Zeus is back, and Alex and his friend Charlie are in trouble again. When Zeus finds out that a bully, Eric Lees, has desecrated his temple (aka given Charlie a swirly in the boys’ toilets) and committed sacrilege (aka eaten the chips that Zeus considers rightfully his), Zeus decides the kid needs to be taught a lesson. After a spirited debate over whether Eric killed his children and where they can find a lion without leaving school grounds, Zeus decides to punish Eric with a new set of Herculean LaborsTM. Can Alex stop Zeus from smiting Eric? And can Alex stop Eric from smiting him and Charlie once Zeus heads home to Olympus? A High Priest’s job is never easy. 

The third of John Dougherty’s Zeus books is every bit as much fun as the first two. Zeus’ antics are delightfully silly, but totally in keeping with a version of the god in the 21st century whose only priest needs to finish his duties before the end of lunch period. The whole series is perfect for mythology fans with a Diary of a Wimpy Kid sense of humor. – Krishni Burns

* For further information on the Our Mythical Childhood Survey, please refer to the website of the project “Our Mythical Childhood” [link: http://omc.obta.al.uw.edu.pl/], led by Prof. Katarzyna Marciniak at the Faculty of “Artes Liberales,” University of Warsaw, Poland, with the participation of Bar Ilan University, University of New England, University of Roehampton, University of Yaoundé 1, and other affiliated scholars, within the funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (grant agreement No 681202).