Triskellion by Will Peterson

This is the best fantasy book I have read in quite a while, and I'm so happy that it's the first volume of a trilogy! The second book is due out in May: Triskellion 2, The Burning. Twins Rachel and Alex are being sent to spend the summer with their grandmother in England, who they've barely met before. Their parents are going through a horrible, messy divorce, and their mother wants them to be out of the way for a while. They travel alone for the first time, and as soon as they arrive in the village of Triskellion they know something strange is up. There's no one around, and then when they do meet someone, it's a pair of brothers who beat Alex up! Things don't improve much -- they go exploring in the woods, climb up into a tree fort and witness the savage beating of the brothers who tormented Alex, seemingly as payback for their bad behavior. The men doing the beating are dressed up in strange costumes with blackened faces! The story seems to revolve around a chalk diagram in a field in the shape of a triskellion, or three-pointed blade. There are a number of evil-seeming characters who do their best to make the twins feel unwelcome, clearly warning them off about something. They are befriended by a strange boy named Gabriel, who can join the twins in their telepathic communications with each other, and he seems to be hated or feared by the people in the town. There's plenty of mystery, intrigue, fighting, and attempted murder (the twins' friend, the beekeeper, is locked in his shed by the band of Green Men, and the shed set on fire!). There are a lot of references to folk lore and mythology, which you can research if you want to, but the story makes sense (well sort of) anyway. I'm glad there will be a sequel, not only so that I can read more of their adventure, but also hopefully some of the more vague parts of the story will become clearer. Review by Stacy Church