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Book Review of Scavenger (Frank Balenger, Bk 2)

Scavenger (Frank Balenger, Bk 2)
perryfran avatar reviewed on + 1215 more book reviews


This is a sequel to Morrell's Creepers which I have a copy of but haven't read yet. I'll need to get to it soon. In this one, Frank Balenger and his wife Amanda are drawn to a lecture on time capsules at an old building in New York where supposedly The Manhattan History Club resides. But it turns out that the lecture and History Club are a ruse to kidnap Amanda and others and place them in peril as part of a real life "video" game. The object of the game is to find a 100-year old time capsule called the Sepulcher of World Desires at an old deserted mining town in Wyoming. The five players are made to wear different colored jump suits, use a GPS device, and always wear a headset that the "Game Master" can use to communicate with them. If they don't obey the rules, the Master can remotely destroy each player. Balenger is not one of the game players originally but he must figure out what is going on so he can try to get Amanda back. Lots of action ensues as the players try to solve the puzzle using clues left by the Game Master while trying to avoid the perils involved including one of the other players.

I thought this was a pretty good thriller and I especially liked the background on time capsules as well as geocaching. I didn't realize how many time capsules there have been and how many are lost. Geocaching is also talked about in the novel and is something I have heard about but really knew little...sounds interesting! This book was written in 2007 and in a little over ten years, the book already seems somewhat dated with the players using hand-held GPS devices and the most advanced cell phone being a Blackberry! Otherwise, I would still give this a mild recommendation.