Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Guest Book Review - Chris Priestley - The last of the Spirits

This book review is by Dawn Finch, the author of Brotherhood of Shades. When a book is this good, you really do need to shout about it to everyone who will listen. Thank you Dawn for sharing this review with us. I feel that it should help find the way to many readers this festive year....

www.dawnfinch.com

Book Synopsis: 

London is in the icy grip of winter. Sam is freezing and hungry. When he asks a wealthy man, Ebeneezer Scrooge, for money he is rudely refused. Sam is filled with violent rage and vows to kills this selfish man. Later, huddled in a graveyard for warmth, Sam sees the wraithlike figure of a man approaching. The man warns Sam about the terrible future which awaits him if he chooses the path of murder...

Chris Priestley has a growing bookshelf of Gothic tales, and with The Last Of The Spirits he takes a step out into the (deep and crisp and even) snow with a companion book to Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol.

Last of the Spirits follows the misfortune of two homeless children on the icy streets of 19th Century London. The two children, siblings Sam and Lizzie, are caught up in the spectral visitations that plague Scrooge through his tormented Christmas Eve. They are not part of Ebeneezer's story, they have their own tale to tell. We learn of their tragic tales as they walk the frozen streets in the footsteps of the miser.

Many writers have tried to delve into the world of Ebeneezer Scrooge, but Priestley really nails it. The book feels pure Dickens, but remains fresh and approachable to a modern audience. There are no wasted words here and it is a completely new story, but one that still feels as if it carries the weight of time with it. It is as if Priestley has revealed the characters that once only stood in the wings, and are now drawn out to take centre stage. Priestley has turned the camera-eye around on the classic tale, bringing in wholly new aspects for readers to identify with, and it is genuinely spooky!

One thing that really jumped out at me (including the cold dread of where the story might go….) was how well this book reads aloud. Even the best of books sometimes fail when it comes to reading them aloud, but Last of the Spirits would make an excellent book to share aloud with others. Dickens regularly read Christmas Carol out loud and did so for decades after publication. Some books are written to be heard as well as read, and I can see this taking its place as one of those books brought out every year to share again.

I'm certainly looking forward to doing that, bring on the chestnuts and the crackling log fire...and a few sleepless nights!

Book Published by Bloomsbury Children's (6 Nov 2014)

http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-last-of-the-spirits-9781408854136/

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books - Children's Book Picks US - November 2014

Brandon Mull - Rogue Knight (Five Kingdoms) - Published by Aladdin (November 18, 2014)
Cole Randolph never meant to come to The Outskirts, but when his friends were kidnapped on Halloween he had to try and save them. Now he’s trapped in a world that lies between wakefulness and dreaming, reality and imagination, life and death. Cole’s hunt for his lost friends has led him to the kingdom of Elloweer. Accompanied by new friends Mira, Twitch, and Jace, Cole teams up with the resistance movement and joins the search for Mira’s sister Honor.

But Elloweer has grown unstable. A mysterious enemy is wiping out towns, leaving no witnesses or survivors. And an infamous rebel known throughout the kingdom as the “Rogue Knight” is upsetting the balance of power. With enemies in pursuit, Cole and Mira must resort to a fascinating new kind of magic to protect themselves. Every move is filled with danger as Cole and his friends try to outwit the High King, who will stop at nothing to regain what he has lost.

Sharon Lovejoy - Running out of Night - Published by Delacorte Books for Young Readers (November 11, 2014)
Every day is a misery for a nameless, motherless Southern girl who is treated cruelly by her pa and brothers. Her life changes forever when a runaway slave named Zenobia turns to her for help and shelter. Longing for her own freedom, the girl decides to run away, and she and Zenobia set off on a harrowing journey. Along the way, Zenobia names the girl Lark, after the bird, for her ability to mimic its song.
 Running by night, hiding by day, the girls are pursued by Lark’s pa and brothers and by ruthless slave catchers. Brightwell, another runaway slave, joins them, and the three follow secret signs to a stop on the Underground Railroad. When the hideout is raided and Zenobia and Brightwell are captured, Lark sets out alone to rescue her friends.

Carrie Ryan & John Parke Davis - The Map to Everywhere - Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (November 4, 2014)
To Master Thief Fin, an orphan from the murky pirate world of the Khaznot Quay, the Map is the key to finding his mother. To suburban schoolgirl Marrill, it's her only way home after getting stranded on the Pirate Stream, the magical waterway that connects every world in creation. With the help of a bumbling wizard and his crew, they must scour the many worlds of the Pirate Stream to gather the pieces of the Map to Everywhere--but they aren't the only ones looking. A sinister figure is hot on their tail, and if they can't beat his ghostly ship to find the Map, it could mean the destruction of everything they hold dear!

In Carrie Ryan and John Parke Davis's first instalment of a fantastical new series, adventure, magic, and hilarity collide in the treacherous skies and dangerous waters of the Pirate Stream. Heart-pounding escapades and a colorful cast of characters will have readers setting sail through this wholly original and unforgettable tale.

Robert Paul Weston - Gobbled Ghorks - Published by Razorbill (November 13, 2014)
IF THESE CREATURES DON’T PUT ON A SHOW, THEY’LL BE PUT ON A PLATE!  When a singing telegram arrives with some seriously stomach-churning news, the Creature Department is once again thrown into an invention frenzy. Rumor has it that monstrous ghorks have taken the creatures of Heppleworth’s Food Factory hostage. And worse, they are threatening to turn them into tasty treats!

The Creature Department and their human friends, Elliot and Leslie, sneak into Heppleworth’s disguised as performers in an all-singing, all-dancing dinner-theater cabaret. There they discover the five types of ghorks that had previously caused them a whole lot of trouble: nose ghorks, eye ghorks, ear ghorks, mouth ghorks, and hand ghorks—one for each of the five senses. But then they stumble upon something else: a sixth ghork, equipped with a mysterious sixth sense!

When the sixth ghork’s sixth sense is finally revealed, it is even more outlandish than anyone imagined; and the only way to save the day is to make a dangerous deal. But if the deal goes wrong, Elliot, Leslie, and every last creature will be... gobbled by ghorks!

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Children and Teen Paperback Book Picks - November 2014

Ryan Graudin - The Walled City - Published by Indigo - Paperback – 6 Nov 2014

Disguised as a boy, Jin Ling searches for her missing sister, Mei Yee, who was sold into the brothels of the Walled City. It's a cut-throat world of gangs, drug-dealers and warlords and every day is a struggle to survive. Jin Ling relies on her speed and cunning but how long will her luck hold? When a mysterious boy, Dai, requests her help with a dangerous mission Jin Ling's inclined to say no - this is a world where no one can be trusted - but the mission offers her a vital chance to see inside the brothel where her sister may be being held.

Jin Ling and Dai join forces, but will either of them survive the mission? Is Mei Yee still alive? And how will any of them ever escape the stifling city walls?

With a fantasy setting inspired by Kowloon Walled City, Hong Kong, Ryan's novel has a rich authenticity and an intense atmosphere, and its pace will enthral the reader from the very first page.

Joanne Owen - Circus of the Unseen - Hot Key Books - Paperback – 6 Nov 2014

After an accident at her grandmother's house, Rosie is transported to a strange and sinister world populated by a cast of carnivalesque characters who reside in the Circus of the Unseen. They are reigned over by an old woman called Madam Matushka, who guards the threshold between life and death and has extraordinary powers over all around her. This is an in-between world, a bizarre and trapped existence, but Rosie is not like the others here. She seems to be hovering between the worlds of the living and the dead, and she is a challenge to Madam Matushka. Can Rosie escape Madame Matushka's malevolent rule and a world in limbo? And can she help resolve another mystery - one at the heart of her grandmother's life?

Richard Farrr - The Fire Seekers (The Babel Trilogy Book 1) - Skyscape Paperback - (1 Nov 2014) 

The time of our immortality is at hand. An undeciphered language in Crete. A rash of mysterious disappearances, from Bolivia to Japan. An ancient warning at the ruins of Babel. And a new spiritual leader, who claims that human history as we understand it is about to come to an end.

Seventeen-year-old Daniel Calder’s world falls apart when a freak accident brings personal tragedy—and he discovers there’s a link between the accident and a wildly successful new cult, the Seraphim. Catapulted into a violent struggle for humanity’s past and future, he’s not even sure who the enemy is, or if he’s battling a phantom that doesn’t exist. But as Daniel puts his life on the line, he is forced to conclude that our very survival as a species will depend on who, and what, we choose to believe.

Robert Paul Weston - The Walled City - Published by RAZORBILL- Paperback – 6 Nov 2014

Elliot Von Doppler and his friend Leslie think nothing ever happens in Bickleburgh; the only excitement is the rumour about what goes on deep inside the gleaming headquarters of DENKi-3000, the world's eighth-largest electronics factory. No one seems to know what goes on, until Elliot and Leslie are invited to take a glimpse inside and find a collection of strange and magical creatures. But when the evil Chuck threatens to shut down the plant, Elliot and Leslie and their new creature friends must create an invention so astonishing it will save the Creature Department.

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Books: Headline News Post One

ADULT READ TO MENTION.... Award-winning author Philip Murdstone is in trouble. His star has waned. The world is leaving him behind. His agent, the beautiful and ruthless Minerva Cinch, convinces him that his only hope is to write a sword-and-sorcery blockbuster. Unfortunately, Philip - allergic to the faintest trace of Tolkien - is utterly unsuited to the task. In a dark hour, a dwarfish stranger comes to his rescue. But the deal he makes with Pocket Wellfair turns out to have Faustian consequences. The Murdstone Trilogy is a richly black comedy from an author described by one American critic as 'the best writer you've probably never heard of'.

http://www.davidficklingbooks.com/NewsStory.php?item=205

Scholastic gets Goosebumps

Scholastic is reissuing 21 Goosebumps titles (March and May, all £4.99) and R L Stine’s autobiography (It Came From Ohio: My Life as a Writer, May, £4.99) next year, in advance of the release of the first Goosebumps film in August 2015.

Goosebumps is the second- bestselling series of all time globally, selling over 350 million books across 32 languages. It is surpassed only by Harry Potter. The 2015 publications will be the first reissue of the series for a decade. http://www.thebookseller.com/news/scholastic-gets-goosebumps

Puffin Acquires Bestselling (non) Picture Book

Published just three weeks ago in the US, quickly claiming the top spot on the New York Times Bestseller list and shooting straight to no.1 across all book categories on Amazon.com, THE BOOK WITH NO PICTURES by award-winning US actor and comedian B.J. Novak is the most talked about (non) picture book in recent years. http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/56622

Recently arrived on a Glasgow council estate, Logan is grateful to have made any friends at all. But will his best friend Baz be there when he really needs him? A stand-out teen thriller with a sensational twist.

Floris Book News: Mother and Son To Publish With Same Indie Imprint

Award-winning teen author Cathy MacPhail and her son David will both publish

in the Kelpies imprint with Floris Books in 2015.

Independent Edinburgh publisher Floris Books today announce that 2015 will see the publication of separate books by a mother and son: award-winning teen author Cathy MacPhail and her son David MacPhail. The books will come out in Floris’s Kelpies range of children’s books.  http://www.florisbooks.co.uk/press/Floris-MacphailPR.pdf

Mr Ripley's Enchanted Book Picks - November 2014 - UK Post

Tom Hoyle - Spiders - Published by Macmillan Children's Books; (6 Nov 2014)

Adam may have survived once, but a cult still has him in its sights. And this time he may not escape with his life...

Abbie's dad is an undercover agent, tasked with exposing dangerous cults. He's normally able to maintain his distance, but this time Abbie's worried he's in too deep.

Megan was sure she and Adam were safe, but now he's gone missing on a school ski trip in Scotland and she's the only one who can help him . . .

The web is closing in around them . . .

Chris Priestley - The Last of the Spirits - Published by Bloomsbury Childrens; (6 Nov 2014)

Sam and Lizzie are freezing and hungry on the streets of Victorian London. When Sam asks a wealthy man for some coins, he is rudely turned away. Months of struggle suddenly find their focus, and Sam resolves to kill the man. Huddling in a graveyard for warmth, Sam and Lizzie are horrified to see the earth around one of the tombs begin to shift, shortly followed by the wraithlike figure of a ghostly man. He warns Sam about the future which awaits such a bitter heart, and so begins Sam's journey led by terrifying spirits through the past, present and future, after which Sam must decide whether to take the man, Scrooge's, life or not.

A perfectly layered, tense and supremely satisfying twist on one of Dickens' most popular books, cleverly reinvented to entice a younger readership.

Liz De Jager Vowed: The Blackheart Legacy Book 2 - Published by Tor; (6 Nov 2014)

The Blackhart Code: Don't let the monsters grind you down

A Blackhart can see the supernatural behind everyday crimes. But some crimes hide even greater evils . . .

Kit Blackhart must investigate why children are disappearing from a London estate. Their parents, the police and Kit's fae allies claim to know nothing. And as more children disappear, the pressure mounts. Luckily, or unluckily, government trainee Dante Alexander is helping Kit with the case. Yet just as her feelings towards him begin to thaw, his life falls apart. As Kit struggles to unravel Dante's problems and solve their case, she meets fae Prince Thorn in her dreams - but their relationship is utterly forbidden.

Then Kit digs too deep, uncovering a mystery that's been hidden for one thousand years. It's a secret that could just tear down our world.

Steve Cole - Young Bond: Shoot to Kill - Published by Doubleday Childrens; (6 Nov 2014)

Young Bond is back!

BEFORE THE MAN BECAME THE LEGEND.

BEFORE THE BOY BECAME THE MAN.

James Bond hits Hollywood.
Lights. Camera. Murder.

New Young Bond title and cover revealed at Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts 2014

Lights. Camera. Murder…

Shoot to Kill

New Young Bond title and cover revealed at Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts 2014

Young Bond is Back - Authors Steve Cole and Charlie Higson meet for official handover 

Today, on what would have been Ian Fleming’s 106^th birthday, Penguin Random House Children’s announced Shoot to Kill as the title of the new Young Bond novel by Steve Cole.

In front of a Hay Festival audience of Bond fans young and old, Steve Cole and the first Young Bond author Charlie Higson came together to mark the official handover of the authorship. Together they unveiled a giant replica book revealing the cover of Shoot to Kill, a striking black and metallic design which gives a few hints as to what will unfold in Bond’s next adventure. 

Steve Cole says: 'As a boy I played James Bond in the playground; what a rush to be writing Bond now in the playgrounds of his youth for new generations. I am both honoured and hugely excited to be taking on Young Bond from Charlie. I am having a fantastic time shaping a new era in the life of this truly iconic character – readers can expect many firsts, surprises and dangers to come as James´s exploits continue.’

Charlie Higson says: ‘As a lifelong Bond fan, having the opportunity to write five Young Bond books and bring the most famous secret agent in the world to life for a younger generation was a total blast. Being a part of the James Bond legacy, and being allowed to play in his world, was a real honour and I know only too well what excitement is in store for Steve as he begins a new chapter for Young Bond.’  

Shoot to Kill, publishing on 6 November 2014, follows teenage James in the aftermath of his expulsion from Eton and features a cross-Atlantic adventure taking James to Hollywood, where it doesn’t take long for him to realise that something terrible is happening in Tinseltown…