Fast-paced fantasy tale fails to fill Harry Potter's shoes

Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx
By James Rollins
Published by Orion
ISBN 9781 4440 0085 6

Brilliant fantasy fiction like Harry Potter works when, despite being set in an alternate reality, the story and characters feel believable both during and after reading. But fantasy fiction doesn't work if readers feel compelled to repeatedly utter 'As if!' to themselves - and that is what happens from the first page to the last in James Rollins'Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx, the second in Jake Ransom series.

That said, there is fun to be had once the story gets past all the coincidences and awkward set-up.

Three months have passed since teen hero Jake returned from the fantasy world of Pangaea where he fought and defeated the evil Skull King, but the student still has no idea where his parents are. Are they still trapped in Pangaea?

In the true tradition of an adventure story, The Howling Sphinx begins with high-octane action meant to grab readers. Jake Ransom is at his taekwondo class when a runaway car smashes through the gym windows, narrowly missing him and his friend Brandon. Jake returns home after the incident to find intruders attacking his guardians. Obviously someone somewhere does not wish Jake well.

The story gets going when Jake and sister Kady visit the American Museum of Natural History in New York. While the two teens are checking out an ancient Egyptian exhibit, they are mysteriously whisked back through time to an empty desert. Are they back in Pangaea?