Devil's Cradle

Devil's Cradle is the second book in the Kendall O'Dell series by Sylvia Nobel.  This novel had action and lots of intrigue and conspiracy.  So much, that it was a bit confusing!

Kendall O'Dell's next adventure takes her to a small mining town in southern Arizona.  A friend of her brother's from Pittsburgh has just been told that she is the heir to a mining conglomerate.  But she didn't even know that this was her family.  Her entire life has been a lie.  Kendall's brother asks her to help this young woman on her journey to AZ, and Kendall senses a good human interest story.  The two set out on their adventure and it turns into something they did not expect.  There are a lot of people in this mining town that don't seem to want this young girl to stake her claim.  But just who has the biggest motive for wanting her father dead?  And will she be next?

I was so excited to read this next installment in this series but it fell flat for me.  What I loved most about the first novel was the great cast of characters from Castle Valley.  Unfortunately, because this story takes place outside of Castle Valley, those characters were not in this novel very much.  The story just didn't have as much flavor without them.  In addition, the mystery involved was so convoluted with so many characters and potential adversaries that it got confusing.  It was hard to keep everyone and their motives straight, and I found myself just wishing I could get to the end of the book to find out who the perpetrator was.  There was one final issue I had with the book:  I could not stand the young woman that Kendall was helping.  She was wishy-washy, needy, full of mood swings and immature.  This was her character because she has been sheltered and because of a medical condition.  But I found her too annoying to get behind her, and therefore I didn't care as much about the outcome.

I was disappointed with this read.  From what I can tell, the next novel in the series takes place back in Castle Valley so maybe it will be better.  It isn't all that high on my "want to read" list now though.

Happy Reading!