Life has been good in Gabriel’s Gully for friends, Atarangi and Michael. Michael’s dad Brendan has been learning te reo Maori after meeting Atarangi’s mum Hinewai. He’s even built a school room onto the hotel they live in, so others can learn te reo too. This is where they meet Lai Sui Fong, or Sui as she likes to be called.

But soon the three children are alone in the hotel in the middle of winter. There has been trouble where Hinewai and Atarangi are from. Hinewai, her brother and Brendan set off through a winter blizzard to help their relatives back home.

Sui is living with Atarangi and Michael while her dad is away on a new dig. Out of nowhere Sui has a terrible premonition with horrible visions. She is certain her father is in trouble and she is desperate to go and find him. Atarangi and Michael aren’t keen to travel in such terrible weather but are worried for their new friend. Soon the decision is made for them as trouble finds them instead.

With Sui even more frantic and nothing to hold them back, they set off together into the snow with their dog called Lucy and a new horse called Kaha.

Sui’s visions continue, driving them forward with the help of a rough map. But they encounter other miners along their journey. They are thin, beaten and bloody and without their hard earned gold. There are vicious thieves about and they tell the children to be careful. Sui’s worries keep them moving.

It seems that their old foes haven’t left their lives after all, and their quest to find Sui’s Baba throws them into terrible danger, kidnap, and escape plans. Gunpowder, cunning and much needed luck reunites the friends, but other worries pour in.

Will Sui’s Baba be okay? Can the police catch the gold thieves? What are they going to tell Hinewai and Brendan when they return?

Part two in this thrilling series set on the gold fields of Otago, New Zealand.

A new friend to characters Atarangi and Michael drive this episode, as they search for a man lost in a blizzard. The children’s special talents aid them in their quest, along with their friend’s ability to view the near future.

Their journey takes them far from the familiar Gabriel’s Gully, and into dangerous territory, both of the natural and human kind. Greed and theft are still the law out in the wilderness, backed up with rifles and no fear of using them.

The children’s reality of hunger, fear and snow setting is richly written, and I could feel the sting of the freezing water, and hear the echo of explosions and gunfire on the hills around them. Sui’s worry for her father is heart wrenching, and Michael’s bravery brought both fear and relief in equal measure.

There is no neat and tidy ending here. No cliff-hanger, but a believable epilogue to draw you into the next episode.

An added section at the rear of the book holds interesting facts about this time in New Zealand’s history, along with activities to help readers get a feel for how the gold rush affected the diggers themselves.

Pulse-pounding stuff. Definitely looking forward to meeting the three Children of the Rush again.

Author – James Russell

Cover Art – Stephen Templer

Te reo Consultant – Kayley Ngawati

Age – 8+

Read a review of the first book in this series (Click on the Cover)

(2023, Dragon Brothers Books Ltd, Historical, NZ, Series, Friendship, Courage, Crime, Secret, Poverty, Greed, Family, Action, Adventure, Animals, Otago Goldfields, Goldrush, Gold fever, Panning for gold, Colours, Auras, Visions of the near future, Fears, Dog, Horse, Robbers, Thieves, Theft,