Cairo Jim and the Astragals of Angkor (Geoffrey McSkimming, Lothian) ***

With some 17 books behind him, Geoffrey McSkimming has once again painstakingly relayed the adventures of Cairo Jim and his unusual companions. Told in old-world ‘Boys Own’ adventure style, Cairo Jim and the Astragals of Angkor takes readers on a fantastic journey across the globe to defeat the dastardly Captain Neptune Flannelbottom Bone. With his trusty sidekick Doris the Macaw, and the telepathic Brenda the Wonder Camel, Jim teams up with Gerald Perry Esquire to stop Bone from entering the Realm of Eternal Power. Fans of the series will recognise the Agatha Christie-style of storytelling in which the reader is taken on a dark and mysterious journey to defeat an evil foe. The melodramatic style will stretch some readers who will need a good thesaurus to untangle some of the language. Like good adventure tales, Astragals of Angkor doesn’t take itself too seriously and the fun is in discovering how Jim will save the day. This is the as the final chapter in McSckimming’s 17-year quest to relate these tales, leaving some to question: Is this really the end for Cairo Jim? Pre-teens will love the sense of adventure and the humour that comes from the interplay of an archaeologist and part-time poet, a talking macaw, and a telepathic camel.

Ben Beaton is a writer and teacher in Perth

This review from Australian Bookseller & Publisher magazine is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2007, Thorpe-Bowker