THE SILVER BLADE

The thrilling conclusion to the tale begun in The Red Necklace (2008) plunges readers back into the filthy and terrifying streets of Paris in 1794, when a single word can betray one to death by guillotine and no one can be trusted. Sidonie, in London, longs for Yann, who remains in Paris, using his actor’s skills and his Roma gifts to spirit French aristocrats to safety as the Silver Blade. Count Kalliovski, who has sinister designs on both Sido and Yann, has no humanity left, working his evil from a magnificent palace deep in the Parisian catacombs that is steeped in darkness and horror. The Count has ghosts and a demon dog to do his bidding, and Sido is taken by his minions while Yann fights despair and Robespierre. The denouement is as light-filled and glittering as the rest was dark and stench-ridden. A luscious melodrama, rich in sensuous detail from horrific to sublime, with an iridescent overlay of magic. (Fantasy. 12 & up)