Review: Suspenseful YA Fantasy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 10 29, 2012
The Stone Theory: A Tale of an Accidental Demon Hunter opens up with our protagonist, Lucy Stone, being attacked by Russian thugs on her birthday. What a way to spend your special day, yet thirteen year old Lucy shrugs off being forced to flee her home, her dog Max in tow. It's just an everyday occurrence for a girl who has grown up in a family of demon hunters. Lucy longs to join the ranks, but Lucy's brother, Mikey, has been stolen and her father vows not to see another child lost to this dangerous occupation. Lucy is determined, however, and when she learns that a portal will open up to an alternate world, a world where her brother is supposedly kept captive, she knows what she must do. What she doesn't know is what she will be required to risk to save her brother and stop the Dark Ones from infecting her world in the process.Lucy is a likable character, spunky and self-sufficient, without suffering from the angst of some of the older teen protagonists we see. Her counterpart Peter makes a willing sidekick happy to scrutinize the magical stone she caries and track down the portals they must use to save Mikey. Jade Stone, his sister makes a perfect villain with her mean girl attitude and penchant for torturing Lucy. Overall, the characters are solid and help move the story along.There were a few times when the action left me feeling a bit whip-lashed and confused. Even in the opening scene, she escapes the Russians on a toboggan and shows up at Peter's house,which left me thinking "But where are the Russians?" who I assume would pursue a thirteen year old girl on foot. The plot moves along,  at times losing a bit of its tension, but that generally picks back up again. Though it could have used a tad more editing, this book has good "bones" i.e. all the elements to make a good story, just needs some fleshing out. The Stone Theory is suitable for middle schoolers and beyond and is worth a look for $3.99.