This book is set in the 1830’s near the Amazon jungle, when most of a scientific exploration party fails to return to the ship. Those that return bring something evil with them that might destroy the rest of the crew aboard the Polaris. The crew mutinies, kills the captain and abandon ship after attempting to blow it up. They leave behind the youngest crew members led by twelve year old Owen, the ship captain’s nephew. This ragtag bunch of kids decide that the only way to survive is to sail the ship themselves several hundred miles to the United States. Unbeknownst to them, there is a horrible creature below decks, who used to be an adult shipmate that was sickened in the jungle. He doesn’t look very human anymore and becomes less human as the trip progresses. They attempt to keep him/it trapped below deck, but that is where the food is. So, they face starvation, storms, and an angry, hungry creature on their journey to civilization.
Polaris is a book that keeps the reader immersed in the action and eager to find out what will happen next to the brave group of kids. Do they survive? What happened to the man below decks and will it infect them or will he/it eat them first? This story is equally historical fiction, science fiction and horror and will keep readers up at night as they devour this action-packed book.
The author’s note at the end explains the basis for his story – the 1830’s as a time of great scientific exploration (most notably, Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle) and the ‘zombie bug’ fungus (a real Amazonian fungus that infects ants and directs them to march back to their colonies where the fungal spores are released from the hosts’ heads to the rest of the colony – this kind of stuff can’t be made up…it’s nature!). Fortunately, for humans…these kind of things don’t jump between species…we hope.