Nick of Time by Ted Bell

Reviewed by Keri

Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

(New York Times Bestselling Author)

Ratings Explanation

Language: A few common swear words and two derogatory uses of the name of deity.

Violence:  Nick, Kate and Gunner are threatened to be electrocuted by a security system if they continue to trespass.  A sailor is ordered to be sealed in a torpedo tube of a submarine and launched to his death.  Several instances of death and injury occur during a battle between two ships.  Sailors are killed or injured by cannon balls, guns and swords and the victims are seen laying on the deck or heard moaning and screaming in pain.   Before the battle, the ship’s decks are covered in sand to absorb any blood that would make it slippery.  A sailor’s severely injured leg is amputated and thrown into the sea.  Nick finds an injured sailor bleeding from both ears.   Nick sees another sailor fall on the deck that has “a small fountain of blood bubbling at his belly.”  One sailor sits on the deck drinking the last of his rum with only half of his face still intact.  Sailors on both sides of the battle are described as “wanting at each other’ throats”.   An evil pirate cuts off the end of his own tongue and swallows it to show Nick how sharp his dagger is.  The pirate’s dagger is shot out of his hand along with three of his fingers.  He goes crashing to the deck below.  The arm of the evil pirate captain is cut off and Nick sees the fingers on the stump still twitching.  Nick is cautioned to beware of the pirate captain’s bird because it could peck his eyes out.  A Nazi doctor aboard the sub tells Hobbes that he is a horrible surgeon but a great interrogator while flashing a scalpel.  Hobbes dreams that this crazy doctor cuts out his tongue.  The eccentric submarine captain shoots his escaping assistants as they try to swim  back to their U-boat.  Their blood pools in the water which attracts  sharks which finish them off.  The captain thinks he is leaving Hobbes and young Kate behind to suffer death by electrocution.

Sexual Content:  The pirate captain cannot be found and is suspected to be “sporting with his captured English filly”.  He is later said to be sipping tea with his English mistress.  Nick finds the woman a prisoner, chained up with “long deep red curls falling over the creamy white silk of her dress and bosom.”

Adult Content: Nick’s father goes against government wishes by being on the look out for the suspicious activity of German Nazis in the waters surrounding his light house.  He is later sent a letter telling him that he no longer has a job as light keeper and must move.  The submarine spying on them is an experimental Nazi U-boat.  It’s captain is short tempered and displays erratic behavior.  His assistant, a doctor, uses torture as a method of extracting information.  An evil pirate captain kidnaps children and holds them for ransom in the dark dank depths of his ship.  Most of the men in the story smoke as a means of relaxing.  Alcohol is consumed by sailors as well as by Lord Hawke and company for dinner.

Synopsis

Twelve year old Nick McIver and his younger sister Kate live on an English island in 1939, shortly before WWII.  Their father is part of a spy ring that is on the look out for suspicious activity in the waters around their lighthouse.  The English government is in denial that another war could possibly be coming and has warned all spying to cease.  Mr. McIver is found out and sent a letter relieving him and his family of duty at the lighthouse.  Nick’s parents immediately head to London to sort things out leaving their children in the care of an old family friend named Gunner.  Meanwhile, Nick and Kate discover a strange chest on the shore near their home.   With the help of Gunner and a reclusive neighbor, Lord Hawke, and his assistant Hobbes, they are able to open the chest and discover a beautifully crafted gold ball along with a note inside.  The note is from Nick’s ancestor, a sea captain living in 1805.  It explains  that the gold ball is actually one of two time machines in existence and that he is in desperate need of help.  Nick, Gunner and Lord Hawke head to the past to aid the captain.  There they find Billy Blood, a common enemy and owner of the other time machine.  Blood has kidnapped Lord Hawke’s children and taken Nick’s dog in hopes of obtaining both time machines.  This evil pirate has also kidnapped several other children from wealthy families throughout time and is holding them for ransom money.  Before it’s all over, the two ships engage in an intense battle leaving Blood with only one arm and fleeing off somewhere in the past or future.  After returning all of the children to their families, Nick returns home to find that his sister and Hobbes have had an adventure of their own.  They had been captured while trying to deliver secret documentation concerning sightings of a German U-boat. To their surprise, they become the U-boats prisoners.  Through careful planning and a lot of acting they persuade the captain of the German sub to return to the island.  Hobbes uses the captain’s ego against him and captures the U-boat in a secured lagoon.   English government officials are notified and come to inspect the submarine.  In the end, the two young heroes, Nick and Kate, are congratulated and reunited with their family.

This book was a fun sea-going journey from beginning to end and certainly satisfied in the adventure department.  I enjoyed the characters and found the mix of Nazis and pirates a great combination for some very suspenseful moments.  Although this book was written for readers ages 9-12, I thought that the battle sequences and threats of torture by scalpel were a bit intense for the younger reader.

©2009 The Literate Mother