What Next?

What Next?, Jeffrey M. Daniels, Booklocker.com, 2013

This is Part 2 in the story of Jeremy Shuttle, a young boy with a very special sketchbook. Anything he draws in the sketchbook becomes real.

Jeremy makes what he thinks will be a quick trip to Washington DC using the sketchbook. He is kidnapped by a couple of henchmen who work for a man named DaHurst, a man who knows how to get what he wants, like the sketchbook. Things do not end well for those who get in his way. Jeremy escapes through a self-imposed time limit on his sketchbook trip.

The story shifts to caves in southern France, where Jeremy drew a cave painting 30,000 years ago, during a previous trip (read Part 1). There Jeremy, his mother, Teresa, and his sort-of girlfriend, Natalie, run into DaHurst, who really wants the sketchbook, and his henchmen. Jeremy has been working on a special sketch that will take him to his father, so he slips out of DaHurst's grasp. Dad disappeared in these caves 13 years ago, but there are current indications that he is still alive. Things look pretty bleak for Teresa and Natalie.

Jeremy is somewhere else (think "collective unconscious") telling this story to someone who may, or may not, be his real father. "Dad" is less than forthcoming with straight answers to Jeremy's many questions. They find themselves on a small plane traveling over ocean for a long time. They are forced to jump, with one parachute, after the plane is struck by a pterodactyl. Jeremy and "Dad" find themselves on an island full of dinosaurs right out of Jurassic Park. How can they get out of where they are, and find Teresa and Natalie? Does Jeremy find his real father?

This novel, and this series, is pretty good. Teens will enjoy it, and adults will, too. It is really well written, and will keep the reader's interest. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.