The Flight of the Silver Turtle by John Fardell

I have begun this week reading sequels. The first of these is The Flight of the Silver Turtle which is the sequel to The seven Professors of the far North.

In this second book by John Fardell we have another rapid paced adventure filled with wonderful team work, codes, flying machines and travel.

This adventure begins again with a visit to Professor Ampersand by Ben, Zara, Sam and Marcia. Following an outing to the seaside the group find an old aeroplane hanger with a partially completed seaplane inside. This seems like the perfect vehicle for the professor to trial his latest invention – “a new kind of energy cell which combines the technology of batteries and fuel cells and is more compact the efficient than either…. After just ten minutes plugs into the mains electricity, my energy cell contains enough power to keep the motor running for several hours.”

The friends meet the owner and builder of this plane – Amy and join her in the restoration project but they are being watch by very unfriendly eyes and thus begins a chase across Europe to discover the truth behind the mysterious work of Maskil Stribnik and the Silver Turtle. They must also thwart Noctarma, an evil international criminal gang who need these secrets to complete their plans for world domination.

If you enjoyed The Mysterious Benedict Society then you will race through this series. I especially enjoyed the scenes where the kids have to fly the seaplane and the ingenious way they solve their navigation problems as they fly across the English Channel, across France and arrive safety on Lake Geneva and the terrifying moments when Claire is trapped underwater in this lake with her air tanks rapidly emptying.

I am now on the look out for book three in this series The secret of the Black Moon Moth.