THE DOOM STONE

Zindel's sojourn away from realistic landscapes and toward more supernatural realms (The Loch, 1994, etc.) continues in this bloody tale of an American teenager's adventure at Stonehenge. On the way to his aunt's research outpost in Salisbury, Jackson, 15, sees a young man under horrible attack by some sort of beast. Sargeant Tillman, accompanying him, acts quickly, but they don't find the victim until it's too late; that night, Jackson's aunt is attacked by the same creature. As she recuperates from bite wounds, the creature's power takes over her faculties. Her warnings about a Doom Stone put Jackson on track to the creature's destruction, but also put him and his love interest, Alma, in danger. Most of the characters move like cardboard chess pieces through the monster's territory; Jackson and Alma are lifeless compared with the vividly evoked creature and indomitable Aunt Sarah. A deadly disappointment for fans of Zindel's earlier work, the book may sate goremeisters who liked Loch, as well as readers who routinely wrap themselves in paperback horror series. (Fiction. 13+)