Rick Brant #10 Golden Skull and #11 Wailing Octopus

In Rick Brant #10, The Golden Skull, Rick and Scotty journey to the Philippines with Tony Briotti in search of a golden skull.  The priceless artifact is said to be hidden in the mountains of the Philippines.  Soon after their arrival, the boys find themselves in danger, as others wish to find the golden skull.

Like with some of the other books in this series, the story was a little slow getting started.  The story became very interesting around page 80 and continued all the way to the end of the book.

This book is full of information about the Philippines, which I found interesting.  None of it comes across as a history lesson, which is important.  I do not like travelogue books that devote lots of text to education about the country being visited.  This book imparts information in an engaging fashion without coming across as a school lesson.

I greatly enjoyed this book.

In Rick Brant #11, The Wailing Octopus, Rick, Scotty, Tony, and Zircon travel to the Virgin Islands.  For once, the trip is purely for recreation, although Rick and Scotty hope to unearth a shipwreck and find a golden statue.  The boys encounter Steve Ames in Charlotte Amalie.  Steve asks for their help in getting rid of a man who is shadowing him.  That chance encounter puts the boys in grave danger, and multiple attempts are made on their lives.

This book starts fast without the usual extended expository introduction.  Very quickly, the reader realizes that Rick and Scotty are in grave danger from the villains, and that knowledge keeps the reader in constant suspense.  I felt tense with expectation the entire time I read this book.  The feeling was very similar to how I felt while reading The Phantom Shark.

The Phantom Shark was my favorite Rick Brant book up to that point.  I like this book even more than The Phantom Shark. This book is close to being a perfect book.  It engaging from start to finish.