eARC Review: Zachary Pill, the Dragon at Station End by Tim Greaton

Goodreads: Having spent his life pretty much like every other loser kid in the world, Zachary Pill is shocked when a swarm of bats invade his Boston apartment and take his father away. Forced to move to New Hampshire with crazy Madame Kloochie, Zachary soon learns that cleaning her filthy house is the least of his problems. When the evil wizard Krage sends creatures to kill him, Zachary tries to defend himself with the magical items his father left behind, but after accidentally getting poisoned by a dragon and getting his friend turned into a werewolf, he realizes that he is in way over his head. Flying snakes, mysterious shadow hags, orcs and trolls are all after both boys and the beautiful young thief next door as they struggle to stay alive long enough to save the kidnapped little boy next door.

Title: Zachary Pill, The Dragon at Station End
Author: Tim Greaton
Publisher: Focus House - July 2011
Series: Zachary Pill #1
Format: Kindle eBook
Source: Publisher via Kindle Book Review

WOW, I don’t know where to begin.  This book was amazing.  Harry Potter meets How to train your Dragon.  Loved the story and the world that is created within it, so many levels and creatures and Tim’s imagination is just out of this world…..

Zachary Pill is a normal kid, or so everybody thinks.  He gets bullied at school and one day has had enough.  Zachary saw another kid being picked on and decided to stand up for him and himself.  This is the day everything changes.  Zachary started to fight back, literally and ended up with a broken arm and bruising all over.  His father was called to school and demanded that Zachary not be taken to the hospital.  The School was dumbfounded, why would a father not allow his child to go to the hospital?  Well, there is a family secret that has been hidden from Zachary; he is a Wizard, well half Wizard.  Zachary was taken to a special hospital, where wizards and creatures and beasts go, he was patched up and his arm put in plaster.  Everything would be normal again, or will it?  Nope, when they arrive home, his father is vague and wouldn’t answer his questions.  Eating spaghetti for dinner, Zachary looks at his father’s plate and sees worms instead of pasta.  Surely Zachary was just imagining things because of his injury.  Everything went into chaos, bats swarmed the apartment and everything went dark.  Zachary could only use his one arm to find his father.  There was a brilliant blue light and his father disappeared. Poof, gone!

Zachary is now on a journey to find his father, calls in his Uncle who palms Zachary off onto an old woman that lives in a pigsty, Madame Kloochie.  His Uncle too disappears in search for his father.  Zachary befriends the kid from across the road, Bret.  Together they try to work through his father’s belongings and a way to find his father.  Zachary is the last Pill on Earth and is being attacked by all sorts of monsters.  He must survive and find his father and Uncle.

This is quite a long book, but the story is just amazing and I couldn't put it down.  Tim really knows how to draw you into the book and I know there will be a lot of Harry Potter fans that will love it.  There are just so many amazing things happening that you will have to read it for yourself (the nostrils for example, a travelling tunnel system, hilarious but gross).  I can't wait for Zachary's next adventure.

You can find more on Zachary Pill and Tim Greaton on Twitter, Goodreads, Amazon, Facebook and blog.

4 EXPLOSIONS - definitely worth reading