A review by barbn
The Raven by Patrick Carman
3.0
The Raven is very similar to The Crossbones. Ryan and Sarah solve clues from a mysterious map left by the Crossbones. Each clue leads them to a haunted location where a video was hidden by the Apostle. Each location also has a vial of some sort of liquid with a cryptic message written on it.
Like The Crossbones, Sarah travels to each haunted location and creates videos. Ryan stays in Skeleton Creek worrying about Sarah's safety and writing in his journal. The structure of the book was predictable. Also, Sarah and Ryan solved the clues on the map very quickly - too quickly to seem realistic.
Finally, there were some parts of the book that were never really explained. For example, Ryan visited a grave in Skeleton Creek and found a message that designated him, Fitz, and Sarah as the new members of the Crossbones. It was never made clear where the message came from or who made the decisions. Also, The Raven revealed that Edgar Allen Poe was once an important part of their organization. There was very little information provided about this connection - although there was a lot of biographical information given about Poe.
I appreciated the research about haunted locations that was incorporated into The Raven, and I enjoyed the videos included in the book. I still didn't like The Raven as much as I liked Skeleton Creek.
Like The Crossbones, Sarah travels to each haunted location and creates videos. Ryan stays in Skeleton Creek worrying about Sarah's safety and writing in his journal. The structure of the book was predictable. Also, Sarah and Ryan solved the clues on the map very quickly - too quickly to seem realistic.
Finally, there were some parts of the book that were never really explained. For example, Ryan visited a grave in Skeleton Creek and found a message that designated him, Fitz, and Sarah as the new members of the Crossbones. It was never made clear where the message came from or who made the decisions. Also, The Raven revealed that Edgar Allen Poe was once an important part of their organization. There was very little information provided about this connection - although there was a lot of biographical information given about Poe.
I appreciated the research about haunted locations that was incorporated into The Raven, and I enjoyed the videos included in the book. I still didn't like The Raven as much as I liked Skeleton Creek.