Hi! My name is Avery McShane. I live smack dab in the middle of nowhere in Venezuela. My best friends are Billy, Todd, Carlitos and my dog, Mati. Our adventures started when the bad guy Pablo Malo caught us trespassing and shot Todd in the butt with shotgun loaded with rock salt. That was bad enough, but when Pablo went and trashed our jungle clubhouse up in the huge mango tree, we decided to fight back. This was war! From then on everything got a mite out of control! Things got blown up, folks got kidnapped and there was a heckuva lot more gunplay - just like in my favorite western movies. Looking back, it was a pretty cool adventure, so that's why I've told the story. I really hope you like it! "This is a fast-paced action-adventure story told through the eyes of Avery McShane. Together with his friends Billy, Todd and Matti the dog they are the Machacas gang. They have a tree house in the El Monte jungle where they set themselves weekly dares. Their latest dare to pick a bunch of ripe bananas from one of Pablo Malo's trees on the plantation sets them off on a big adventure. We see the Machacas becoming unwitting detectives trying to get to the bottom of what Pablo Malo is really up to on his plantation. Greg Lyons' debut is made all the more exciting for knowing that Avery's adventures are based around the authors own experiences growing up in Venezuela." - Emma Crawford, for 'We Love This Book' (March 1, 2012) What an exciting read! The story follows Avery McShane, young American ex-pat living in the jungles of Venezuela on a camp run by an oil company with his family. Avery, his dog and best mates, Todd and Billy, get up to all kinds of mischief and danger. When a gaucho is found dead near Campo Mata, the boys do some investigations of their own, and discover a dangerous villain in the form of Pablo Malo and his vicious dog Loca. Filled with a little gore, a lot of danger, steamy jungles and pre-teen angst, this book is sure to engage the fussy 9-13 boy reader. I recommend it! " - Nicola Sheridan, Author (December 12, 2012) G. Leigh Lyons writes books about action-filled adventures in faraway places, mostly for middle grade and young adult readers.He draws his inspiration from his real life experiences living and working in foreign countries, including Venezuela and Ecuador (the countries in which he grew up), Bolivia, Argentina and Iran.Avery McShane was originally published in 2012 by Bloomsbury in the UK. The second edition of this book is now entitled Avery McShane and the Silver Spurs. The second and third books in the series are Avery McShane and the Lost Tepui and Avery McShane and the Voodoo Witch.Other books by this author include The Pirates of Xingu and Achilles Wept. The author livers in the Pacific Northwest with his wife, Jeanie, and his dogs, Delta and Lily. When he isn't watching his beloved soccer team, Barcelona, he's out there fly fishing in the mountains.And when he's not doing any of things, he probably writing about cool adventures, just for you.For more information go to www.gleighlyons.com