The Doomsday Mask
by Simon Rose

    THE DOOMSDAY MASK by Simon Rose
    Category:  Fantasy
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  10/2009
    Publisher:  Tradewind Books
    Reviewed by:  Theresa L. Stowell
    Rating:  5 Stars


    As a youth in war-torn Germany, Paul Jaeger and fellow boy soldier Jonas Krueger accidentally find a mine filled
    with treasure.  Jonas grabs an unusual piece of blue stone just before the mine explodes, and the two boys are
    thrown into a nearby creek.  Sure that Jonas is dead, Paul takes the stone and flees.

    Years later, Paul and his grandchildren, twins Josh and Erica, fall into adventure when Jonas finds them again.  
    Jonas tells the story of his rescue by a group called the Crystalline Order after the explosion.  He also warns Paul
    that the Order is plotting to gain world power by rebuilding the Mask of Kulkaan, a relic from Atlantis.  The piece
    of blue stone that Paul and Jonas found in Germany is part of that mask.

    A chase across two countries ensues as Paul takes the children to find the pieces of the mask that Jonas has
    hidden.  Carl von Wallenstein, the leader of the Order, and his henchman, Ballantyne, kill Jonas and one of his
    helpers, seriously injure Paul, and capture the children.  

    As the children fight for their lives, they learn that they are part of a prophecy involving the reincarnation of the
    mask.  Will they be able to fight the temptation to use the mask’s power and destroy it for all time?

    Rose takes the reader on a fast-paced adventure through time and legend.  Among other issues, the story
    confronts the battle of good versus evil and exposes the danger of a hunger for power that threatens to consume
    everything in its path.