A high-speed train journey worth catching . . .The best yet’ – The Times on Murder on the Safari Star Sabotage on the Solar Express can be read as a stand-alone novel, or enjoyed as part of the Adventures on Trains series. Join Hal and Uncle Nat on more stops in this thrilling series with: The Highland Falcon Thief, Kidnap on the California Comet, and Murder on the Safari Star.

The book also has a strong focus on STEM. Boaz is keen to share lots of information about his invention and, in doing so, there’s ample opportunity for discussions about solar energy, how we currently power vehicles—especially public transport—and what the future might look like, without it all coming across as just endless exposition. There are even diagrams, although the authors do warn against trying any of these experiments yourself because they have the potential to be dangerous. I really appreciated that Boaz was indigenous without his personality being focused entirely on stereotypical elements. Boaz is a true twenty-first-century science nerd and proud of it while also being aware of his heritage and the cultural and spiritual importance of the land around him. Sabotage on the Solar Express can be read as a stand-alone novel, or enjoyed as part of the Adventures on Trains series. Join Hal and Uncle Nat on more stops in this thrilling series with: The Highland Falcon Thief, Kidnap on the California Comet, Murder on the Safari Star, and Danger at Dead Man's Pass. Once a week or so had passed and decided to go for it, we put a deposit down on the Monday, and the installation was completed on the Thursday with the roofers and the Friday with the electrician.The Adventures on Trains series is one of my favourite discoveries of the past few years. I really cannot stress enough how brilliant they are. I really thought that they couldn’t possibly get any better, but Sabotage on the Solar Express somehow managed it! Moving the action to Australia, the by now slightly famous boy sleuth Hal and his caring - slightly mysterious (and for me, inappropriately crushworthy) Uncle Nat are taking a VIP inaugural test trip on a special hydrogen powered test train. Hal will need all of his wits and bravery to figure out who wants the train to fail - and possibly kill everyone on board!

MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman certainly keep you on the edge of your seat! Just when you think each book can't be beaten, along comes the next! Sabotage on the Solar Express is the best one yet! This mystery had a nice amount of fun science to it, which I really enjoyed. While the science is a small stretch at the moment (especially at the invention of a kid) it's also not unrealistic for this to have evolved that way, and I would love to see something like this be possible in the future. It was a nice moment to have the consideration of climate change in the book. Boaz is really a fantastic character too, I loved him, and his family :D We’ve had our solar panels installed for a few days now. The initial process was so easy. Oliver Russchen was who looked after us from the beginning and was really helpful, giving us all the information we needed to make a completely informed decision with no pressure at all. PDF / EPUB File Name: Sabotage_on_the_Solar_Express_-_M_G_Leonard_Sam_Sedgman.pdf, Sabotage_on_the_Solar_Express_-_M_G_Leonard_Sam_Sedgman.epubA mysterious letter from an old friend asks Hal and Uncle Nat to help investigate a spooky supernatural mystery. Legend has it the Kratzensteins, a family of rich and powerful railway tycoons, are cursed, but there is no such thing as a curse, is there . . .? Adventures on Trains has been one of my favorite ongoing middle-grade series for a few years now, so I was thrilled when we not only got a new book— Sabotage on the Solar Express—-this month, but a non-fiction spin-off called Epic Adventures as well!

I really liked spending time with them, particularly with Marianne. KIDNAP makes you think of her a certain way, and this book changes your opinion. She's clearly learnt since then (and because of that book.) The spark of her is still the same, but it was nice to see that change. Praise for the Series: 'Like Murder on the Orient Express but better!' - Frank Cottrell-Boyce on The Highland Falcon Thief. 'A first class choo-choo-dunnit!' - David Solomons on Kidnap on the California Comet. 'A high-speed train journey worth catching . . .The best yet' - The Times on Murder on the Safari Star. 'This series just gets better and better' - Maz Evans on Danger at Dead Man's Pass A high-speed train journey worth catching . . .The best yet' – The Times on Murder on the Safari Star There are new characters, of course. The best is Boaz. A science-whizz-kid is always a win in my book (I am a Physicist, after all!) But a whizz-kid with a green invention and the ability to invent from limited supplies under stress?! (Big DO NOT DO WHAT THEY DO IN THE BOOK warnings here!)If you have a kid who has been enjoying the Adventures on Trains series, or who just loves trains in general, then this will be a great addition to their shelves. Adult train nerds will almost certainly love it as well and will probably learn something from it too—I found myself sending many did-you-know texts as I read—so don’t discount this one as a potential Father’s Day gift later this year. The setting was so enjoyable too. Both the train itself, and Australia. I loved the descriptions of the landscape and so on, it really made me feel like I was there, without in any way interrupting the flow of the story. It soon becomes apparent that somebody does not want the new technology to succeed, and has sabotaged the train, meaning Reza Tech has lost all control over the train. The saboteur has given the company 40 minutes to work out his or her identity and stop the train, which is hurtling along at which is hurtling along at 150km/h. The action is fast-paced and the tension really ramps up. Can Hal and Nate solve the mystery in time? Sabotage on the Solar Express is set in Australia and concerns a train driven by hydrogen and solar power, an invention from the mind of a brilliant child genius. But not everybody is happy with this and, as the journey unfolds, so does the sabotage. Accompanied by Elisa Paganelli's delicious artwork, so precise and clean with detail, Sabotage on the Solar Express rolls on with utter aplomb.

As well as making for a super-addictive read, it also helps to keep these books feeling new and fresh. The authors are not letting these books fall into a pattern, but finding new ways for Hal to have adventures on trains (Uncle Nat is clearly a very good at persuading people given Hal's parents are still letting him go on train holidays with his uncle!) Each book in the series dabbles in a different genre alongside the discovery of a new train and country. Where book 4, ‘Danger at Dead Man’s Pass’, follows a steam train on a haunting journey of traditions and superstition, ‘Sabotage on the Solar Express’ carves a more modern route through book 5. Echoing the fast-paced adventure of an action film, the story jets through Australia’s sacred lands while Harrison and the reader are enlightened by scientific knowledge and ground-breaking advancements in transport technology.The style as always is clear, and readable, with the characters well drawn (literally and narratively) with an interesting central mystery - although as I mentioned there is more action here, so there is more reacting than discovering than in previous entries.