Peter and the Secret of Rundoon by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (Audiobook Review)

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Title: Peter and the Secret of Rundoon
Series: Star-Catchers, book 3
Author: Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Publisher: Brilliance Audio Books
Narrator: Jim Dale
Duration: 10 hours, 15 minutes
Copyright: 2007
Genres: adventure, fantasy, juvenile
Filed in: Audiobook reviews
Review copy provided by Kearney Public Library.

THE GIST: “Star stuff” is the most mysterious and powerful substance known to man, except that most men don’t even know it exists. It falls to the Earth occasionally, from outer space, and can give tremendous power to those who come in contact with it. The secret society of the Watchers is responsible for keeping track of any falling star stuff, and alerting the Star Catchers when it does, through a system of coded newspaper postings. The Star Catchers are then responsible for capturing the star stuff and keeping it out of the wrong hands, namely the hands of the Others, until it can be safely returned to the heavens in rare celestial events that occur only at Stonehenge.

The Watcher for the London area went missing twelve years ago and has never been seen since. In true adventuress fashion, Molly, daughter of Lord Leonard Aster who is one of the chief Star Catchers, decides to find out what happened to the Watcher. Molly, along with her friend George, visits the newspaper office to see if they can discover the identity of the Watcher. As it turns out, the billing manager at the newspaper remembers the case well as it was in the headlines for several weeks. The man and his wife went missing under very mysterious circumstances, and their infant son was sent to an orphanage. Saint Norbert's Home for Wayward Boys to be exact. And the name of the man was Mister Pan.

Meanwhile, on Mollusk Island, a rival tribe called the Scorpions attacks the Mollusks. Captain Hook decides this is his chance to finally get off the island where he has been stranded for several months now, but not before getting his revenge on Peter. Using the battle as cover, Hook grabs Peter and his friends, who have been under the protection of the Mollusks, and runs to the beach where the Scorpions have left their war canoes. Hook and his pirates, along with the boys, don't get far, however. Shortly after casting off, they are waylaid by a strange metal boat that travels underwater. Peter is horrified to learn that Lord Ombra the Shadow-Thief, who was thought to have been destroyed, commands the boat.

So, Lord Aster, along with Molly and George, having learned that Peter is the son of a Watcher, and is probably a Watcher himself, are sailing for Mollusk Island to pick him up. Peter isn't there, however. Lord Ombra is taking him to Rundoon. That's no coincidence; the nation of Rundoon and its barbaric king have been working for the Others and trying to get some star stuff of their own. They also know that Peter is a Watcher and think he will be able to help them.

Whew! It’s a race against time as the Star Catchers try to rescue Peter before the Others can force him into finding them some star stuff. And I hope they make it, because if the Shadow-Thieves gather up enough star stuff, they plan to use it to plunge the entire universe into eternal darkness where they can rule forever!

MY THOUGHTS: “Peter and the Secret of Rundoon” is the third audio book in Dave Barry’s “Star Catchers” series. I think I liked “Peter and the Secret of Rundoon” a little better than the first two audio books in the series. “Peter and the Star Catchers", and "Peter and the Shadow-Thieves" were a little short on plot, but this one was nicely developed. The whole thing seemed to flow a little better as well. I'm a little more anxious to continue the series now than I was after reading audio book two.

NARRATOR: Jim Dale, Jim Dale, Jim Dale. He’s just awesome. “Peter and the Secret of Rundoon" is no Harry Potter, but that’s not Jim Dale’s fault. His voices are just as unique, and just as enjoyable, as ever. I can kind of sense him falling into these characters with the passing of each book. In “Peter and the Star Catchers", I noticed a lot of similarities to the Harry Potter voices, but with each subsequent audio book, the voices have gradually become something of their own. I think that must have been pretty challenging for Dale since he was recording this series at the same time he was doing Harry Potter.

FINAL WORD: If you haven't read the first two Star Catchers audio books, than this one won't make much sense, probably. But if you have read them, "Peter and the Secret of Rundoon" is the best so far.

CHECK OUT THESE OTHER AUDIOBOOK REVIEWS:
Peter And The Star-Catchers by Dave Barry (Audiobook Review)
Peter And The Shadow-Thieves by Dave Barry (Audiobook Review)
Peter And The Secret Of Rundoon by Dave Barry (Audiobook Review)
Peter And The Sword Of Mercy by Dave Barry (Audiobook Review)

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If you liked this audiobook review, you can purchase the audiobook here:
Get "Peter and the Secret of Rundoon" by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (Unabridged Audiobook) from Amazon.com

This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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