"Shadow of the Bear"

Viv and I recently read some books (I don't know if there's a name for the series, except maybe something like "Fairytales Retold" [see the front covers]) by Regina Doman. She takes a fairytale and modernizes it and changes it into the next book in the series. It makes it quite interesting but very predictable. These books are not very well known, I think, so Viv and I thought that they might be good to do book reviews on!

Book #1 - Shadow of the Bear (please don't judge by appearances. They ARE Christian books.)

Shadow of the Bear is the first of the five-book series and is based on the fairytale "Snow White And Rose Red".

The two main characters, Blanche and Rose Brier (sisters), meet a complete stranger who calls himself "Bear". They quickly become friends yet do not question him about his past and have suspicions that he might be a drug dealer...or is someone just trying to frame him?

Then all gets turned upside down when:

Bear is challenged (while at the prom with Blanche) and told to leave.

Rose starts suspecting their not-so-nice principal and follows him home.

Blanche discovers who Bear really is and what he's looking for.

Rose is kidnapped while she tries to rescue the also-kidnapped Fish (Bear's brother).

And Blanche gets kidnapped by a group of kids from her school who are getting paid if they find out more information about Bear.

Rose then realizes who Bear and Fish's enemy is and what the guy's after, but is it already too late?

Here's a leetle section I typed out for you guys:

“If you have to kill one of us, kill me,” Fish said, with an edge to his voice.

“Naturally, that’s how you’d feel, Benedict,” Mr. Freet said mildly. He pulled out a pair of leather gloves and began to put them on.

Rose said nothing, afraid of influencing Mr. Freet the wrong way. She moistened her lips, and waited.

“Freet, you’d better not touch her,” Fish said wildly as Mr. Freet took a step towards Rose.

“It’s all right,” Rose said softly. If she hadn’t been there, it would have been Fish whom Mr. Freet would have killed. Mr. Freet picked up a roll of duct tape and began to toy with it musingly.

“Come on, Freet, I know you’ve been dying to get rid of me. Think how happy it’ll make you. You hate me so much,” Fish said coaxingly, but Rose could see the sweat standing out on his forehead.

Mr. Freet ripped off a piece of duct tape and advanced on Fish with a grim smile. “Exactly,” he whispered as he pressed it over the boy’s mouth.

Then he turned, pick up the plastic bag, and walked over to Rose.

Fish yelled something incomprehensible through the tape. Rose look into Mr. Freet’s eyes once more, and saw that he seemed strangely agitated by her gaze. For a moment, there was the barest pause. She was conscious that she was not afraid, and that because she wasn’t, Mr. Freet was. Feeling his hesitation and not wanting him to change his mind, she bowed her head. She heard the rip of duct tape being torn from the roll. His leather-covered giners pressed the tape over her mouth fiercely, and she yielded, taking a deep breath. There was a pause, then he pulled the plastic bag over her head and began to tape it around her neck.

But the men signed of the cross of Christ go gaily in the dark…

She dimly heard Fish screaming against his gag and tearing at his bonds as Mr. Freet left the room and pounded up the stairs.

Strength of plot: **** (Even though it's predictable, it is still very suspenseful. She does a great job changing the plot to make it more interesting also!)

Strength of characters: *****

Overall rating: ****

Ah, yes. And a movie is being made for this book. Check out this site.