A scenic, twisty mystery.
Audrey Rose and Thomas return with Dracula-themed murders in the sequel to Stalking Jack the Ripper (2016).
Biracial Audrey Rose, her father a white British noble and her mother of Indian descent, is reeling with grief following the conclusion of the Jack the Ripper case when she and Thomas, who is white, head off to Romania to study at the Academy of Forensic Medicine and Science. While they are en route on the Orient Express, another passenger is found murdered, with a stake through the heart. At the academy—in what was once Dracula’s castle—they learn that they haven’t actually been accepted and are in a competition to determine which two of the nine students will be offered places. Rather than concentrating solely on their studies, the duo investigates the bodies piling up—some drained of blood like a vampire kill, others staked like a killed vampire. Throughout the mystery, narrated in Audrey Rose’s appropriately gothic, overwrought voice, there are plenty of suspects and red herrings as well as tense escalations. In the less murderous subplots, Audrey Rose struggles to win her place in the school and holds back from chaste romance with Thomas because she doesn’t want to have to ask any man, Thomas included, to allow her freedom. The supporting cast includes more women than the first, one a lesbian, and an African-American male supporting character. The ending promises a third book.
A scenic, twisty mystery. (Historical thriller. 14-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-316-55166-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A story to sink one’s teeth into.
In this vampire thriller set in Mahurin’s Serpent and Dove series, the darkness a young woman fears most is hungry for her blood.
Six months ago, Célie Tremblay helped kill a terrorizing sorceress after enduring unspeakable horrors at her hands. Scarred but not broken, she took the Chasseurs’ sacred vow to protect her world from evil magic. She is hell-bent on proving herself, but even bronze-skinned Jean Luc, her captain and fiance, acts like she’s fragile, and she cannot abide being treated like a doll. Striking off on her own, pale, green-eyed Célie is plunged into a world she thought only existed in fairy tales and nightmares. With unlikely allies by her side, she must confront an evil so strong that it’s sickening even the realms beyond life. Mahurin crafts a heady, convoluted tale that could have been several hundred pages shorter. The story walks a thin line between serious gothic horror and spoof. Though the plot leans heavily into its clichés, it delivers some genuinely shocking twists, and it’s all too easy to become invested in Célie’s plight. She is a willful, headstrong, and eminently relatable narrator whose emotional outbursts, impulsivity, and keen wit frustrate and delight in equal measure. The romance elements feel neither forced nor entirely natural, but regardless, they make for compelling drama. A colorful cast of supporting characters does much to enliven the richly vivid setting.
A story to sink one’s teeth into. (Paranormal. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780063258754
Page Count: 640
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An atmospheric and promising first installment.
A series opener blending fantasy and horror with an undercurrent of romance.
The sudden disappearance 50 years ago of the Sun Goddess, Raina, left the realm of Asidia awash in moonlight and misery. The annual Calling drafts boys, such as 18-year-old Kiara’s sickly brother, Liam, into the Knights of Eternal Star, who then venture into the accursed land of the Mist in search of answers. But Kiara’s brazenness captures the attention of the Hand of Death, the Commander of the Knights, and she’s recruited in her brother’s stead. Years of rigorous combat training have prepared Kiara well for the Knights—but not for the growing attraction between her and the Hand of Death himself, enigmatic Commander Jude Maddox. As they journey into the Mist, they must trust each other in order to survive and untangle the legends that just might save the realm. In a crowded fantasy field, the novel distinguishes itself by leaning into the macabre nature of its literally dark world, complete with shadow beasts, flesh-eating spiders, and the mercurial Mist itself. The unrelenting action sequences are not for the squeamish, and the dead (and undead) body count piles up. Cutscenes provide necessary narrative magic, reviving Kiara and Jude’s romance and buttressing the worldbuilding lore that opens many of the chapters. Main characters are cued white.
An atmospheric and promising first installment. (map) (Fantasy/horror. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 28, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374318
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
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