Spider Bite

(Extreme Adventures: Book 5)

by
Justin D'Ath

Kane Miller, March 2011 (2007), 133 pp.
ISBN: 978-1-61067-010-4

Genre: Young Reader
Subgenres: Action / Adventure
Reviewed: 8/26/2011

Reviewed by: Conan Tigard

Book Cover

Excerpt

The World's Most Venomous

I let go of the leash and hauled myself back into the basket. There were sirens wailing in the distance, and I could hear about two thousand car horns, but I had problems of my own. Or Harry did, and he's my little brother.

"Where is it?" I asked, pushing Myrtle to one side and crouching beside Harry.

He leaned against one of the gas bottles and pointed down at his leg. The large black spider was halfway up his shin. It was a funnel-web, all right -- I'd seen them in books. This was a male. They're smaller than females, and much more deadly.

"Will it bite me?" Harry asked.

"'Course not," I said, trying my best to sound upbeat and confident. I didn't want him to panic. He was better off not knowing it was a funnel-web. "Stay still while I brush it off."

But when I brought my hand near it, the spider raised its front legs and the forward part of its body and aggressively bared its fangs at me. Now I understood what Harry meant when he said it wouldn't let him brush it off. This was one scary spider! And a dangerous one too, -- according to the books I'd read, the male Sydney tunnel-spider is the world's most venomous spider.

The basket swayed one way, then the other. I had to steady myself against the second gas bottle. The chorus of car horns no longer surrounded us, but floated up from below. We were flying again. When I'd let go of the leash hooked around the front of the SUV, the balloon had taken off and gone sailing away on the wind. Who knew where we'd end up? But I would worry about that later. First I had to deal with the deadly spider on Harry's leg.

"Why don't you squash it?" asked Jordan.

"Because it's on my leg, stupid!" said Harry. "If Sam squashed it, it'll bite me."

"How can it bite you if it's dead?"

"Before it's dead, stupid!"

"Shut up, you two!" I snapped. Myrtle sensed my nervousness and licked my face. I elbowed her aside. "Jordan, make yourself useful and hold Myrtle."

The funnel-web started crawling. Very slowly, it crept up towards Harry's dirt-smeared knee.

"It's going into my shorts," he breathed.

I couldn't let that happen. Once it was under his clothing, the danger would be much worse. If Harry moved the wrong way, and the fabric pushed against the funnel-web, it would bite him for sure.

"Stay absolutely still," I said.

Moving both hands slowly, I gripped the shorts on either side of Harry's leg and pressed the hem against his knee, just above the spider. It reared up again, swiveling its deadly fangs toward my right thumb, only an inch away. I wondered how fast funnel-webs could move, and whether they could jump. But I forced myself to remain still. Any sudden movements, and the spider might bite my little brother.

Synopsis

Fourteen year old Sam Fox has moved to the big city of Sydney, Australia. He is playing in the park with his two younger brothers, Jordan and Harry, who are twins, when a hot air balloon descends quickly toward the ground and gets caught up in the branches of a tall tree. Also at the park is Myrtle, their part Newfoundland and part Great Dane puppy that is about one year old. In other words, she is a big puppy.

Sam climbs the fifty feet up to the basket and finds that the pilot has been bitten by a funnel-web spider, the deadliest spider on the planet. With Sam's extra weight in the basket, the balloon crashes to the ground spilling out both of the passengers and Sam. While Sam is attending to the woman and the pilot, Myrtle, Harry, and Jordan climb into the basket, which is on its side, and activate the burner. Sam looks up to find a ten-foot long flame filling the balloon, which is being pushed along the field by the wind.

Sam runs toward the balloon and grabs a trailing rope just as the balloon begins to lift off. The wind carries the balloon over the freeway, and the balloon begins to descend. Sam is left dangling over all the speeding cars when a major pile-up of cars occurs because of drivers trying to avoid Sam dangling in front of them. Sam yells at the boys to activate the burner again. When Sam is finally able to shimmy his way up into the basket, he finds that the spider that bit the pilot is still in the basket and is now crawling up Harry's leg.

After turning off the burner, Sam is able to knock the spider off Harry, but it lands on Jordan's head and bites him. Sam looks up to find that the balloon has lowered toward the ground once more and is now heading for electrical wires containing 30,000 volts. They are about to be fried. Sam is able to avoid the wires by having the balloon climb high into the sky, but then they find themselves in the path of a jumbo jet.

Sam is not having the best day, but he knows that his brother, Jordan, is having a worst day than he is. Sam realizes that he must quickly land the balloon safely and get his brother some antivenin, or his brother will die. Sam is finally able to bring the balloon down for a safe landing, but his troubles have only began. Sam finds himself in the bear enclosure at the zoo and a large Kodiak bear is looking straight into his eyes. Now what is he going to do?

Spider Bite is the fifth book in Extreme Adventures series written by Justin D'Ath. It is a stand-alone book and, according to the author, you do not have read them in order. The series is intended for readers 9 years and older.

Review

Spider Bite is yet again another very exciting book in the Extreme Adventures series by  Justin D'Ath. This book is packed with adrenaline-pumping events that will leave the reader breathless as the action unfolds before their eyes. Poor Sam . . . he always seems to find himself in very dangerous situations. The good news for us is that these circumstances are very thrilling and we get to go along for the ride safely from wherever we are reading these books.

I really enjoy the Extreme Adventures books and always know that when I pick up one of these books, I am prepared for a roller coaster ride of a story. In this story, Sam must not only deal with being stuck in a hot air balloon and not knowing how to pilot it, but a sick brother who will die in less than 24 hours unless he is treated. Oh yeah, we cannot forget about the zoo and all the wild animals in there that he has to face, like bears, lions, snakes, and more. Now this is what I call a breathtaking adventure.

Justin D'Ath is a master at writing stories that will keep the reader sitting on the edge of their chair. The action is non-stop and the tenseness in the book will leave the reader's heartbeat pumping hard as they gobble up the pages following Sam though all of the traumatizing events. Young Readers, especially boys, will love Sam Fox and wish that this could be happening to them. I highly recommend the Extreme Adventures series to all readers who love a fast-paced story chocked full of action and adventure.

Overall, Spider Bite is another excellent story that made me bite off all my fingernails as Sam successfully navigated one exciting challenge after another. I cannot wait to see what happens in his next book entitled, Man-Eater. Uh oh, that sure doesn't sound very safe.

I rated this book a 9 out of 10.