Animals, humans, and dinosaurs: they're all on the run. In Roland Smith's MUTATION, cousins Marty O'Hare and Grace Wolfe travel with a band of brave men and women through the Amazon in order to protect the last existing dinosaurs from the clutches of Dr. Noah Blackwood, the endangered animal hunter. They travel in all sorts of ways, from flying in a helicopter to driving a state-of- the-art boat designed to look like a crumbling mess, to avoid Blackwood and his henchmen. They didn't count on Blackwood's men disabling their communication system. Now, Marty's friend and Grace's father are missing and no one has any idea what to do next. Will Blackwood get his hands on Grace and the dinosaur hatchlings or will Marty and Grace and their team outsmart him once and for all? The excellent conclusion to Roland Smith's Cryptid Hunters series reveals all of this and much more.

With an adventure novel of this scope, there is always danger of losing focus, and unfortunately MUTATION does have a little of that problem. The book is too short to hold up so many branching storylines: Grace is doing one thing while Marty's on the boat, Wolfe is kidnapped and then so is Marty's friend Luther, the dinosaur hatchlings have to be fed but the pilots find a new safer way to do it. There just is not enough room in this to cover all these subplots to the satisfaction of the reader.

Where the real satisfaction lies is in the characterization of Marty O'Hare. He is a brave adventuring young boy, who cooks omelets by the score. He is always very concerned for his friends, delightfully sarcastic, and more than enough to carry the book's myriad problems. It's refreshing to see in a young male character a true leader and a good role model, while also retaining the flaws of a real person.

On the whole, MUTATION is an excellent wrap-up for the series and it is an overwhelmingly positive young adult novel. I would definitely recommend this to anyone from ages ten to sixteen. This is a charming book with charming characters and an engaging adventure without being too dark or savage in content.