NIGHTSPARK

Ominous signs that murderous Battersea Power Station owner Tabatha Margate is staging a comeback lead to a rematch with former child worker and part-time ghost Luke Smith-Sharma.

Actually, Londoner Luke has multiple foes to face in this sequel to Ghostcloud (2022)—notably the corrupt and treacherous mayor of London and the hostile Ghost Council, which wants him permanently dead instead of only sometimes. But Tabatha is by far the scariest threat, and eerie glimpses of her shadow lead through noxious, bone-strewn sewers to a smugglers’ haven, followed by a nighttime Channel crossing into enemy territory and a dismaying revelation about her nefarious schemes to exploit Luke’s ghostly skills. Fortunately, he not only still has several sturdy allies from the opener, but also new ones in his friend Ravi’s hostile but helpful big sister, Radhika, and even Terence, once (and maybe still) Tabatha’s right-hand man but now seemingly willing to turn over a new leaf. Along with that sewer crawl, a later trip in a crate of smelly cheese, and several massive explosions, Mann tucks much exhilarating zooming about on clouds (which is how ghosts get around) into this crowd-pleasing adventure and caps the lot with a last-tick save of everyone in London, both living and not so much. Names and the previous volume establish ethnic diversity in the cast.

A melodramatic dust-up, with ghosts aplenty and a Dickensian flavor.