PURE DEAD BRILLIANT
by Debi Gliori
Knopf
ISBN: 0375814124
Ages 10-up
272 pages

Laughter and chaos fill page after page of PURE DEAD BRILLIANT, the third installment in the "Pure Dead" series. The story begins with a rivalry between Titus and Pandora concerning Titus's soon-to-be inheritance. Tarantella, Pandora's pet tarantula, observes the episode between the siblings while trying to scare Titus with her spidery presence. Meanwhile Ffup, the resident teen dragon, is dealing with her new job of motherhood. Nestor is her son, and even in his young existence he is already the center of attention.

Signora Baci Strega-Borgia is getting ready for the arrival of houseguests, who are all from the Institute of Applied Witchcraft. Much to her husband Signor Luciano's dismay, the visit is an educational retreat. This is already a bad idea, considering Baci is not up to the standards of witchcraft. The personalities of the students and the lessons that are taught to them are a hilarious and intriguing aspect of the story.

Meanwhile, Nostrilamus, the long dead ancestor of the Borgia, makes a deal with Astoroth, the Second Minister of the Hadean Executive. The deal is for Nostrilamus to find and acquire vast wealth while the Hadean Executive gets Nostrilamus and all of his male firstborn descendants. Nostrilamus is unnerved by this sudden change but signs the contract anyway. Needless to say, he does not become rich. It's Astoroth's fault and he has to fix his mistake before The Boss of the Hadean Executive finds out.

Back in present time, Mrs. Flora McLachlan is very surprised to discover that Titus and Pandora's little sister, Damp, has unusual magical powers --- so unusual in fact that Mrs. McLachlan quickly realizes that Damp is more competent in magic than her own mother. Mrs. McLachlan tries to conceal Damp's powers from Baci until there is more time to properly assess the special situation. Around the same time Mrs. McLachlan becomes embroiled in a mystery of her own when she seeks help through an Alarming Clock. What is its purpose?

Meanwhile, Titus receives some weird e-mail that puts a virus on his laptop. He soon discovers that the virus has made his computer evil and is sending cryptic messages --- messages that could change the course of history. Titus eventually gets Pandora's help, but will they be able to stop the near future from happening in time? And what exactly is Tarantella up to?

I thought this book was funny and delightfully gross. I haven't read PURE DEAD MAGIC or PURE DEAD WICKED yet, but PURE DEAD BRILLIANT serves as a great stand-alone book. So whether or not you have read the previous two installments, please be sure to read this one. You definitely will not think of computer viruses the same way again!

   --- Reviewed by Sarah Sawtelle (SdarksideG@aol.com)

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