Operation Red Jericho
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| Operation Red Jericho | |
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| Author | Joshua Mowll |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Guild of Specialists |
| Genre(s) | Young adult novel |
| Publisher | Walker Books |
| Publication date | 9 August 2005 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 266 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 1844286258 |
| Followed by | Operation Typhoon Shore |
Operation Red Jericho (September 5, 2005) is the first novel in The Guild of Specialists trilogy. It has several fold-out diagrams and color illustrations to aid the reader in following the plot.
[edit] Plot summary
After this prologue, we begin the main story line, taking place, not in the present day, but in the 1920’s. The story is mainly about Rebecca and Doug, then much younger. Their parents are missing, having disappeared somewhere in China’s Sinkiang Desert. Rebecca and Doug are hoping to learn what their parents were doing and if they might still be alive. Written as a supposedly non-fiction account, the story switches between first person diary entries and third person prose. As we begin, Rebecca and Doug are headed to a new life with their uncle, Captain Fitzroy MacKenzie, on the research ship Expedient. At the moment it is docked at Shanghai. After departure, they try and pick up on the secrets that everyone else seems to know and they don’t. When in the South China Sea, they are taken aboard a small submarine, whose mission is to recover Zoridium, a metal with some inimitable qualities. This makes them more curious than ever. After accidentally destroying the ship’s cargo hatch in a restricted area, the captain puts them ashore back in Shanghai. The day before they would have left for their boring Aunt Margaret’s in San Francisco, they receive a mysterious note containing the whereabouts of an enemy their uncle had been searching for. They go together, but end up being chased away before he arrives. Instead, they wait until he leaves and follow him to a certain junk, or Chinese ship, in the harbor. There, they are caught and made prisoner, before being brought to Wenzi Island, the island fortress of the warlord Sheng Fat. They are joined by Xi, a member of an ancient organization that has allied itself with the Expedient in its present mission. On the island, they are put into cages dangling over the ocean. Xu, Xi’s twin, shows up and tells them that the island will be attacked by the Expedient the next night and that he’ll try to help them escape. He comes back with a sword, and they all escape, except for Rebecca, who they have to leave behind when they are spotted. They hide and wait for the impending attack.
The attack fails, and the Expedient’s crew, Rebecca, Doug, Xu, and Xi are all captured by Sheng Fat. However, he shows off by letting a few of them back on board ship and then trying to sink them in his torpedo boat. The captain tricks Sheng Fat into crashing his boat, and his fortress is destroyed. In the aftermath, the captain tells Rebecca and Doug how he and The Honorable Guild of Specialists are searching for a powerful machine from a lost civilization. Four smaller machines are needed to find it, but only three have been found. This and an upcoming cyclone set the stage for the next book.
