First of a series, this novel is about Finn McDougall, your average schoolboy in Seattle. His life totally changes when Great Uncle Hugh gives him a gome (not a gnome). It's a rude, bad-tempered Scottish rock creature called Wullie, who has lived for hundreds of years.

Finn, and Hadley Kobayashi, his next door neighbor, are drawn into a plot involving rusting barges on Seattle's waterfront, a snobby French woman, abandoned coalmines and flooded quarries in Scotland, an abandoned Scottish military base, bullies, gangsters and weird Scottish food. Can a pair of kids, Great Uncle Hugh and a rock creature who likes to eat metal, stop something really awful from happening in the city of Edinburgh?

Start with "Excellent" and go from there; that's how good this book is. The writing and imagery are very well done. It has plenty of action, and reaches the level of Amazing. It may be intended as a Young Adult book, but adults will also love it. This deserves more than 5 stars. ( )