Monday 15 September 2014

Lockwood & Co. #2 The Whispering Skull

Presenting Lockwood & Co. #2 The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud.

Here is the summary of the book:

In the six months since Anthony, Lucy, and George survived a night in the most haunted house in England, Lockwood & Co. hasn't made much progress. Quill Kipps and his team of Fittes agents keep swooping in on Lockwood's investigations. Finally, in a fit of anger, Anthony challenges his rival to a contest: the next time the two agencies compete on a job, the losing side will have to admit defeat in the Times newspaper.

Things look up when a new client, Mr. Saunders, hires Lockwood & Co. to be present at the excavation of Edmund Bickerstaff, a Victorian doctor who reportedly tried to communicate with the dead. Saunders needs the coffin sealed with silver to prevent any supernatural trouble. All goes well-until George's curiosity attracts a horrible phantom.

Back home at Portland Row, Lockwood accuses George of making too many careless mistakes. Lucy is distracted by urgent whispers coming from the skull in the ghost jar. Then the team is summoned to DEPRAC headquarters. Kipps is there too, much to Lockwood's annoyance. Bickerstaff's coffin was raided and a strange glass object buried with the corpse has vanished. Inspector Barnes believes the relic to be highly dangerous, and he wants it found.

The author of the blockbuster Bartimaeus series delivers another amusing, chilling, and ingeniously plotted entry in the critically acclaimed Lockwood & Co. series.


As riveting as the first book, Stroud takes us headlong again into his alternative London with all of its creepy, ghostly splendor. The Whispering Skull provides another excellent addition to the paranormal genre and a great sequel to the Screaming Staircase.

Lockwood, Lucy and George are again embroiled into another haunting business and this time the stakes are even higher than before. Stroud maintains the groundwork he established in the first book serving only to expand on each and every aspect of the story brilliantly.

The mysterious, reckless and awfully calm Anthony Lockwood. The sensitive and smart Lucy Carlyle and the efficient researcher George Cubbins. The aforementioned skull plays quite the instigator in the events of the book as the trio race against time to solve the baffling mystery regarding a very dangerous and elusive boneglass mirror, their current problem. And as the protagonists open up more to one another and n Lucy's case experience a growth in power, we see and appreciate even more the bond they share between them.

With a perfect sequel, Stroud has produced yet another master piece with the perfect spooky tone to set the mood. Sinister spooks of the otherworld and even more sinister human beings who seek profit in such ghostly source object dealings. Dark, ghostly and gory, sarcasm and humor and the spooky twists and turns enough to send chills down your spines. I said this with 'The Screaming Staircase' and i'll say it for 'The Whispering Skull', buy it, this is one ghostly sequel you must not miss.

"A spooky sequel with the perfect mix of mystery and spine chilling ghostly adventure"

Genre :      Young Adult, Fantasy, Supernatural, Horror

PublisherDisney-Hyperion

Release Date: 16th September, 2014

My Copy: publisher and netgalley

Rate:              5/5 (It was Amazing)

Other Books in the Series (review links):
                    #1 The Screaming Staircase

Other Books from the Author (review links):
   Bartimaeus #1 The Amulet of Samarkand
    
Buy:           Amazon | Book Depository 

2 comments:

  1. I quite like the sound of this, actually! At first it seemed a bit youngish for my taste, but an alternate (historical?) setting and ghosts... that's right up my alley. I'll add the first book on GR and try my best to read it soon.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is the second review I've seen with nothing but praise for this series. I had to skim a little since I haven't read book one, but it just confirms that I need these and need to purchase them ASAP. I love middle grade from time to time and a great one is so hard to come by. Thanks so much for sharing <3

    ReplyDelete

 

Le' Grande Codex Template by Ipietoon Cute Blog Design