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Alfred Kropp: The Seal of Solomon
by Rick Yancey

Alfred Kropp thought that things would improve after he saved the world. But his life has only gotten worse: the only people he cared about are dead, he's stuck in a foster home, the kids at school torment him, and most people think he's either crazy or a criminal. But things are about to change. Two powerful artifacts have been stolen from the vaults of the secret organization OIPEP, artifacts that will allow the bearer to command the forces of the fallen angels of heaven. Alfred is once again drawn into the conflict, finding his life in peril at every turn. But it would be a lot easier to save the world if someone would tell him what's going on!

Get this book into the hands of your reluctant readers! Who can resist a story with both fast cars and demons from hell - and one with a teen driving a fast car at 250 MPH while being pursued by the demons from hell is even better!

Alfred Kropp is a fast paced, exciting book, but it also has a healthy dose of humor. I also like that Alfred doesn't have any special abilities. He's just an ordinary teen, who happens to be descended from Lancelot, but who is mostly just trying to do the best that he can in the situations in which he finds himself. He's a likable character, with courage and values but also a healthy dose of skepticism, which is understandable given the way people in his life have of using him.

This isn't a book for sensitive readers; there are a couple of gruesome and intense scenes, which is to be expected in a book about demons - they don't play fair, after all. But anyone else who likes an exciting fantasy set in the modern world will enjoy this book.

My only complaint about this book is that the cover is ugly! (I thought the same about the first book, as well.) I like the UK cover better.

Also read our reviews of the first Alfred Kropp book

This one took a pretty long time, but it's finally finished:


My intent was to use this as a promo/Christmas card this year, but I kind of hate to sit on it that long and am wondering if I could find a home for it with a greeting card publisher. I've never had much luck getting attention from card publishers in the past, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to try again.

I started this one with a monochromatic watercolor under-painting, since that method seemed to work out pretty well on "The Tea Merchant." I'm still undecided if I'm going to incorporate this method into all of my work. It does add a chunk of time to the process, but not as much as I would have thought.

Changing the subject completely, we went hiking this weekend. Actually we go hiking on most weekends when work/time/weather permits. This weekend, we hit the Getty View Trail which is more or less across from the Getty museum. It was a big surprise to us that this trail even existed in this location since it's literally right next to the 405. My husband used to drive this highway to work every day for four years and never had any inkling that there was parkland right here.

This was probably one of the more harrowing trails we've hiked as the path was very narrow and parts of it appeared to have started to slide down the hill. It was a mile-long series of switchbacks up the side of a low mountain. The reward at the top of the trail was a pleasantly wide fire road that runs along the spine of a couple mountains and grants stunning views of the landscape below.

It was kind of hazy, so the view was probably not quite as nice as it would have been on a clear day, but it was still majestic nonetheless. Needless to say, at the end of the day we were exhausted!