Guardians Inc: The Cypher
Summary:
A chance reading of a newspaper ad will send 16 year old Thomas Byrne into the world within our world.
Following the ad he will find Guardians Incorporated. A seven thousand year old organization charged with protecting the balance between Magic and technology.
Through their guidance technology has kept Magic at bay since the Renaissance, but the balance is shifting and soon all those creatures we've driven into myth and legend will come back with a vengeance.
To protect the present, Guardians Incorporated needs to know the future and to unlock the future they need a cypher.
My Review
This book by Julian Rosado-Machain is a wonderful and delightful tale for young and old alike. The story starts out with Thomas and his grandfather looking for work for his grandfather, when an ad in the paper changes from what was written into something entirely different it leads the two into a world of magic and mystery.
Thomas soon learns that what happens at Guardians Incorporated is far more than meets the eye. Thomas also learns that he is the Cypher. He has a unique ability to read any written language. Thomas's grandfather goes missing when he is taken from their home. Guardians Inc rescues Thomas before he could be killed. What happens next I won't tell you but leave it to Julian Rosado-Machain to make a world full of mystery and magic.
The characters in this book, Thomas, Morgan, Henri, Tony and even "Killjoy" make this book so much fun to read. For a 15 year old Thomas is very polite and eager to please, he overcame his fear quickly and was very eager to help Guardians Inc. I loved the little "group" that they became. I also enjoyed the different magical creatures written into this story.
I have to say that if you like Harry Potter or Percy Jackson stories you will absolutely love this story. You won't be disappointed! And do check out the website because it is just as fun as reading the book was.
I have to rate this book with:
 |
| 5 star Dragon Love! |
Special Excerpt!!
Hello Everyone!
Here’s
the first appearance of The Man in the Trench Coat AKA the Dealmaker, he’s a
recurring character in the Guardians Inc. Saga, and he got his own interactive
children’s book for ipad last year.
He’s creepy, corrupted and incredibly
powerful and he can make all your dreams
come true… for a price, of course.
“Wow,”
Thomas whistled. It was way more than what he would’ve made flipping burgers.
Maybe even more than what the managers of those restaurants made. All that
secrecy about his job and his black tag seemed to carry a reward after all.
Three more checks like this one and he
could buy a car, and not just a car. A convertible GT Mustang just like his
mother always wanted. Of course Grandpa would have to approve first.
He wondered just how much Grandpa’s check
was going to be when a deep voice startled him.
“I'm looking for a book.”
He’d not seen anybody come in after Tasha.
Especially this tall, bald guy who looked like he walked off the set from one
of those black-and-white scary movies his Grandpa loved to watch.The man
approached and placed a large, hairy hand on the desk. His fingers were very
long and his nails were darkened with what looked like mold. His black clothes
seemed to be weaved from very thick strands of coarse hair. His eyes were
bloodshot and so dark that they seemed almost as black as his pupils. Purplish
bruises rimmed his eyes and the sides of his mouth. A long, yellowed crooked
tooth poked out, biting into his upper lip, and a rasping sound emanated from
his throat with every breath he took.
“Don’t
get nervous.” Mrs. Pianova’s words echoed in his mind as Thomas tapped on
the keyboard.
“Hello, name of the book? And your colored
tag please,” Thomas asked in a weak voice. The man clacked his jaw from
side-to-side.
“This is the name.” The man extended an
old piece of cloth to him with the words, Ludwig
Prinn, Mysteries of the Worm,
scribbled over and over again with what looked like dark oil. “I don’t need a
tag.” The man continued and Thomas felt a tingling on his ear, he took the
cloth. He probably didn’t need a tag just to search for the title.
As soon as Thomas finished entering the
information an alarm went off and locks sprang from the doorframe, isolating
the station from the hallway and making him jump to his feet.
Mrs. Pianova had not said anything about
emergencies. The tall man slowly walked backwards toward a corner of the room.
“Don't worry!” Thomas said. “Maybe it's
just a drill.”
The doors to the main library opened and
Mrs. Pianova came rushing through carrying an oversized flashlight strapped
like a rifle. “Who ordered that book?” she demanded.
“That guy!” Thomas pointed to the corner,
but the man had vanished.
The flashlight lit up with an
intense blue light, and Mrs. Pianova illuminated the corner were the man had
retreated.
“Describe him!” she screamed as she
changed a dial on the flashlight – the light cycled from blue to yellow.
“Tall, bald, long fingers and dressed in
black,” Thomas said as he stood behind her.
As the light turned to a soft peach, they
could see black tendrils retracting into the corner.
“Did he touch you?” she turned the
flashlight toward him.
“No, but he left this.” Thomas extended
the cloth to her.
“Leave it there.” She pointed at the desk
as the alarms turned off and the locks disengaged from the door. Bolswaithe
came rushing in carrying a flashlight like Mrs. Pianova, and right behind him
Doctor Franco and a squad of guards appeared. They all carried large
flashlights in addition to their side arms. The guards turned on their
flashlights and spread along the station, illuminating every corner of the room
and bookcases.
“Are you all right, Thomas?” the Doctor
asked.
Thomas nodded. He’d never seen any armed
guard inside the mansion, only workers and Bolswaithe. But the guards in the
room seemed equipped for combat, including body armor and helmets. They could
easily pass for a SWAT Team or a military squad. Their calculated movements
also betrayed combat training; they moved in pairs covering each other as they
swept through the station.
What had he gotten himself into?
“We had a request for an un-readable,”
Mrs. Pianova said. “Thomas entered the information.” She then leaned in and
whispered in the Doctor's ear.
Thomas took a closer look at the
flashlight Mrs. Pianova was carrying. It actually looked like a rifle. It had a
battery counter on the side and a dial to change the color of the light. The
thick muzzle ended in scores of little LED bulbs and it was activated with a
trigger, like a real gun.
“He left you something?” Doctor Franco
approached the desk.
“He gave me that cloth.”
“Please, Mrs. Pianova.” The Doctor
extended a hand toward the cloth. The librarian stood over it and tried on
several of the glasses before she muttered, “De Vermis Mysteriis. Ludgiw Prinn.”
“Mysteries
of the Worm,” Thomas corrected. “That's what it says.”
“You can read this?” Mrs. Pianova asked.
Her eyebrows rose. “All of it?”
Thomas approached the cloth and looked it
over. “It’s just the same thing over and over again.”
The Doctor exchanged a look with Mrs.
Pianova and the librarian picked up the cloth with a pencil.
“What else did the man say?” Mrs. Pianova
asked.
“He just wanted a book, and when I asked
him the name, he gave me the cloth.”
“Thomas,” the Doctor placed his hands on
Thomas's shoulders. “I need you to go home, get your grandfather and all your
clothes, photos and everything else you feel specially attached to, and come
back here.”
“What's going on?” Thomas was getting
scared. It was one thing to have a strange visitor and the armed response in
his station, but now the Doctor was asking for Gramps. That could only mean
that he felt that they were in danger.
He should have trusted his first instinct
and turned down the job, or even better, never answered the ad. A knot formed
in his stomach thinking that he had placed Gramps in danger.
“I don't have time to explain right now,
but I will once you get back.” The Doctor turned to the butler. “Go with
Thomas, Bolswaithe. I’ll send Henri and Jean Luc as back up.”
“Yes, sir,” Bolswaithe responded.
“Don't worry Thomas,” the Doctor continued
with a smile. “Everything will be all right.”
Thomas wasn't in the least reassured, but
he followed the butler to the parking lot.
Here he is in the children’s book cover we
“Agreed” to do for him as PR… I can’t tell you what we are getting out from
this “Deal” though.
Julian Rosado-Machain has enjoyed pizza in three continents, BA in Graphic Design, worked building armored vehicles, handcrafted alebrijes, owned a restaurant and swears that he has seen at least one ghost.A Mexico City native he now lives in San Diego, California and enjoys the sun with his wife, three children and cat.
Guardians Inc. The Cypher is the first book in a series that describes the creatures and powers that live in the world within our world.
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Buy Links:
Amazon (ebook is free throughout the tour)
Barnes & Nobles (ebook is free throughout the tour)
Book 2 is also now available:
