{"id":31258,"date":"2016-09-22T22:57:31","date_gmt":"2016-09-23T02:57:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=31258"},"modified":"2016-09-22T22:57:31","modified_gmt":"2016-09-23T02:57:31","slug":"review-of-the-creeping-shadow-by-jonathan-stroud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=31258","title":{"rendered":"Review of The Creeping Shadow, by Jonathan Stroud"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"creeping_shadow_large\"<\/a>The Creeping Shadow<\/p>\n

Lockwood & Co. Book Four<\/em><\/p>\n

Disney\/Hyperion, 2016. 445 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

I finished rereading Lockwood & Co. Book Three, The Hollow Boy<\/a><\/em> a week before this one was scheduled to come out, so I waited for it anxiously. I had a copy preordered via Amazon, but I also put a library copy on hold just in case that would be faster. (The library was only a day behind Amazon, as it happened.)<\/p>\n

First, I\u2019ll say right up front that this is not the end of the series. This book, like the rest, ends with some new information that makes you anxious to read the next book. It\u2019s not too annoying \u2013 you still have a complete story in these pages \u2013 but it does make you impatient for the next installment.<\/p>\n

The good side of that is that there will be a next installment! This is a series I don\u2019t want to end.<\/p>\n

Yes, you should definitely read these books in order. There is a progression. But each book does feel complete with some adventures that tie together and culminate in a victory for our heroes. Though the new information at the end of each book always promises complications.<\/p>\n

The basic scenario of all the books is alternate reality London, where for fifty years there has been a \u201cProblem\u201d with ghosts showing up and terrorizing the populace. Once people reach a certain age, they can\u2019t see ghosts any more, so children in agencies fight the ghosts and find the Sources that keep them coming back to our world.<\/p>\n

Most agencies have adult supervisors, but Lockwood & Co. is run by children themselves. (They don\u2019t give Lockwood\u2019s age directly, but I\u2019m thinking he\u2019s about fourteen.) They fight ghosts with weapons like silver-tipped rapiers, salt bombs, and iron chains. Agents are children with psychic talents to sense the ghosts \u2013 not everyone has them. And no one seems to be as gifted with Listening as our narrator Lucy Carlyle. She even has a skull in a jar that she talks with and keeps close.<\/p>\n

At the start of this book, Lucy has been working on her own for a while as a consultant. She\u2019s developed the Lucy Carlyle Formula for dealing with ghosts. \u201cUse their name. Ask the question. Keep it simple.\u201d She asks ghosts what they want. Sometimes they answer her. Though the way they answer is sometimes dangerous.<\/p>\n

As the book opens, Lockwood comes back to her and asks for help on a case, the case of the Ealing Cannibal. The morning after that case, someone breaks into her apartment and steals the skull in the jar.<\/p>\n

So this book develops differently than the previous volumes. There\u2019s a lot of mortal danger from living people as well as from ghosts. Someone is keeping lots of powerful Sources from being destroyed. For what purpose? And can Lucy get the skull back?<\/p>\n

Jonathan Stroud is definitely not lacking in imagination. There\u2019s still lots of direct fighting ghosts \u2013 and he comes up with new twists such as a ghost who can only be seen in mirrors. But there is also a sense of bigger plots going on around our heroes \u2013 and a knowledge of danger because powerful people don\u2019t want their plots discovered.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t need to say more about the plot in this book. Read the books in order, and if you\u2019ve read the first three books, I very much doubt you\u2019ll want to stop. Yes, Book Four is just as good. Yes, it brings new twists into the story. Yes, it will be frustrating to wait for Book Five.<\/p>\n

There is a progression in the series. We find out a little bit more about Lockwood\u2019s background. (I love the use they find for something from his parents\u2019 collection.) We find out a little bit more about the Problem. We find out a little bit more about the most powerful agencies in London. And along the way we get to enjoy Lockwood\u2019s charisma, Lucy\u2019s talent, George\u2019s cleverness, and Holly\u2019s efficiency. And the relationships between the four of them just get more complex. I can\u2019t get enough of these books!<\/p>\n

LockwoodandCo.com<\/a>
\njonathanstroud.com<\/a>
\nDisneyBooks.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Fiction\/creeping_shadow.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on my own copy ordered via Amazon.com.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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