Someone—or something—is out to get Michael Gedden. The 14 year old has had a weird day, and the church trip to St. Louis City Museum will either be a break from the weirdness…or a continuation. From a mysterious bus that nearly runs him over that nobody else notices to an IM from a mysterious stranger, Michael isn’t quite sure what to make of what’s going on.

He meets up with his best friend Samantha and the two go off to explore this unique and interactive museum. At first, the museum seemed too good to be true. From caves, a circus, a gigantic ball pit…what kind of museum is this? As it turns out, Bazow based this museum directly on the St. Louis City Museum, which makes me want to visit this place if I ever get out to see the Gateway of the West. But something that may make me stay away? Bazow’s depiction of demon-possessed security guard Victor Boone.

Michael and Sam find themselves unwitting players in Boone’s sadistic game. The rules are simple: survive until dawn. Michael and Sam must do what they can to survive, and use the only power they have—the power of prayer.

With a great location-based plot and interesting characters, it will appeal to kids mostly under the age of 14. That’s just my opinion. Probably my favorite part of the book was what turned out to be a brief aside regarding an incident in Michael’s past.

Gedden’s Armor tells an interesting story set in a great-location and the plot, is solid overall.

---Josh Olds with The Christian Critic

Source: thechristianmanifesto.com
Date: 1-18-10

Fourteen year old Michael Gedden was having a weird Friday. From seeing a yellow truck at the bus stop (which no one else saw), to a threatening text message from a complete stranger, Michael’s day seemed to be about as bizarre as it could get. As it turned out, as crazy as his day seemed, it was nothing compared to his adventure at St. Louis’ City Museum that night. After several hours of fun exploring, Michael and his best friend Samantha, find themselves, along with two strangers, in a twisted game of hide and seek with a demon possessed security guard. The rules to the game are simple, make it through the night alive and win. In this battle of good versus evil, with their lives at stake, they have only one weapon—prayer.



I’m not sure Bazow could have picked a more perfect setting for Gedden’s Armor. From the caves to the stairs, this real life museum is the place for this story to unfold. Bazow does a nice job of taking this wonderful environment and using it for his story. With a good balance of intrigue and creepiness, he keeps the story interesting and a bit unsettled. It’s a great choice of location and well used throughout the book.



Bazow did include some surprising twists in the book. I loved the story of Michael’s brother. That was a great piece of background information and is good for both kids and their parents to read. The ending also had a nice little turn which I could see used in future books.



According to the publisher’s site, the book’s audience is 12-17. I think kids as young as ten could probably enjoy it. While it has some tense moments, I would not object to my eleven year old reading it (nor would I have seen a problem with him reading it last year).



Gedden’s Armor is a good book. The setting is excellent and for the most part, the plot is well developed. I enjoyed these characters and feel like we’ll be seeing them again in future books.



---Melissa Willis with "Inside-Corner.com" and "thechristianmanifesto.com"