Lost Coast Rocket
Joel Horn
3.5 Stars
Today I bring to you a story of a child prodigy and his friends building rockets and pushing the limits of legality.
Joel Horn begins the tale of Kenneth B. O’Brien (Ken to his friends) at a very young age. From the time he can walk and talk, Ken is with his Grandpa Arnold, a former NASA engineer. A love of rockets and aeronautics is born within the young boy, an obsession carried through the entire book. Twin traumatic events shape young Ken’s life (the death of his grandfather and a fatal mudslide).
This was enough for me to keep reading at first, even through the mass of technical rocket jargon that dragged down the pace of the action a bit. The constant timeline jumps in the first part of the novel made parts hard to follow or seemed extraneous and unnecessary. (Like the tale of Akira’ father and some hikers later in the book).
These things aside, as the group of misfits age, the action and tension pick up as the team begins to design and build their biggest rocket yet.
I won’t spoil it for you, because I do think this one is worth a read if you like these kind of stories. So pick up your copy today and see what all the fuss is about.
Father, Author, Blogger, Publisher 