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Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Oct 2005, 375 pages
Paperback:
Jan 2007, 352 pages
Book Reviewed by:
BookBrowse Review Team
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With an ancient order of knights in hot cars, thugs on motorcycles, and a mysterious international organization following his every lumbering step, Alfred undertakes a modern-day quest to unravel a thousand-year-old mystery and return Excalibur to its rightful place. Ages 12+.
Alfred Kropp is the last person you'd think could save the world. But when this oversized underachiever gets roped into a suspicious get-rich-quick scheme, his life takes a turn for the extraordinary. Little does Alfred know he has been tricked into stealing Excalibur — the legendary sword of King Arthur — and the most powerful weapon ever wielded by man.
With an ancient order of knights in hot cars, thugs on motorcycles, and a mysterious international organization following his every lumbering step, Alfred undertakes a modern-day quest to unravel a thousand-year-old mystery and return the sword to its rightful place.
Chapter One
I never thought I would save the world — or die saving it. I never believed in angels or miracles, either, and I sure didn't think of myself as a hero. Nobody would have, including you, if you had known me before I took the world's most powerful weapon and let it fall into the hands of a lunatic. Maybe after you hear my story you won't think I'm much of a hero anyway, since most of my heroics if you want to call them that resulted from my being a screw-up. A lot of people died because of me — including me — but I guess I'm getting ahead of myself and I better start from the beginning.
It began with my uncle Farrell wanting to be rich. He never had much money growing up and, by the time Mr. Arthur Myers came along with his once-in-a-lifetime deal, my uncle was forty years old and sick of being poor. Being poor isn't one of those things you get used to, even if being poor is all you've ever been. So when Mr. Myers flashed ...
Alfred finds himself caught up with descendants of the Round Table, both honorable and evil, in this light-hearted, somewhat violent (heads do roll) tale of quest and adventure; the first in a planned series...continued
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(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).
Rick Yancey
is the author of two books for
adults: a memoir, Confessions
of a Tax Collector, and a
novel (A Burning in
Homeland - 2003). He
is also a playwright and former
theater critic.
Since then he has
launched two series: The
Extraordinary Adventures of
Alfred Kropp, for young
readers, and The Highly
Effective Detective, for
adults. Both books are set in
Knoxville, Tennessee, where Rick
lived for ten years before
returning to Florida.
He lives with his wife,
...
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