Billionaire's Curse
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3.0 • 2 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Hello, Gerald. I hope this isn’t too weird for you--a letter from beyond the grave! By now you are my heir and worth a good deal of money. I hope you don’t mind. . . . I expect you’ve figured out that I was murdered. I would like you to find out who did it.
Gerald Wilkins had only been hoping for a ski holiday, but plans change when a great aunt he’s never met leaves him her entire estate worth twenty billion pounds! Whisked by his parents to London, England, Gerald is given a letter and told not to open it until after the funeral.
Now he’s got a mystery to solve. With the help of his new friends, Sam and Ruby Valentine, Gerald follows the clues into secret passageways, a musty jumbled bookshop, an ancient crypt and a colossal cavern where the secret of a priceless treasure lies protected by deadly booby traps.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Hailing from Australia, Newsome's debut (the first in the Archer Legacy series) is a fun, if generally predictable tale of a boy who suddenly finds himself rich and embroiled in a deadly adventure. Gerald Wilkins has just learned that his great-aunt Geraldine has left him her entire fortune, even though he's never met her. As his absentee parents take off on a trip around the world, Gerald discovers a note from his grandmother informing him that her death was actually a murder, and he is soon on the trail of the missing Noor Jehan diamond. Along the way, he picks up two companions, twins Ruby and Sam, and as the three children make their way through London and the countryside, they discover suspects around every corner. Newsome's world is the sort in which almost all adults are either dastardly or incompetent (Geraldine's mother is practically villainous in her money-grubbing), and the ageism wears thin. Fortunately, the brisk pacing and easy camaraderie between Gerald, Ruby, and Sam should ensure that young readers have a blast. Ages 8 12.
