Still good after all these years
I bought this book in a fit of nostalgia. It was one of my favourite books when I was about 9 years old and I borrowed it several times from the school library. Now I have children of my own, I wanted to share this book with them but could never find it in the local libraries. Once I found it on the Alibris site, I decided to buy a copy. So far, I have read it again but it hasn't made it to my children yet!
Did I still think it is a good book? I answer a huge "YES" to this. Although some parts of the plot came back to me and it is a book for children not adults, I still enjoyed re-reading it. It brought back memories of how much the book made me want to visit Skye too and of how we eventually had a family holiday there.
The book is essentially an adventure story but without the more gruesome undertones of many of the more modern books. There's enough in the plot to keep interest levels up and, while the "goodies" are satisfyingly good and the "baddies" and bad, it's not obvious who is good or bad until the end. As a child, I cried over the ending but it may not make many people cry.
The underlying plot may be slightly dated - it is about the Cold War. However, I would definitely recommend this book for children, boys mainly but girls (including me) may enjoy it too, from about age 9.
