Review: Excellent book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 11, 2012
After a brief prologue, The Children of Malakh begins in a comical, almost satirical mood with bumbling mobsters and strange invisible instigators. The story gradually gets darker and more intense as the two boys who are the main characters dig themselves in deeper and deeper into trouble with increasingly dangerous people. Along the way the epic adventures of ten year old Erkki Lahja and Miguel Sanchez keep the reader laughing as they make fools of various groups of nasty people that play out a bit like a preteen version of "Smokey and the Bandit".It's not all fun and games though, as there are many moments of heartwarming emotion and wrenching tragedy that bring the characters close to you. Erkki is a great "tragic hero" who just can't help but do the right thing, and Miguel the the perfect comic relief side-kick.If you've taken the hint early on that Erkki isn't entirely human and the foreshadowed events that occur as the story moves along linking him to a "Christ-like" figure, the ending wont catch you completely off guard, but it still hits hard as a brick. Keep reading through to the last pages however and there's an ultimate resolution that makes you feel much better.