The Ambrose Beacon by Alena Gouveia

I must admit that when I looked at Goodreads and Amazon and only saw a handful of reviews for The Ambrose Beacon, I was pretty surprised.   This book is wonderfully fast-paced with well developed characters that would make a great middle grade read.    I love how the story centers around the Ambrose children, their father and uncle.  Gouveia first introduces each of the children in their every day school and home environment.  We get a feel for what they are like and the family issues that exist.  From Dinah who wants to go with Eduardo to the prom to Vaughan who is trying to stay off the school bullies radar. Each has some real life issues that they are dealing with, yet this is what made me become invested in the story.  I learned how when the children were young their mother died leaving their father (Jerry) and Uncle (Harper) to care for them and that each of the children  were endowed with certain abilities by their mother.  The same sort of abilities that Harper possesses.  Be it strength, speed, exceptional hearing, invisibility, or even the ability to change into an animal form.  I also saw the transition of the Ambrose children as they learned about their powers and what these powers mean for them.  And when  strange things begin to happen around town like wolves  and people wearing dark clothing show up, it's easy to worry about what will happen to the family.  Even though Harper begins to suspect that these dark forces are in search of "The Solas" which resides in one of the Ambrose children, even he doesn't know which one.    Hear in lies the mystery that drives a lot of the story.  I kinda suspected who it might be, but Gouveia tries to throw some curve balls at ya to keep you guessing.   There is also some fast paced action and fight scenes that highlights each of the children's abilities really well and things move along quickly.  Gouveia wraps up the story nicely, leaving room for further books but an ending that does not disappoint.  Review copy of the ebook generously provided by WordSpelunkingblogspot.com  and Alena Gouveia as a part of a Book Spootlight and Giveaway. A Big thank you to both.  

The Prologue of the Ambrose Beacon is also available at http://www.alenagouveia.com/The-Ambrose-Beacon---Prologue.html