Blogging for Books

Among the exciting vistas opening to bloggers is the opportunity to receive free books to review. I am exploring that. As a newspaper writer and editor, I do already receive offers to read and review books and thought I might post the review (slightly altered) that will appear in the October 5 edition of the Waycross Journal-Herald.
Pelican Publishing Company has afforded me the chance to review some of their books. I have, most often, reviewed children's and young adult novels, because I can easily pass those to my wife, Kathy, a teacher, for her use or the benefit of other teachers and students.
I, without requesting a copy, was sent "Eclipse of the Jaguar," a young adult novel and part of a series, one of which ("Sign of the Dragon") I had read and reviewed. I don't know if they liked my review and, therefore sent this new book to me or whether my name just stuck on their list to my benefit.

(“Eclipse of the Jaguar” by Richard Trout: Pelican Publishing Company; ISBN: 9781589808720)
Slide high above the ground on  a rope trolley through a jungle in Belize. Be chased by an angry mother jaguar. Fall prey to a fall-trap inside a Mayan temple. Play hide-and-seek with gun-toting looters.
That is more than enough danger to last a lifetime for most people, but the MacGregor teens — Chris, Heather and R.O. and Chris’s girlfriend, Natalie — barely escape death and serious injury from these perils in just the first several pages of Richard Trout’s seventh novel in the MacGregor Family Adventure Series, “Eclipse of the Jaguar.”
The sacrifices to the Mayan gods by tribal kings in the seventh century reach forward 1400 years to endanger the lives of two young people as multinational treasure hunters cross and double-cross one another to claim the gold, silver and jewels amassed by four kings long ago.
Every member of the family and several unique friends put their lives on the line to rescue the captive young people from the mysterious Mr. Frost.
Once you accept the premise of a family spending a year crossing the globe (the father, Jack MacGregor, is researching a book on endangered species, and his family is traveling from one exotic location to another with him), and the kids are capable of braving wild animals and harsh environments and out-dueling armed villains, this and the other Trout books (I believe ... I’ve only read two) contain about as much fun and excitement as you can handle without a break — before starting the next episode.

The book is written by a professor of environmental science and biology at Oklahoma Christian University. More about Trout and his writings can be found at pelicanpub.com or the blog of the OCU web site.