The Devil's Triangle by Mark Robson

March 2011, Simon and Schuster
400 pages, Paperback (also available as an ebook)
Review copy Children's, thriller, 10+

Note: There is a minor spoiler in this review which gives away something that isn't reference in the book blurb. I'm putting it in smaller print so if you want to, you can skip reading it.

Summary from Simon & Schuster UK
The Bermuda Triangle has cast a shadow over Sam and Niamh Cutlers' lives since their mother vanished nine years ago. Her whereabouts remains a mystery and every year they return to the Florida Keys with their father, Matt, who is obsessed with solving the haunting puzzle.

But Sam is bored with lazing around by the pool while his father hunts for the truth. Craving excitement, he and his friend, Callum, "borrow" Matt's boat. At first it's great fun, but when they find themselves marooned in a terrifying land, the boys realise they too have fallen victim to the Triangle's mysterious effects. Can they find a way home, or will they be lost forever?

*waves book in the air* This is amazing! I know I say that about a lot of books - I feel privileged that I read so many good ones - but it really has a wow factor. I admit the cover is ok. It does give an indication of what the book is about, but it's not one I adore. But a book is rarely all about the cover. It's the delights which are inside it that I'm keen on.

Things I love in a book (and does the Devil's Triangle have them?) (I hasten to add most of the criteria here are for thrillers. I like a wide range of books which have different criteria.)

• Strong female lead
• Yes. Two points of vieew of Niamh and Sam. Both are equally important and play a crucial role.
• Lots of action 
• Yes!!! Chock full of it, with danger around most turns, some obvious, some subtle. Sometimes the characters know about it, sometimes they don't (and honestly speaking, I'm not sure which is more tense for me)
• Lots of plot twists
• Yes. Come on - intelligent raptors who are into nuclear power? That's a neat concept. 
• Lots of emotional moments
• Yes. I wanted to cry at quite a bit. My heart got tangled both for Niamh and Sam, who both go through so much. I was so proud of them at some moments too. There's a lot relating to the close ties of twins, to lost/missing relatives, to looking after loved ones and also losing them. 
• Evil enemies
• Definitely yes. Hello - raptors? Thanks to a famous dinosaur film, I'm really scared of them. The idea that they are sentient, well, they are worse than evil humans!!! 
• Plenty of on the edge of the seat moments
• Yes. So much is going on that every other sentence something new happens. In some ways I was more worried for Niamh than Sam, because although Sam's life is in danger more, at least he's not on earth (the same one) where Niamh and her father are getting in trouble with the authorities
• Imaginative 
• Yes (see previous raptors' comments), 

I've always been intrigued by the Bermuda triangle (especially when my uncle used to go there on holiday, and come back safely). I love the concepts of what is causing the strange occurrence, although I'm pretty sure there are more twists in the next book (out in the autumn!). 

This one without question gets 10/10.