Skip.
Wisconsin teen Daniel Byers continues to have strange visions in the conclusion to the trilogy that began with Blur (2014).
Daniel’s visions, or “blurs,” have helped him solve a few crimes, but that doesn’t mean he wants to make a career out of it. Daniel still hopes to get a basketball scholarship to college, and a prestigious basketball camp in Atlanta has offered him a free ride. Daniel and three of his friends head south to the camp, but it doesn’t take long for Daniel to get sidetracked by mysterious agencies that hope to recruit him for a specialized task force crewed by other teens with gifts. Periodic cutaways from Daniel’s story give readers glimpses of these shady maneuverings and then of Daniel’s friends’ efforts to reunite with him. Despite these attempts to raise suspense, plotting is dull and cumbersome, and characterization is slight. Conversations among Daniel and his friends drag out the proceedings. This is seemingly the final book in James’ trilogy, but it comes with none of the pomp and circumstance most finales have. Things just tidily end themselves, leaving readers with the most frustrating feeling of all: the feeling of wasted time.
Skip. (Paranormal thriller. 12-16)Pub Date: May 24, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5039-3345-3
Page Count: 434
Publisher: Skyscape
Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Authorial tics aside, an engaging tale with a resilient heroine, a dead but lively supporting cast and enough wit to grease...
A goth teen meets ghosts, uncovers a murder and even gets a little (very little) work done on her horror novel in this mannered but entertaining prose debut.
October considers the cemetery next to her new house a nice touch, as her single father is clinically depressed and she’s been dubbed a “Zombie Tramp” by mean girl Ashlie Salmons just moments after entering the “teenaged Thunderdome” of her new Ontario high school. At least she can work on her magnum opus, Two Knives, One Thousand Demons, among the tombstones—except that just reading a spell from the book calls up the friendly but rambunctious ghosts of five local teens killed over the past two centuries. Then her favorite teacher is crushed beneath a car. The police call it an accident, but October’s not so sure…and with help from her motley crew of ectoplasmic allies sets out to discover the truth. Switching frequently for no evident reason between first and third person and occasionally interjecting authorial comments, Munday interweaves a brisk tale of high-school hatreds with an investigation that ultimately leads back to terrorist acts committed 40 years before and culminates in a wild Halloween climax. Munday, a cartoonist, tucks in black-and-white spot portraits and closes with notes on characters and cultural references.
Authorial tics aside, an engaging tale with a resilient heroine, a dead but lively supporting cast and enough wit to grease the wheels. (Detective fantasy. 12-15)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55022-971-4
Page Count: 300
Publisher: ECW Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This is a funny book, chock full of action, slapstick, puns and eccentrics. Fans of the first two will eat it up.
This mystery/adventure, third in the series, begins in Vancouver, Canada, then takes a side trip to Paris, leaving a trail of amusement and mayhem.
On his 15th birthday, Neil Flambé is re-opening his restaurant, Chez Flambé, when a curse that has beset generations of Flambés sets in, initiating mayhem. This action-packed story includes poisoning, explosions, booby-trapped kitchen equipment and other unpleasant events aimed at ruining Neil’s reputation. Mysterious happenings include the appearance of an old family cookbook, a vanquished adversary demanding a second cooking duel and the discovery that a neighboring restaurant is occupied only by a motion sensor and hundreds of rats. Attempting to discover the origin of the sabotage and solve multiple mysteries, Neil is joined by his cousin, friends and well-meaning colleagues who are developed just enough to propel the story forward but whose names are often hilarious. Although this book can stand on its own, readers are advised to read the series in order.
This is a funny book, chock full of action, slapstick, puns and eccentrics. Fans of the first two will eat it up. (Mystery. 12-14)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4424-4286-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
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