Review of
Jim
Dunlap and the Mysterious Orbiting Rocket, by Bernard
Palmer
Three out of five stars
This book is
one in a series about the main character of the title, a twelve-year-old boy
with a passion for adventure and friends with the good scientist Dr. Brockton.
With his companion of the same age Steve Maxwell, they have the confidence of
Dr. Brockton, a brilliant inventor that is in conflict with the evil Dr.
Fletcher, a man with resources and a desire for unrestricted power.
This is the
first book in this series that I have encountered, and I have read some of the
books in other action/adventure series. The main difference in this series is
the heavy reliance on religious prayer. Even when the situation is dire and fast
(re)action is needed, the characters stop to pray before dealing with the
problem.
Other than
that, the plot is a routine one, the good scientist versus the bad scientist
wrapped in a web of the United States versus the Communist Soviet state. There
are spies afoot with danger and things failing until they work. Dr. Brockton
has created some spectacular machines and they are needed in order that a
daring rescue from behind the Iron Curtain be carried out. The climactic final
scene is not well set up, there is a lack of tension, even though it is carried
out at the last minute before mission failure.
A little religion
does not make a story weak, a lot, such as in this book, and it overwhelms the plot.
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