The Brimstone Network Bk. 2:
The Shroud of A'Ranka
by Tom Sniegoski

    THE SHROUD OF A'RANKA by Tom Sniegoski
    Category:  Action-Adventure
    Age Recommendation:  Grades 6+
    Release Date:  12/30/08
    Publisher:  Aladdin
    Reviewed by:  Allison Fraclose
    Rating:  5 Stars


    Since the full-scale destruction of the entire Brimstone Network, Abraham (Bram) Stone, the half-specter son of
    the last leader, has been left to rebuild the Network from the ground up.

    With the help of Stitch, a man constructed from the body parts of the Network’s best agents, Bram has
    assembled the base of a new Brimstone Network, consisting of a wheelchair-bound boy with incredible telekinetic
    powers, the boy’s deceased father (who the boy’s ability manages to keep in a lifelike state), a reluctant girl
    werewolf, and a Mauthe Dhoog with the prime ability to rift passageways between worlds.

    Picking up where the old Network left off, they have already saved the world once, but the resulting explosion
    weakened the magickal barriers that have protected the earth from otherworldly hostiles. With the sudden
    increase in supernatural attacks, the infant group has their work cut out for them, but Bram still hesitates in making
    the official announcement that the Brimstone Network still exists.

    A serious threat emerges when one of the secret storehouses of magickal objects is broken into by thieves, who
    unwittingly release a dangerous vampire that has been imprisoned for centuries. A member of the vampire royal
    family who is nearly impossible to kill, Vladek seeks to complete a mission that he and the wizard Gideon set out
    to accomplish long ago - one that will end with the death of all humanity and the blotting out of the sun.

    Can the new Brimstone Network figure out Vladek’s plan before it’s too late?

    This second book in THE BRIMSTONE NETWORK series lives up to the graphic nature of the first. For older
    boys who like a bit of paranormal gore along with comic book-like action, this series does not disappoint.