Book Review for "Case of the Missing Coach" by StephB

Written by: V. Gilbert Zabel
4RV Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 978-0-9797513-1-8
143 Pages
4 Stars

Zabel's youth filled adventure/mystery novel, "Case of the Missing Coach," challengers readers to solve the case right along with the main character, Ryan. It's fun, harrowing at times, but the reader can't deny Ryan's - or Zabel's - love of baseball which shines through the novel. It's a solid, youth story that all can enjoy.

The Jonesville Chargers are a youth baseball team from Texas. As the story opens, they are competing in a regional tournament. There's a core group of players, known as the "Base Stealers club," and Ryan is not only instrumental to the team, but his father is also the coach. After winning the regionals, the team starts to receive threatening notes and messages. Ryan and his friends decide to do an informal investigation to find out who is behind the threats. The team travels to Washington D.C. to play in the national championships. Security is tight, but the threats come true when one of the coaches is kidnapped. The team rallies together on and off the field. Ignoring the threats, the team advances to the finals. The air around the team gets tense as they struggle to keep up their morale. The FBI along with Ryan and his friends finally figure out where their missing coach is being held, but is it too late for the team to win the national championship?

Zabel's writing is deliberate. She intricately laces her clues into the plot with a deft touch that easily can sneak past the reader. The plot moves at a moderate pace, and doesn't linger. The action is immediate, fluidly moving from one scene to the other. The characters are likable, each with their own personality and Ryan, is infused with a curiosity the reader shares.

The author uses black and white pictures of boys playing baseball to frame the chapters which was appealing. The pictures also helped set the scene and tone of the story. Zabel also included a list of coaches and players in the beginning which was helpful as it tended to get confusing at times.

The story is told in the third person and the point of view is tight, switching with chapters. There’s a good blend of dialogue and narration that allows the story to move forward at a good clip. Zabel's story is a nice "feel good" young adult romp that will have the reader rooting for the Chargers from start to end.

About the Author

StephB is an author on http://www.Writing.Com/ which is a site Writers. Her portfolio can be found at http://www.Writing.Com/authors/sgcardin so stop by and read for a while.