Book Review: Escape to Murray River by Robert Elmer

Last night during our family read-aloud time, we finished reading Escape to Murray River by Robert Elmer.  This is the first book in his series entitled Adventures Down Under.

This is an adventure story set in 1867.  It begins with the McWaid family in Ireland.  The father is set up by his boss, Conrad Burke, to make it appear that he is part of a rebel group.  He is imprisoned and eventually taken as a prisoner to Australia.

Mrs. McWaid and her children attempt to follow the father to Australia so that they can at least be near him while he serves out his sentence.  It is during this trip that most of the adventure begins for 12-year-old Patrick McWaid.  He ends up getting separated from his family while floating  in shark-infested water, is washed ashore on an island, gets trapped in a cave, and is rescued by an Aborigine.

Eventually Patrick is reunited with his mother and siblings in Australia, but the book ends before they actually find their father.  So, it ends as a cliff-hanger to keep the readers interested in beginning the next book in the series!

Many of the adventures of this book reminded my kids of the Jonathan Park radio series.  The villain is quite similar to Myles Morgan in that series, and the complex situations that Patrick gets himself into reminds us of Jonathan’s adventures.

Overall the kids enjoyed this book and would like to read more in this series.