Tim Byrd

I was impressed with the story of Doc Wilde and his kids. Tim Byrd has an author's voice for high adventure, that's for sure. It felt like a book for pre-teens, but I think that adventure fans of all ages should enjoy it.

Pulp adventure with a Lovecraftian menace as the main antagonist. Brian and Wren are delightful as adventurers-in-training, and are full of educational sidebits. I found the literary quotes and the brief lessons in geography, language, history, and science to be very show more enlightening. A kid should enjoy those parts without even realizing that they are learning something.

The only negative I would attach to the book is that I felt it ended rather abruptly. It built to a climax rather nicely, and the resolution of the main plot was just fine, but it seemed that it wrapped up in a hurried manner. Perhaps this is a pulp adventure trait; I've not read much in the genre. It did answer questions I had, it just seemed to brush over them rather quickly. It's not really a complaint, since it did work, but I did feel like I was slamming on brakes there at the end. Maybe that was by design, so I won't be too critical of that.

Very nice work, Mr. Byrd. I would be interested in seeing more adventures of Brian, Wren, and Doc. And I had to say that I very much enjoyed the banter/rivalry between Declan and Bartlett, Doc Wilde's hired help. show less

When Brian and Wren’s grandfather disappears (again), the two siblings must go on an adventure with their father (the famous adventurer, Doc Wilde) and his two trusty sidekicks (Phineas Bartlett and Declan mac Coul) in an attempt to find where Grandpa Wilde has disappeared to.

Their search takes them to a tropical jungle that just happens to have a rift in space. An evil being from another universe is trying to get into ours and is using frogs (including flying mutant frogs, and show more frog-man-things that used to be human!) to help it break into our world. Somehow Grandpa Wilde has gotten himself into the middle of this, and it’s up to our heroes to try to find him, and stop the evil being from devouring our universe.

This is Tim Byrd’s first novel, and the first in a series of books about Doc Wilde and his adventurous kids. It’s based on the pulp books of yore, and while I cannot recall any pulp fiction that I have actually read, I hear that this is very close in style to those.

It’s definitely a fun book, for those looking for rip roaring adventure with a dash of good ol’ scifi. It has it all: Action! Adventure! Fighting! Evil Beings From Other Universes! Mutant Frogs! It would not surprise me if this book was a big hit with young boys.

There were two main things that drew away from my personal enjoyment of this book. The first was Doc Wilde himself. He is like Indiana Jones, except that he’s also a body builder. And an inventor. And an architect. And an awesome dad. And goodness knows what else. He comes across at absolutely perfect at everything he does – and because of that, he was kind of boring.

The other thing was that the timeline seemed a bit inconsistent. It apparently took Grandpa Wilde 20 days to hike through the jungle to the big scary frog-shaped cave… but the rest of the Wilde family went searching for him a week after he left home to do a speech at Harvard, and it only took them a few days to get to the same bit scary frog-shaped cave. So I’m missing a bunch of days here.. but I could’ve overlooked something about their trek through the forest. ETA: I was reading an ARC of the book; Tim has left a comment stating that this was changed for the final version of the book.

The Bottom Line: While I personally may not have loved this book, I have no doubt that young boys would thoroughly enjoy it. It’s got action and adventure. It’s got lots of fighting between the good guys and evil mutant frogs. It’s got no real slow period – completely action packed. While I would definitely recommend this to someone who is looking for a book for a young boy, I won’t reread it, and I won’t read more in the series. show less

Reviewed by Sally Kruger aka "Readingjunky" for TeensReadToo.com

Fans of American/Michigan Chillers are sure to enjoy Doc Wilde's adventures. DOC WILDE AND THE FROGS OF DOOM is perfect for action-loving readers in the middle grade age group.

Doc Wilde teams up with son Brian and daughter Wren for a wild experience in the jungles of South America. The action starts high on the side of a skyscraper when creepy-crawly looking frogs plaster themselves to the window of the family offices. Are these show more bloated monsters related to the disappearance of the kids' Grandfather? All they can hope to do is gather a specimen or two and use scientific research to test out their theory.

Capturing one of the creatures puts first Brian and then his father in near-death situations. Using cool James Bond-type special effects, Brian dangles high over the streets of the city and attempts to pry the sticky, icky frogs from the skyscraper window. When things go heart-stoppingly wrong and it seems almost guaranteed that Brian's life is over, his father sweeps in to the rescue.

The action doesn't stop there as the family packs their scientific bag of tricks and heads to the tiny, mysterious South American country of Hidalgo. Even using their vast research capabilities, they are only able to discover the bare minimum about the place. But all the information they have about their missing Grandfather points in that direction.

DOC WILDE AND THE FROGS OF DOOM offers non-stop excitement, terrific special effects, and tons of science/geek information. Just over 180 pages with 60 chapters perfect for short reading stints, this book promises to be a hit with the younger tween set. show less

This book is about the Wilde family: a super-rich family that lives for adventure. Doc Wilde(the father), has a little proplem on his hands. His dad: Grandpa Wilde, has been reported missing in the depths of a jungle. The only evidence the Wilde family has of him is a photo of Grandpa Wilde in the mouth of a frog statue. This is not a coincidence. The same day Doc sees the photo, he is ambushed by an unknown attacker. Doc could only make out his round, yellowish eyes. The same night, the show more Wilde family visits Grandma Wilde: who lives on the 80th floor(1224 feet in the air), of the Empire State building. Just before the whole family eats, they are greeted by and unexpected visitor. Little, yellow frogs are all up on the windows. Doc asks his son: Wren, to bring some frogs in for examining. This means going to the top floor, and jumping off the Empire State Building(of course Wren is attached to a safety cord) to gather some frogs. After Wren grabs the frogs, they examine them and find out that these are the younglings of the Frogs of Doom, who want to swallow the whole universe. Can the Wilde family stop them, or will the universe of the frogs?

Despite the length of this book, it was actually really good. If I got to live in a mansion the Wilde's lived in: I'd be happy. My bed would be 30ft up and the air and with the security system, I feel safe. When I look for a good book, I look for adventure. This book has plenty of it. Going from falling off the Empire State Building to fighting off hordes of frogs to exploring an unforgivable junjle. This book has it all. This book is mostly for younger audiences, but it is still good. show less