The Protector

The fourth book in Dee Henderson's O'Malley series is called The Protector, featuring Jack O'Malley and one of his former coworkers Cassie Ellis.

Jack is a firefighter, and a good one too. Sadly, a certain firebug doesn't seem to think so. At least, that's the assumption when several fires attributed to a single arsonist are all set during Jack's shifts at the fire station.

Cassie also used to be a firefighter, until a nearly fatal accident at The Fire cost her her career. Now that she's been released from the hospital for good, she's opening up a bookstore.

And then... Cassie sees the man who set a fire, and she instantly feels betrayed and traitorous simultaneously as she thinks she recognizes the man.

A whole mess of plotline ensues, in which Cassie rejoins the fire department, Jack pursues the relationship he had wanted for years, Jennifer's condition is a constant background plot, and more than just one O'Malley is targeted by Christianity in this book.

From what I can remember, I have two complaints about this book. One of them, I already mentioned about another book. Cassie is a Christian, and Jack is not; but romance pops up anyways. Not cool.

Another complaint I have is probably only because, being used more than once in the series, it's now overused. Lisa's conversion to Christianity was right as she was dying of suffocation, and Jack was in a similar (though more firey) situation when he accepted Christ.

I'm not in any way saying God doesn't save people when they call out to Him on their deathbeds, because He most certainly does. I'm just saying that Henderson, as an author, should probably use something that dramatic only once in a series.

The Truthseeker

The Truthseeker is Dee Henderson's third installment in the O'Malley series, featuring as protagonists Lisa O'Malley and Marcus's friend and U.S. Marshal partner Quinn Diamond.

Lisa, I believe, is a forensic pathologist. She worked with Marcus on the murder case Shari was witness to in the last book. She is now taking on a new challenge: solving cases that had been shelved decades ago because no one could discover who the murderer was.

Quinn, though he's a Christian and Lisa is not, is trying desperately to get Lisa to agree to a date with him and has been trying since the last book. But there's a bigger problem here than just stubbornness on Lisa's part; Quinn has dated two other women in the O'Malley family (Jennifer and Kate) and even accidentally reveals later that he asked out Rachel too. Lisa is definitely not happy about being asked out last.

Things get complicated in this book as Henderson juggles a plotline that follows many different strings. Lisa's past, the Christianity that seems to be taking hold of her family one by one, the stalker that shows up in Lisa's life and burns her house with all her pets trapped inside, the romance also taking hold of her family one at a time, and (worst of all) Jennifer's cancer that has recently become public knowledge among the close-knit family of seven.

Oh, and although it doesn't seem like it from the description I just gave, Quinn is more than just a side character. He takes an active part in just about every single turn in Lisa's life.

The Guardian

Second in Dee Henderson's O'Malley series is The Guardian, referring to the oldest member of the O'Malley family.

Our two protagonists here are Marcus O'Malley and Shari Hanford. Marcus is a U.S. Marshal assigned to protect Shari after she becomes the only witness to the murder of a family friend who also happens to be an extremely powerful man. Shari is pretty powerful too, writing speeches for several people and aiming to be a politician herself.

The two click instantly, meeting just hours before the murder and arranging for coffee the next morning.

Then everything changes. Shari must take on a level of security similar to what you read about in Henderson's Danger in the Shadows.

This book is probably my favorite out of the O'Malley series, but I do have one pretty big problem with it. Shari is a Christian, even though she decides for a time that she doesn't like God anymore. Marcus is definitely not a Christian, though he respects her beliefs.

In my opinion, there was too much romance going on between them while they were supposed to have this major difference. I firmly believe it is extremely unwise for a Christian to get romantically involved with a non-Christian. Sadly, most of the O'Malley books have this problem.

Other than that, though, this book is pretty good overall.

The Negotiator

The Negotiator is the first official book of Dee Henderson's O'Malley series.

Dave Richman, Sara's brother, is one of the two protagonists for this book. He is, if I remember correctly, an FBI agent and former head of his sister's security. Like his sister, he is also a Christian.

Kate O'Malley is the other protagonist, second oldest "sibling" in the O'Malley family. Like I said earlier, the O'Malleys are a group of seven orphans who adopted each other and legally changed their last names to become family. And like the other members of her family, Kate is most decidedly not a Christian.

Kate is a hostage negotiator, who also recently seems to be the victim of stalker, though no one knows why. Then her name is attached with a plane that explodes, and everything changes.

Kate helps in trying to solve the mystery of the bomber, and Dave pitches in too, unable to leave the woman he met during a bank-bomber-hostage situation, for lack of better knowledge on my part as to how to explain it.

Things start to dig into Kate's past, and she also has to deal with the knowledge that a certain member of her family is dying, but no one else in the family can know yet. Dave tries to get Kate to see that God can straighten these things out, but Kate is having none of it.

How on earth can this mess be solved to everyone's satisfaction? Find out in The Negotiator.

Danger in the Shadows

As I mentioned yesterday, Dee Henderson's prequel to the O'Malley series is Danger in the Shadows.

There are two protagonists to every Henderson book that I've read so far. In this book, they are Sara Walsh and Adam Black.

On the surface, Sara is a children's author who comes from a wealthy family. Under the surface, Sara is the victim of a stalker, and has been for most of her life, necessitating security at every second of the day or night. She had been kidnapped when she was just a child, and now she is scarred inwardly and outwardly.

Adam is more or less just as he appears: a former star football player who has finally decided to step down from the field. But he also carries a bit of secrecy. It doesn't have the drama Sara's life is laced with, and it's revealed pretty early on, but it is his own personal demon.

How do these polar opposites meet? Can Sara risk being associated with a public icon? Can Adam handle the transition from fame to hiding?

Can they both trust God to not only help them survive, but to actually live?

Overall, a pretty good book. Rather dark in places, and Sara rarely gets a moment of fun without it being completely ruined five seconds later. But still. Pretty good book.

Dee Henderson's O'Malley Series

Now I feel sort of guilty because I've gone so long without mentioning my mom's favorite author, whom I've also read: Dee Henderson.

The series by Henderson that I have read almost completely is the O'Malley series, featuring seven orphans who banded together and legally changed their last names to become siblings. The stories pick up when they're around 30 years of age.

There are three books that are part of the series, although not technically. Hmm, that sounded confusing. Allow me to explain.

Danger in the Shadows is a sort of prequel to the O'Malley series. No O'Malleys are shown, but the main character later is linked indirectly with the O'Malleys.

Jennifer: An O'Malley Love Story is a book which I don't think was ever printed, but it could for a time (and maybe still) be found published online by the author for a free read. It shows how the youngest O'Malley, who never got her own book in the original series, fell in love with a man and his Savior. I have yet to completely read this book.

I have not read Full Disclosure, either. However, it contains a twist that is vital the O'Malleys, or at least our view of them. I know the twist because my mom freaked out when she read it and had to tell someone who would know what she was semi-talking about.

Anyways, we'll take a look at the O'Malley books one by one over the next several days. But you should know right now that all of them are Christian fiction, all have romance, and all have murder.

Rick Riordan

I've already told you about basically all of Rick Riordan's books that I've read, so here is some information about some of his other books.

Riordan's two series on Percy Jackson and on the Kane kids either have or are in the process of having graphic novels made of each of the eight books in both series.

Riordan has contributed to the collection of The 39 Clues series, which I know nothing about; but apparently more than one author I've read has contributed to the series.

Riordan has written another series called Tres Navarre, which seems to be a Texan crime-solving type of series. He has currently written seven books for the series; I'm not sure if the seventh is a conclusion, a continuation, or just yet another book of the same type with no end yet in sight.

Riordan also apparently has written a stand-alone novel called Cold Springs. According to the description on Goodreads, this book seems to be fraught with death and drugs and whatnot, effectively making me decide to steer well away from it.

Other than the multiple books in other languages, I think I've pretty much covered Riordan's books now. If you want to see the list of Riordan's works yourself, please click here to go to the list on Goodreads.

See you next week!

Rick Riordan's Short Story Companion Books

To accompany the three series I've just finished talking about, Rick Riordan has written a number of smaller books that contain short stories and informational tidbits that add to the overall series they are a part of.

To mention all of them would take way too long, so I'll just mention a few.

The Demigod Files contains a few games, interviews, and short stories. It probably takes place sometime after The Battle of the Labyrinth, but definitely before The Last Olympian. The short stories are in Percy's first-person perspective, like the series it accompanies.

The Kane Chronicles Survival Guide is a book I have not read, but it seems as though the layout of the book might be similar to the last book I mentioned. And of course, this book is part of the Kane Chronicles series.

The Demigod Diaries is a book also containing short stories, though there were also puzzles for the readers themselves, similar to The Demigod Files. And, this book had one story that I never expected: an entry from Luke's diary in the days when he and Thalia were half-bloods without a home, running across the country fighting any and all monsters. The last story is what dates this book, though; it shows a mishap during the time between the first and second books of The Heroes of Olympus.

And if you're the type of reader that wants to watch worlds more contrary than Greeks and Romans collide, Riordan has written another type of book: a crossover between The Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The first one in what I hear is to be a series itself is called The Son of Sobek. It's just one short story, but it's from Carter's point of view as he runs into Percy on a hunt.

Those four books are by no means all there is. They just represent the four categories that I know of. As I wrap up with Riordan soon, I'll give you a link that will lead you to a list of his many, many works.

House of Hades

The latest book to be released in Rick Riordan's series Heroes of Olympus is titled The House of Hades, which begins perhaps a week after the end of The Mark of Athena.

In this book, the Seven from the latest Great Prophecy have been separated; Percy and Annabeth fell into Tartarus, and the others are being led by an addition (Nico) to the mortal side of the Doors of Death.

They are still working together, though, since the other side of the Doors of Death lie in Tartarus, and the Doors have to be closed from both sides.

This is probably my least favorite book of the series so far. It was enough of a disappointment that I'm for once actually not excited to find out the end of the story. I probably will read the final book at some point, just because that's all that's left for the series, but I likely won't buy it.

Anyways, the plot of this book was basically just explained above. If you want to know some of the finer points, Piper is learning how to control her voice powers to have better control over the people she uses her powers on. Leo got blasted out of the ship and ended up on a "certain island" for a short time. Hazel is learning magic. Frank has a growth spurt. Jason's character development/"regression" that I mentioned before comes to a boiling point here. And Nico... Well, you'll find out. Fair warning: If you have the same values I do, you won't like what you find; if you don't have the same values I do, you'll probably pity Nico or even appreciate his plot twist. I think I'm in denial.

As for Percy and Annabeth... Dark. Very dark. They're in Tartarus, so what can you expect? But still... Super dark. Super creepy. Horrible curses. And there came a point where Percy very nearly crossed the line: Annabeth was terrified of him for a few seconds.

Also, there were a few appearances from characters we haven't seen since Percy's original series and a short story that came with another book of Riordan's.

Anyways. There you have it. You may agree or disagree with my views here, but there they are.

Mark of Athena

The third book in Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus series is The Mark of Athena, picking up exactly where Son of Neptune left off.

This book begins from Annabeth's perspective, and this time there are a total of four points of view in this book. Annabeth, as mentioned above, along with Leo, Piper, and Percy. Since you already know these characters from the last two books, let's move on to plot.

The overall quest is to travel to Rome and then Greece and stop the earth goddess Gaea from waking up. The main quest for this book is to free Nico, Hazel's half-brother, from the two giants imprisoning him.

There's a minor problem there. Giants can only be killed by gods and demigods working together, but all the gods seem to be going schizophrenic. Most of the important ones aren't able to be of any use at all. But our heroes figure they'll cross that bridge when they come to it, and Percy ends up with a fantastic idea to get one of them on their side.

And then there's the title of the book. Annabeth has a quest separate from the rest of the group. She must follow the Mark of Athena to find a treasure that was stolen from Athena and is one of the main reasons that the Greeks and Romans hate each other so much.

If Annabeth can find the treasure, she could convince the Romans not to attack Camp Half-Blood. However, none of the children of Athena to date have ever successfully completed this quest; all have died at some point or another.

Another question would be this: Can Percy, whose fatal flaw is personal loyalty, let Annabeth do this alone? For alone she must, because the Mark of Athena will not appear unless no one else is with Annabeth.

And then, just when you think Riordan can't get any more cruel, he ends this book on an even worse cliffhanger than the last time: Percy and Annabeth fall headfirst into Tartarus.

I think, from what I've read of the series so far, my favorite book would probably be a tie between this one and Son of Neptune. Maybe Son of Neptune would win out in the end, but I did really like this book too.

Son of Neptune Pt. 2

Continuing on the vein of Rick Riordan's Son of Neptune, second book in the Heroes of Olympus series, let's take a look at the plot.

Percy, missing since before last Christmas, has only now woken up to find his memories missing. He met a wolf, who I think is a goddess of some sort, who told him to go south.

Long story short, Percy nearly dies about a million times, but he makes it south into Camp Jupiter, where he instantly meets Hazel and Frank. Then after almost dying again, Percy gets interrogated by the camp's leader Reyna.

Cutting another long story short, Mars shows up and gives Frank and Percy and another member of Frank's choosing (Hazel, of course) a quest: free Death from his prison in the north - way north, Alaska north.

Things at Camp Jupiter aren't quite as cut-and-dry as at Camp Half-Blood. Even though a god has clearly ordered a quest, the camp argues amongst itself as to how to go about it. They have certain rules that must be followed to a T.

But when our heroes finally get out of the camp into the world on their quest, we've reached familiar Riordan territory. One thing leads to another to another, until it all clashes in an epic climax.

In this book, there might even be two climaxes. One to free Death, where Frank and Hazel are probably going to die and Percy is supposed to drown. A second to defend Camp Jupiter, where a humongous army of monsters is bent on blood.

And then comes the infamous cliffhanger at the end. Fans probably wanted to throttle Riordan in an attempt to get the next book more quickly. You at least won't have that problem, as there are currently two more books released in the series.

The Son of Neptune

Up next in Rick Riordan's series The Heroes of Olympus is The Son of Neptune, taking place the summer after The Lost Hero.

Neptune is Poseidon's Roman name, so guess who we see in this book? Percy! And guess where he is? The Roman version of Camp Half-Blood: Camp Jupiter!

So, everything we learned in the last book, we really don't need to remember for this book. It all comes together for the cliffhanger ending in this book, but it's really not necessary for understanding the overall plotline.

In this book, we once again get Percy's perspective on things - along with two new characters that I absolutely love. To reiterate, we have, like the last book, three protagonists we see the story from.

First up, I already mentioned Percy. Anyone who's read Percy Jackson and the Olympians and is still reading this new series probably doesn't need any confirmation that he's super awesome. So let's move on.

Frank, unclaimed demigod in the beginning of the book. He's super strong, super clumsy, and has a super adorable baby face. The only thing he seems to be good at is archery and entertaining the ghost that walks around bragging about the day a chicken stole his underwear. Frank also has a huge secret that makes him extremely vulnerable. But circumstances are about to force Frank to reveal a kind of strength that even he never knew he had before.

Hazel, daughter of Pluto, Roman version of Hades. She also carries a heavy secret, one that drives her conviction to do some little bit of good and then take whatever repercussions come her way, regardless of Frank's just-as-strong conviction to never let anyone hurt her. Hazel prefers to stay in the background, probably a result of the events sealed within her secret, but she's proven she can certainly step up and save the day when necessary, and she definitely always tries to stand up for what's right. Her ideals are also probably connected to her secret.

Okay, so now you know the characters. Sort of. Percy's the only one who's an open book at the very start. But anyways. Plot next time.

The Lost Hero Pt. 2

In Rick Riordan's The Lost Hero, first book in the Heroes of Olympus series, a lot has happened since the end of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

For one thing, Percy has vanished. About a week or so before The Lost Hero begins, Percy told Annabeth goodnight and was gone the next morning. Annabeth and most of the rest of the camp has been searching day and night to find him.

Finally, Hera gives Annabeth some advice: Jason can lead her to Percy.

But since Jason clearly remembers nothing before this day, he doesn't seem to be much help in this regard.

True to Riordan form, there now comes a quest and a deadline. Hera has been kidnapped, and Jason is given the quest to free her. I don't remember why the amnesiac was given such an important quest, but then again, Hera isn't much loved by anyone.

At any rate, Leo volunteers to go with Jason, and Piper gets into a fight with one of her new half-sisters as to which of them should accompany Jason as well. Naturally, our protagonist wins.

Along this book, we meet old friends and make new ones. We solve many problems and our characters all seem to grow. Sadly, with the other books in the series, that seems to be a bit debatable with all but Jason, and even that could by some be called regressing.

And, just like in the first Percy Jackson book, we are finally introduced to the main villain for the series.

This book was fun and exciting, especially for those fans of Percy Jackson and the Olympians who were sorry to see the series end. I did like it, but I also do have to say that it didn't seem quite the same quality of writing as the preceding series.

Of course, I suppose that could have something to do with I was missing Percy as badly as Annabeth. And it could also have something to do with my distaste for Piper. But still.

Anyways, in all, not a bad start to a new series.

The Lost Hero

The Lost Hero begins Rick Riordan's sequel series to Percy Jackson and the Olympians; this series is titled The Heroes of Olympus, and it picks up the winter after the conclusion of The Last Olympian.

The Lost Hero is told from three different perspectives: Jason, Leo, and Piper.

Jason wakes up on a bus with no memories of anything, including Piper and Leo, who say they've known Jason for months. When chaos erupts over the Grand Canyon, he acts on instinct and more or less saves everyone from dying. Then Annabeth shows up and takes our three protagonists to Camp Half-Blood, where Jason continuously refers to the gods by their Roman names.

Leo is the scrawny mechanic who's always making jokes, but who's also always running away. He's stayed at his current school for a while, though, and he finally made friends in Piper and Jason. Sadly, he's been feeling like the third wheel again ever since Piper and Jason started dating. When he gets taken to Camp Half-Blood, he's warily excited about learning that, all of a sudden, he has a dad and several siblings - even if all of them, including the six-year-old, look like they could beat him up in a heartbeat if they felt like it.

Piper. What can I say? This girl is a mess of contradiction. She's the rich beautiful half-Indian daughter of a movie star who pays little to no attention to her, so she steals anything and everything to get his attention. But she tries hard to look less beautiful and she hates a ton of attention. Finally, she was shipped off to the school where she met Jason and Leo. She's sometimes shy, sometimes tough-talking, sometimes "sweetly" in charge. I wish I could give you a less biased opinion of her, but the more I read from her perspective, the less I like her. I'm sorry.

Anyways, today was a lot about the protagonists. Tomorrow, I guess I'll do a bit more plot.

The Serpent's Shadow

The final book in Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles trilogy is The Serpent's Shadow, and this book, like the last, also takes place about three months after the close of the previous book.

Everything is finally coming to its climax in this book. All the scenes Riordan set up in the first two books come to a point where they need an answer, a solution, and fast, or everything else in the worlds of the mortals and of the gods will break apart and Chaos will reign.

First and foremost, the snake Apophis needs to be destroyed. Problem is, everyone agrees that destroying him will take an insane amount of skill; and even if someone were to get that skilled, the penalty would be death for them in the end anyways. Carter and Sadie's only hope is an old dead guy who is probably lying to them about another way, but what choice do they have?

Second, Sadie would insist that her love problems rank right up there with beating Apophis. Frankly, I find Riordan's solution to Sadie's problem to be cheating, but I guess if Sadie accepts it...

It wouldn't be fair to mention Sadie's love issues again without going back to Carter's. His situation seemed a lot more natural, and his love interest might actually be my favorite character in the entire series.

And of course, there's the entire little situation I forgot to mention before: Carter and Sadie and their entire group of trainees are sort of considered to be outcasts and even traitors to the main magicians in Egypt. Also, Carter and Sadie's uncle has been communing with the Chaos god Seth, which really doesn't help matters. At all.

So, allow me to reiterate: Everything that has been mentioned in the last two books works up to a boil in this book. It's now all or nothing.

Overall, I'd say this series is pretty good. Not great, but not bad. And I might just be saying that because Riordan tried to mush together his books with the Bible, and that's just not going to end well ever, I don't care how great an author you are.

Also, I think I mentioned this before, but I may as well say it again: the Egyptian gods are minutely less bratty and spoiled than the Greek gods. Bonus points go to the Egyptians for being more willing to listen to the input of humans.

So, yeah, pretty good series.

Throne of Fire

Second in Rick Riordan's Kane Chronicles series is The Throne of Fire, situated three months after the previous book.

In this book, things get a bit more complicated.

For one thing, Carter and Sadie have opened up their home in New York for training new magicians, so there are more characters to get to know.

Added to that, Sadie's caught in a love triangle because she has a huge crush on one of her students and yet is also majorly crushing on a god she met in the last book.

To continue the love drama, Carter is also head over heels - for a girl who doesn't remember him at all.

On a different note, shout-out to Sadie for her birthday! The world is ending, and she insists on taking the day off to celebrate her birthday.

And I suppose I should mention the main quest for this book: to retrieve the sun god Ra. He disappeared forever ago, and no one knows where he went. But Carter and Sadie are determined to find him, convinced that Ra could be their only hope against the Chaos snake Apophis.

In the meantime, stuff happens. Dramatic, life-threatening stuff. So let's all climb aboard putting our lives in the hands of two teens who can scarcely stop arguing with each other and everyone else in their entire universe! Yah!

The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid is the first book in another series by Rick Riordan called The Kane Chronicles.

This series has two main characters, Carter and Sadie Kane, who, although they're as different as night and day in both personality and appearance, are full-blooded siblings. The series also focuses on the Egyptian gods.

Carter and Sadie, like Percy, had no idea at the beginning of the book that the ancient Egyptian gods were real. Then they watched their father sacrifice himself to summon five of the biggest, each of whom choose someone in the vicinity to be their host. Carter becomes the host for Horus, and Sadie hosts Isis.

Of course, evil is also released. First off, their dad is now dead. Second, an uncle shows up out of the blue and takes Carter and Sadie on a short river journey all the way from England to New York.

It's been a while since I've read the book, so I can't remember too many of the details, especially without giving away spoilers. Let's just say this book also mirrors the Percy Jackson series in that no book in the series would be complete without a quest and a time limit.

I'm honestly not too sure how I liked this book. I thought it was well-written in true Riordan style, and the Egyptian gods seem to be slightly less bratty and spoiled than the Greek gods - slightly.

But I didn't appreciate how Riordan talked about Moses (God's prophet who lived in Egypt for the first forty years of his life) as if he was a magician who also believed in Egyptian gods. I feel like there were a couple other complaints I had, but they were probably minor compared to my first one about Moses.

The Last Olympian

The Last Olympian is the final book in Rick Riordan's series Percy Jack and the Olympians, taking place around the end of the summer, almost a year after the close of the last book.

As finales go, this probably ranks around some of the best. Sacrifices are made, connections are forged or broken, a traitor is discovered just as that traitor decides to choose to be a good guy again. And the traitor we have been aware of since book one also makes an attempt at redemption. Coupled with the choice that Percy was prophesied to make, the cursed blade did indeed reap the hero's soul.

There are not really any loose ends Riordan leaves open at the end of this book. In fact, the only one I can think of is the new Great Prophecy that was spouted at the very end.

As far as plotlines that do get wrapped up, the prophecy that directed this book is fully explained, as per usual for the prophecies of the other books.

In a very delightful twist, the Olympians are told to start building thrones in the throne room for all of the Greek gods, not just the twelve major ones. Most of them aren't happy about it, but support arises from an unlikely source and the task is undertaken along with a couple other changes.

Also, fans of the romance in these books will be either delighted or upset, as Percy ends up with a girlfriend at the end of this book. I will not say who; I'm trying not to spoil anything if you haven't heard all the great stuff about this couple. But maybe I'll just say that, in my opinion, this was the only choice that could have ever worked out, regardless of what happened to the other girls Percy could potentially have chosen.

I feel I should also warn you, just like I have been with a couple of the other books. This book has war. The last book, as you may guess from the title, has a full-on battle; but that was nothing compared with the scale on which this war is fought. Percy leads his army of demigods and satyrs and automatons and, later, Hunters of Artemis in defending the entirety of Manhattan, or at least the Empire State Building.

Just like any war, there are consequences. People die. And Percy himself is grappling with the knowledge that, even though he had just gained a mostly impervious shield, his soul would likely be reaped by a cursed blade, which would mean his own death as well.

Anyways, great book. I highly recommend this series of awesomeness.

Battle of the Labyrinth

The fourth book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is called The Battle of the Labyrinth, and it occurs summer following the previous book.

Percy has just attended orientation at the school where his mom's boyfriend teaches, and it looks like Percy might be kicked out before the school year has even started this time, thanks to a monster attack that made all mortals except one teenage girl think Percy attacked and killed a defenseless cheerleader.

At any rate, Percy runs into Annabeth and they go back to camp, where they accidentally make a huge discovery that could have meant a surprise attack on Camp Half-Blood. A quest is arranged, and this time Annabeth heads the operation, choosing for her teammates Percy, Grover, and Percy's brother Tyson.

The team heads underground, into the Labyrinth, which has caused more than one person in the past to lose their sanity. Annabeth and the rest run into one problem after another, be it in the form of a monster or a god that has decided to side against the Olympians in the inevitable war coming up.

Finally, the group separates. Grover and Tyson run off in one direction, while Percy and Annabeth go in another. Then Percy and Annabeth separate, and it looks like Percy's fatal flaw, personal loyalty, has finally claimed his life.

True to Riordan humor, Percy reappears in Camp Half-Blood in time to witness his own funeral. One the fact that he survived has been established, he tells Annabeth he has figured out how to make her quest a success.

I have to say, this book has the most bittersweet ending yet. The big plot points as far as the quest and the battle in the end are successful, but at what cost? Percy seems to be caught in a complicated love triangle - or is it a square - or some complex shape without a name. Another character dies, although this one is more justified, I guess. Probably worst of all, Annabeth loses a love to worse than death.

Anyways, Riordan does try to end on a happy-ish note, with Percy's mom potentially getting engaged and Percy getting a birthday visit and gift from his father Poseidon. But it really just doesn't cut it. Thankfully, he makes up for it with the next book.

The Titan's Curse

Rick Riordan's next book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is The Titan's Curse, which takes place during Percy's winter break from school, picking up a few months after the previous book.

This book starts out with an extraction mission: Grover requested help in getting a couple of demigods (who don't know about the existence of gods) safely out of their school and into Camp Half-Blood. So Percy and Annabeth and the new friend Percy met at the end of the last book get together to help out.

Although they run into trouble along the way, and Annabeth falls off a cliff, the mission is, in all, considered a success.

But trouble is still brewing, and the goddess Artemis makes a personal appearance to say so. What worries Percy the most is that Artemis looks worried.

And of course, what Rick Riordan book would be complete without a quest and a deadline?

Although this book also has a twist ending, it's different in the way that Percy reacts to it. Rather than rethink everything he thought he knew again, he decides to step up and take full responsibility for his own future. He makes the insane decision that, regardless of whatever else comes his way, the Great Prophecy that everyone has been talking about for the past few decades is going to be about him.

Fair warning: Although this book has a couple of my favorite scenes in the entire series, there are also two death scenes.

The Sea of Monsters

The Sea of Monsters is the next book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and it takes place almost exactly one year after the end of the last book.

In this book, we meet back up with all our old lovable characters, plus one. Percy has made a new friend this past school year, and this friend follows Percy back to Camp Half-Blood, much to Annabeth's extreme distaste.

Something terrible is happening at camp, and it, of course, calls for a quest. Problem is, Percy is not the recipient of this quest; the local bully Clarisse is.

But of course, with the problems at camp and the knowledge both of what traitor did the terrible thing and of where to find the cure, PLUS all the visions Percy has been having of Grover in danger, how on earth can Percy just sit at camp like a good little boy?

So the answer is simple: run away.

With the help of a couple gods, Percy and Annabeth and Tyson travel to the deadly Sea of Monsters, known to mortals as the Bermuda Triangle, in search of the Golden Fleece and Grover.

In the process of this book, new powers are discovered, new respects are forged, and of course there comes an unexpected twist at the end. This could spell out doom for everyone, and for Percy, it could mean that he has to rethink his entire purpose in life again.