The Secret of Ka

August 30, 2010
Not even three wishes can save this magical adventure. Pike, a prolific author of teen horror in the 1980s and ’90s, takes things abroad when 15-year-old Sara Wilcox travels to Turkey with her emotionally distant father, who is there on business. Left to her own devices, Sara encounters the one-handed Amesh and quickly develops a crush on him. Together, they discover a mysterious flying carpet and, upon unlocking its secret, are whisked to a mysterious island that is home to ancient temples and powerful, treacherous djinn. Amesh falls under one djinn’s sway, and to save herself and her new friend, Sara has to outmaneuver two magical races bent on destroying or possessing her. The intriguing interpretation of the djinn mythos and fast-paced plot don’t make up for the main character, who starts off as a spoiled and immature American teenager (“I was a visitor to their country and I had suffered to reach their land. They could at least show me some respect by acknowledging I existed”) and doesn’t get much better; her staccato, exclamatory narration saps the story’s sense of mystery. Ages 12–up.