“ Crouching directly in front of them was a creature that was neither bird nor serpent, but something caught in between. It stood about the size of a tall child. Moonlight dappled its snakelike body and shone weakly through outstretched bat-like wings, the tiny bones and veins etched in black. Clawed feet dug deeply in the soft ground, and a long tail lashed to and fro behind it. But it was the head that held their attention. The skull was long and narrow, eyes huge and round, the gaping mouth filled with hundreds of tiny white teeth… The creature took a step closer to the car.”

If you are the type of person that enjoys startlingly vivid, fast paced, supernatural action, then this book is for you. The Alchemyst by Michael Scott is set between the thin plate between fantasy and reality.

Josh and Sophie, twins, begin working across from each other one San Francisco summer. One day, a mysterious stranger attacks the bookstore where Josh works and kidnaps Perry, Nick Fleming’s (Josh’s boss) wife. Nick reveals to them an unbelieving truth: He is really Nicholas Flamel, an alchemist born in 1330, and his wife is really Perenelle, who has been kidnapped by Dr. John Dee, who was once court astronomer to Queen Elizabeth I of England. Josh and Sophie are the twins of legend, who will either destroy the world or save it. The three of them, with the addition of 2000+ old Scathach, who is the founder of all martial arts and trainer of the greatest heroes (including Odysseus in The Odyssey), then try to go to the right people to train the twins, while trying to avoid Dee’s radar.

Vampires, Zombies, Golems, magicians, immortals – there is nothing supernatural that is not in the book. There is reference to the city of Atlantis. One of the characters is Bastet, an Egyptian goddess with the head of a cat and the body of a young woman. People in action scenes fight with their bodies and auras, with nun-chucks and magic. If you have an interest in anything supernatural, you will be sure to find it in this book.

Even if you are not a fan of the supernatural, the way Scott wrote the book sucks you in as fast as a whirlpool, if you happen to think of it that way. Scott writes the book as if someone is telling you a story, yet you feel like you are some otherworldly presence overlooking the events of the book.

But what sets this book apart from other books is that it is in the perspective of everyone: Sophie, Josh, Nicholas, Perenelle, Scathach, even the antagonist, Dr. John Dee himself. Especially after reading Dee’s perspective, you will be confused over who really is good. The protagonist says they are good. The antagonist knows everyone considers s/he as bad, but wants to make the world a better place. To make things even more mysterious, there are secrets that Nicholas has that show you how everything is not as it seems.

Read The Alchemyst and want more? This book is the first in a series. Others include The Magician, The Sorcerer, The Necromancer, and coming out in May 24, 2011, The Warlock.