City of Beasts - Isabel Allende

I have just finished "City of Beasts" by Isabel Allende.
A very Adventurous story about a young boy called Alex Cold who sets off into the deepest and darkest parts of the Amazon with his grandmother. Sounds a bit childish i know but i found it very intriguing, that part of my mind that always lights up around anthropology found this book both stimulating and fantastic. Isabel's characters are quite fantastic in themselves; an old pipe smoking, vodka drinking, hard as nails grandmother, a mountain climbing flute playing boy, a girl who talks to the spirit elders, a load of gun blazing bad guys and supernatural natives. What could be more fun. The plot gets very obvious early into the piece which can make some of the rare slow parts of the story seem endless. But her writing as always is easy and comfortable making he flow of the main story and the underling story lines seamless. The depth she gives the Amazon setting is incredibly real. Dirty, hot and dangerous at every turn, running wild with magical natives and mythical monsters. An easy read (got through it in 6hours or so) and thoroughly enjoyable would recommend it to anyone and anyone's children.