Grk: Operation Tortoise

(A Grk Book - Book 4)

by
Joshua Doder

Delacorte Press, January 2009, 219 pp.
ISBN: 978-0-385-73362-5

Genre: Young Reader

Subgenre: Fiction
Reviewed: 1/30/2010

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

Tim could see the shore clearly now.

There was along sandy beach fringed with tall palm trees. Heavy dark rocks dotted the sand. Any minute now, thought Tim, this boat will be wrapped around one of those rocks. And I'll be dead.

He let go of the wheel and dropped to the floor, wedging himself against the cabin, preparing for the impact. Then he remembered Grk. He looked up.

Grk was lying in the middle of the floor, panting, completely unaware that in five or ten seconds from now, his world would be turned upside down.

"Come here," yelled Tim.

Grk lifted his head, stared at Tim and blinked.

"Come on!" shouted Tim.

Grk panted.

"Come here!" shouted Tim. "Right now!"

Grk blinked and panted.

Tim opened his mouth to shout again, but before he could utter a single word, the boat lurched violently. There was a terrible bang, followed by the loudest screech that Tim had ever heard.

The boat cut through the shallow water surrounding the island and rammed into the beach. Momentum sent it shooting out of the water onto the sand.

Tim was thrown backward, then forward. He tried to grab something for support, but his fingers couldn't get a grip on anything. He spun round the bottom of the boat, thumping every part of his body.

Metal roared. Sand crunched. Water splashed. The boat shook and shuttered and slammed into the trunk of a tall palm tree. The front of the boat buckled and broke. Tim and Grk were tossed forward by the impact, then thrown backward.

Tim smacked his head against a cupboard door and slumped to the floor with a terrible groan. His eyes rolled in their sockets and he lost consciousness.

Grk spun across the floor, rolled one way, then the other, and came to a standstill in the bottom of the boat, his four legs spread-eagle.

Then the coconuts fell on them.

Synopsis

Timothy Malt, Max and Natascha Raffifi, Grk, and Mr. and Mrs. Malt are on vacation on the island of Mahé in the Seychelles, an archipelago nation of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some 932 miles east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar. Unfortunately for Tim, he has a cold and has to hang out in his Hotel Sea Shell room while Max and Natascha go scuba diving.

A few days later, Tim is feeling a little better and takes a walk on the beach with his book and his dog. He wants to find a quite place to read so he an Grk continue walking until they find a deserted cove. When Tim notices a man laying on the beach, he decides to find another cove. But Grk is insistent that Tim go and check the man out. It turns out that the man is near death and whispers to Tim that he must "Help them." He also whispers something that Tim cannot quite figure out and then he stops moving.

Tim runs back to the hotel yelling for help, but it is too late for the man on the beach. Inspector Xavier Benedict believes that the man has drown, but Tim believes that there is more to this story. Tim finally figures out that the man had said "Calypso," which is a private island owned by billionaire Edward Goliath.

Tim is determined to make his way to Calypso and find out who he needs to help. So, when he and his parents rent a boat and go to Aubergine Island for a picnic, Tim waits until they fall asleep, hops into the boat with Grk, and sets off in search of Calypso, hoping to return before his parents wake up. Although Mr. Malt taught Tim some things about driving a boat on the way to the island, he didn't teach Tim everything. As Tim approaches Calypso, he realizes that he does not know how to slow down the boat, so he ends up crashing into the island. As guards start shooting at him with machine guns, both he and Grk flee through the jungle.

They soon end up on a road. When two men in white coats drive by a Jeep, Tim decides to follow them. Tim watches the two scientists enter a building and both he and Grk follow them inside. Tim finds an empty building and searches until he discovers the elevator that the scientists disappeared into. After Tim descends into the depths of the island, he is captured by Goliath's men after he witnessed some of the experiments that have been performed on both animals, tortoises and humans.

As they throw Tim into his own cell, he realizes that he must escape, and escape quickly, before is ends up dead like the guy on the beach.

Grk: Operation Tortoise by Joshua Doder is the fourth story in the Grk Series. This book is intended for young readers ages 9 to 12.

Review

Grk: Operation Tortoise is the best Grk book so far. The story is jam-packed with action and adventure as Tim tries to find out who needs help on the island of Calypso. Not only must he lie to his parents about still having a cold, he ends up stealing their boat and leaving them stranded on an island that they are forced to spend the night on with little food or water.

Why does Tim do these seemingly bad things? Not to hurt is parents, that's for sure. He does these things because of his insatiable curiosity and his need to set things right. I find it lucky that Tim's parents are able to take so may vacations. Last time they went to New York and this time they went to the Seychelles. I want to take vacation like that!

What I liked better about Grk: Operation Tortoise is that Max and Natascha were used a little more in the story, although they still weren't involved in the main adventure. I also liked the intense action and found the book to be quite thrilling. After all, how many twelve-year old boys get to drive a boat really fast across the ocean by themselves? Of course, Tim ends up smashing the boat into a palm tree up on the beach.

Now, that is quite exciting. And then he gets thrown into a cell with the threat of being experimented on by Goliath's scientists! How will Tim get himself out of this one? Plus, Grk has been taken away and isn't there to help him.

Overall, Grk: Operation Tortoise is an excellent story and the best Grk tale yet. I cannot wait to see what kind of trouble and boy and his dog get into next in Grk Smells a Rat. Atta boy, Grk!

I rated this book a 9 out of 10.