The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancy

I wasn't expecting to like this book, but I was surprised by how good it was. If you like action, suspense, and stories about bumbling kids who save the world, you will want to read about Alfred Kropp. If you like the legend of King Arthur, you will definitely have to read it. Alfred, a miserable teenager with no real talents, skills, or parents, gets roped into helping his uncle steal something valuable. It turns out to be the sword Excalibur, and in the process his uncle is murdered and Alfred is revealed to have some special connection to the sword. Along comes a knight named Bennacio who whisks Alfred along in an attempt to recover the sword from Mogart, an evil knight bent on taking over the world. There is blood and gore and no one is safe from the action, but in the end Alfred finds out his real identity and his real place in the story. Fans of action books (Alex Rider) or horror books (Cirque du Freak) or even The Davinci Code, will like this book. It has a cool new red cover, shown here, and it looks like a sequel it coming out soon.