The Adventures of Vin Fiz

Clive Cussler is a well-known author of adult books. But, as often happens when adult writers try to make the transition to kid's books, he underestimates the difficulty -- and his audience. The premise is fantastic enough (kids use a magical plane to stop crime and save lives), but the tone is condescending at best. The story is filled with cutesy names (Ever and Ima Nicefolk, Stoke and Blaze Firepit, etc.), cutesy phrases ("in less time than it takes to say 'dingle, fingle, gingle ...'"), and logical holes big enough to fly a biplane through.

Cussler has a habit of didactically explaining some of his vocabulary. Worst of all, however, is the ending, which reads as if the author just lost interest in his own story. Of course his readers may have lost interest long before that. This may have worked as a bedtime story for Cussler's grandchildren, but as a book, it's weak.