Closing with a threat from a mortal enemy, Brewer’s narrative provides a compelling back story for Vlad’s fans to sink their...
The other side of Vladimir Tod’s world.
Cecile’s death at the fangs of a vampire galvanized her brother, 10-year-old Joss McMillan, to join the Slayers, even though Abraham, his uncle and the most respected slayer currently active, had serious doubts about Joss’ ability to kill the beasts. Now 13, Joss is heading to Rhinecliff, N.Y., to begin his slayer training with the community there and prove his abilities to his doubting uncle. As the brutal training regimen commences, Joss must focus on his desire for vengeance and his will to power through the training and begin hunting for the monsters that haunt the night. This companion novel to Brewer’s Vlad Tod series (Twelfth Grade Kills, 2010, etc.) provides a simple entry point into the opposite side of the vampire world—those tasked with killing the undead. Joss’ emotional journey is an odd one; the conflict between nurturing Sirus and borderline abusive Abraham sets up an uncomfortable model of emotional health. Most secondary characters are underdeveloped, providing a modicum of training and little else, but it's not about the characters, after all. Action flows seamlessly into drama, and a betrayal comes after a series of clever misdirections.
Closing with a threat from a mortal enemy, Brewer’s narrative provides a compelling back story for Vlad’s fans to sink their teeth into, with more to come. (Paranormal adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3741-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
Not much forward momentum but a tasty array of chills, thrills, and chortles.
The victory of Jacob and his fellow peculiars over the previous episode’s wights and hollowgasts turns out to be only one move in a larger game as Riggs (Tales of the Peculiar, 2016, etc.) shifts the scene to America.
Reading largely as a setup for a new (if not exactly original) story arc, the tale commences just after Jacob’s timely rescue from his decidedly hostile parents. Following aimless visits back to newly liberated Devil’s Acre and perfunctory normalling lessons for his magically talented friends, Jacob eventually sets out on a road trip to find and recruit Noor, a powerful but imperiled young peculiar of Asian Indian ancestry. Along the way he encounters a semilawless patchwork of peculiar gangs, syndicates, and isolated small communities—many at loggerheads, some in the midst of negotiating a tentative alliance with the Ymbryne Council, but all threatened by the shadowy Organization. The by-now-tangled skein of rivalries, romantic troubles, and family issues continues to ravel amid bursts of savage violence and low comedy (“I had never seen an invisible person throw up before,” Jacob writes, “and it was something I won’t soon forget”). A fresh set of found snapshots serves, as before, to add an eldritch atmosphere to each set of incidents. The cast defaults to white but includes several people of color with active roles.
Not much forward momentum but a tasty array of chills, thrills, and chortles. (Horror/Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7352-3214-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Mackie's nauseated by the scent of blood, is burned by cold iron and would die if he entered a church. None of this helps him avoid notice in his hometown, where close-mouthed neighbors hang horseshoes and leave milk in the garden. No quaint old-world superstitions, these; in the town of Gentry, a child dies mysteriously every seven years. Mackie's been raised to avoid notice, so nobody will recognize him for the changeling his parents and adoring sister know him to be. But with another baby apparently dead and blood and iron all over town, Mackie's having a hard enough time staying upright, let alone under the radar. Soon the sickly boy meets the Morrigan and her court: a mishmash of Celtic mythology with British folklore, elfpunk music and adorable Tim Burton–esque horrors. There's romance and rescue (though mercifully no Edward Cullen types to replace the tale's endearing original couple). Some of the urban-fantasy elements get dropped in the crowd partway through, but enough grotesque goodies remain to keep this a fast-paced, dark delicacy. (Urban fantasy. 12-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59514-337-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
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