidnap on the California Comet. Having made friendships over the course of that journey, Nat and Hal are graciously invited onto this test run for the new train, dubbed the Solar Express.
A child from Australia, Boaz, designed the winning train with his hybrid locomotive, driven by hydrogen fuel cells and solar power. Reza believes this design has the potential to change the future of train travel.
But during the journey from Alice Springs to Darwin, the train is sabotaged and soon they are running out of control through the vast expanse of the Australian Outback.
Will Hal and friends be able to discover the saboteur and stop the runaway train before it runs off the tracks, no doubt with disastrous, and maybe deadly, results?
As usual, this story was such a delight to read. I loved being back with Hal and Nat. We kick off rather quickly with them already being in Australia, and before you know it, the Solar Express has started her journey.
There are a couple of different mysteries tossed our way before we even discover the sabotage. I liked how intriguing all the elements were together. Were they related, were they not? It was really well plotted.
This is definitely the biggest thrill ride of series thus far. At times this felt like a version of the movie Speed reimagined for kids. There were some real pulse-pounding moments. Through it all, Hal stayed true to his character with a cool head and analytical mind.
We had a nice set-up for the next book, which it sounds like takes place over Christmas holiday for Hal. I can’t wait to pick it up. It sounds like a perfect Winter read.
I definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoys a solid, heart-warming, engaging Children’s Mystery. This can honestly be enjoyed by Readers of all ages!