Interrupted Summer


Young Adult - Adventure
266 Pages
Reviewed on 12/02/2015
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

Author Biography

Eric Gillies Bernardez, MBA, is a writer and mining engineer currently living in San Jose, California. He has co-written a national symposium paper as well as many technical reports for his company. His latest endeavor is his novel Interrupted Summer.
Mr. Bernardez has managed several copper and gold mining operations in the mountainous areas of Luzon Island in the northern Philippines. He found the inspiration for his novel in these places, despite the armed engagements between the government and anti-government forces in one of these mining areas. His real-life study of martial arts is also woven into the manuscript.
Eric is an avid reader who loves to visit historic places around the world with his wife and friends. He appreciates Mother Nature's beauty, especially her majestic winged creatures, the eagles.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Interrupted Summer is a young adult adventure novel written by Eric Gillies Bernardez. Marco Vega had just finished his freshman year at the City of Pines University in Baguio City on the island of Luzon, and he was looking forward to a summer spent hiking and camping in the Caraballo mountain range. It had been a good year for him. He was doing well in school and was surprised to find he had become relatively popular with his fellow students. Marco had also started studying martial arts, had his brown belt, and was considered proficient enough to be selected by his karate instructors to be a part of the team that would compete in the Japan Karate Association National Tournament in Manila in the coming year. He figured a summer spent outdoors would be the best thing for staying in shape and began with a hike with his dog Gizmo, and horse Aladdin. Marco was astounded to see a huge eagle soaring overhead, possibly the one he and his mother had seen a few days before. His mother had told him about the endangered birds and promised to get him books about them, and Marco thought that he’d like to specialize in the great raptors as part of his studies. This hike was not without its adventures and perils. First, he stumbled upon a marijuana plantation and was almost killed by the grower’s guards; then, he met a pair of WWII treasure hunters. But most amazing of all was his close encounter with the giant eagle.

Eric Gillies Bernadez’ young adult adventure novel, Interrupted Summer, is an enthralling and exciting story about a young man’s interactions with a pair of monkey-eating eagles on the Philippine island of Luzon. I had a marvelous time reading this story that transports the reader into the rain forests and mountains there. Bernardez fills his story with details about Philippine culture, the mining processes that were employed on the island, as well as the contrasting lives of those in the cities compared with country life. Marco and his family soon began to feel like people I had known and come to care for, and I was totally immersed in their story. As someone concerned about vanishing rain forests and endangered species, I appreciated reading about the steps one village took to encourage the giant raptors to move to a more remote location, and found reading about the interactions between Marco and the eagles to be a mesmerizing and profound experience. Interrupted Summer is highly recommended.

Pete Dominguez

Interrupted Summer is by far the best novel I have read! Suspense, exciting and adventurous.You don't want to be interrupted once you have started reading it!!