Whirlwind – Robert Liparulo

Item: Whirlwind
Rating: 5
Author: Josh Olds

February 12, 2019 Josh Olds Fiction 0

Whirlwind by Robert Liparulo
Series: Dreamhouse Kings #5
Published by Thomas Nelson on November 29, 2010
Genres: Fiction, Christian, Thriller, Young Adult
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They've been to three worlds in less than a day. Time isn't just running out...it's running wild.

David King is reeling from his travels through history-and the evil he's found there. The last thing he needs is his great-great-uncle Jesse's hospital-bed instructions: You can't simply do nothing. You must fix things.

David and his brother Xander's search for their abducted mother has repeatedly led them on strange and terrifying journeys as they've stepped through the portals of the creepy old house and into some of history's most turbulent moments...and confronted an unimaginably bleak vision of the future.

Now Jesse's words saddle them with an obligation to not only visit the past, but the need to rewrite it.
Fulfilling their purpose will take everything they have, both mentally and physically. But they have no choice...because everything in the past-and the future-is on the line.

You can’t simply do nothing. You must fix things.

The Kings’ haven’t been able to relax since they moved into the giant Victorian mansion just a week or so ago. House of Dark Shadows, the first book in the series, set the stage for the Kings: a house with portals to other worlds and other times. The story progresses throughout the next three books in the series (Watcher in the Woods, Gatekeepers, and Timescape) as the Kings’ learn more about their house and face the danger that comes along with it. Warning! If you haven’t read the previous books in this series, you will need to do so before reading Whirlwind.

Whirlwind starts off in a hurry and stays at a breakneck pace. For the Kings’ and Keal, their mission is no longer just to find Mom but also save the entire planet. They’ve been through a portal that showed them the future, and things aren’t good. But Jesse tells them the real purpose of the portals, the responsibility of being a Gatekeeper. You can’t simply do nothing. You must fix things.

Set to fulfill that purpose, Whirlwind takes Xander and David on their wildest ride yet – where the way history is written depends on their actions. Time is winding down, Taksidian is drawing nearer, the forces of evil are bent upon controlling the King house for its own purposes, and the Kings can barely hold up under the strain.

Robert Liparulo continues to surprise and amaze with the Dream House Kings series. One would think after five books, the story of the house would be told and it would be reduced to Xander, David, and gang chasing and being chased through different times in different worlds; but Liparulo continues to add more to the storyline, slowly revealing more and more about the nature of house, the significance of the King family, and the personified evil of Taksidian who pursues them.

New worlds are accompanied with new revelations, which only serve to heighten the suspense and prepare us for the series’ climax in the upcoming May release, Frenzy. Whirlwind is a blast, from start to finish. The stories just keep getting better as Liparulo layers in more backstory and additional twists. Now I can only sit and twitch, anticipating the finale to come.