ARA Review by M. D. Sanders of Smith

[M. D. Sanders]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, Smith.]

---

5 out of 5 stars

---

Share This Review

---

When a teenaged young man discovers a talking mystical artifact with supernatural abilities after sneaking into an archeological dig site, he swiftly finds himself wildly popular with all sorts of well-armed people he'd rather not be wildly popular with. (And one particular woman he would.) Then spends much of the rest of the story trying to figure out who they are, why he's so popular with them, and the many delightfully unpleasant ways in which the artifact can reduce their numbers. With or without his consent.

I greatly enjoyed Smith and have almost no qualms whatsoever about rating it 5 out of 5 stars. (I say ‘almost’ because- I will admit- the ending did annoy me, and there were times I found the main character frustratingly... dense. But it is satisfactory and makes solid sense within the story, and he is still a teenager, so it's forgivable.)

I ultimately chose 5 because if it had a sequel, I enjoyed the story enough that I most likely would have paid to read it, which is likely a good portion of why the ending annoyed me as much as it did. And so I decided to reward the author for writing well enough that I wanted it to continue- rather than marking him down for making it seem unlikely to happen.

The action was fast paced, fun and- quite frequently- delectably, supernaturally, gory. I quite liked the banter between the main character and artifact, as well as the female lead. The plot went smoothly and wrapped up neatly without hanging questions. And though it does touch on theological matters and history, it does so without being either too preachy or too irreverent.

In the end, it was a good read, I thought it worth the time spent, and highly recommend it- especially if you're in general a fan of action/adventure with supernatural elements, such as Indiana Jones or The Mummy.

***
View Smith on Bookshelves