The Last Of The Spirits by Chris Priestley - Review by Dawn Finch

First the blurb....

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 enviable talent as a writer of Gothic tales and, in November 2014, adds The Last of the Spirits to his growing bookshelf of titles. 'Tis the season of ghosts and icy nights, and so this is a fitting time to bring out this companion to Dickens' Christmas Carol. Companion is exactly what this book is, those expecting a simple retelling will be in for a pleasant surprise as this tale stands solidly beside Christmas Carol, but this is no retelling.

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 yet, they have their own tale to tell first.

Many writers have tried to snack at the groaning table of Dickens' remarkable works, but Priestley brings something new and satisfying to the feast. In a time of over-long tomes filled with wasted words, this book is refreshingly bright and to the point. No wasted words here. Priestley writes with blade-sharp clarity and this story is completely new, whilst also having a reassuringly familiar quality. It is rather like finding out something new and fascinating about an old family member. Priestley has turned the camera-eye around on the classic tale, thus allowing us to see what else might have been happening at the same time. The story has lots of chilling moments, plenty of ghosts, and you can really feel the deep icy cold of the season as you read it. I recommend a nice cosy room when you read this!

One thing that really jumped out at me (including the startling spirits!) was how well this book reads aloud. Even the best of books sometimes fall down 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.

Review by Dawn Finch (author of Brotherhood of Shades. www.dawnfinch.com)

Last of the Spirits by Chris Priestley

Suggested reading age - 9-11

Pub - Bloomsbury

06 November 2014

ISBN - 9781408854136

Cover price - £10.99

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Glimpse by Kendra Leighton, Reviewed by Tamsyn Murray

I do love a good ghost story. And Glimpse by Kendra Leighton promises a lot. It's the story of Liz, a girl who has had more than her fair share of troubles in her sixteen years of life, and her battle to overcome the terrifying visions - the Glimpses - that plague her. When Liz and her father inherit The Highwayman Inn and move into its time-worn rooms, she hopes it will be a fresh start - the chance to leave the Glimpses behind and become normal. But it soon becomes obvious that Liz hasn't left anything behind her. The Glimpses have followed her and they are angrier than they have ever been.

Struggling to make sense of what is happening, Liz befriends a boy called Zachary, who tells her he can help her to understand why she is under attack and asks for her help in locating his missing girlfriend, Bess. But the Glimpses don't want her to uncover the truth and they will stop at nothing to ensure Liz stops digging around. Can Liz put the pieces of the puzzle together and help Zachary to find his lost love before the Glimpses manage to silence her forever?

Based on the poem The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes, Glimpse is part mystery, part ghost story with more than one haunting tragedy at its heart. It's a clever, modern-day re-imagining of the classic poem, with a twisting plot that will keep readers guessing. I worried for poor Liz, falling head over heels for an unsuitable boy, and wanted to hug her when she thought about her dead mother. Most of all, I wanted her to find happiness and I couldn't for the life of me see how that could happen until the very last pages, when the mystery is finally revealed. Those last few chapters whizzed by and I really couldn't read them fast enough - I had to discover what had happened to Bess, and what would become of Liz and Zachary. I wasn't disappointed.

I found Glimpse to be an accomplished debut and a cracking ghost story. I would recommend it for readers aged 11+

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Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll, Reviewed by Tamsyn Murray

As anyone who has read my Afterlife series will know, I'm a sucker for a ghost story. I have a particular soft spot for Victorian ghost stories (M R James, Edgar Allen Poe and Wilkie Collins are favourites). So when I heard about Frost Hollow Hall by Emma Carroll, it ticked all my Fabulous Gothic Read boxes.

When Tilly Higgins and Will Potter sneak into the grounds of the forbidding Frost Hollow Hall to skate on the frozen lake, they have no idea what misery they are about to unleash. Frost Hollow Hall hasn't been a cheery place since the death of young Kit Barrington, ten years earlier, and after Tilly encounters a mysterious golden-haired boy at the lake, things at the hall get worse. China dishes leap from the kitchen tables, the servants are twitchy and some of them are too terrified to sleep. Desperate to find out more about the stranger she met, Tilly takes a job at the hall and soon finds herself embroiled in a nightmarish mystery. Why must the fire in the front bedroom always be kept lit? Whose are the footsteps that haunt the attic rooms in the night? And what is the secret hidden within the housekeeper's notebooks?

I adored this book from start to finish. Tilly was a very well-drawn character who I sympathised with immediately and I really felt for her as the outsider in her family. Will Potter, Tilly's partner in crime, was equally likeable. But it's when Tilly goes to Frost Hollow Hall that the story really get into its stride and the ghostly goings on had me gripped. I found it to be a very quick read but that's partly because I was loathe to put it down and really wanted to know what happened next. The setting of the hall and surrounding village is deliciously spooky and was the perfect backdrop the creepiness of the plot. This book has everything - an action-filled story, excellent gutsy protagonists and a brilliant supporting cast of bereaved parents, a sinister gamekeeper and a cold, distant housekeeper. As Rhian Ivory said on Twitter, the BBC needs to hurry up and adapt this one, because I can totally see it on TV at Christmas.

I did have some trouble deciding on an age range for this book - I initially thought it was for 9-12s but my opinion changed as I read and I decided Frost Hollow Hall would suit the lower end of YA best - 12-15, probably. It's a romping, squeak-inducing ride with what is easily one of my favourite covers of the year and I heartily recommend it to everyone.

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UNREST by Michelle Harrison: Reviewed by Tamsyn Murray

Michelle Harrison is best known for her award-winning Thirteen trilogy - The Thirteen Treasures won the Waterstones Prize and the subsequent books were equally well received. Her latest novel, Unrest, is aimed at an older audience and allows her to explore much darker themes, which I'm delighted about as I think she has a definite gift for the macabre.

Unrest is the story of seventeen year old Elliott, who starts to suffer from horrific nightmares following a hit and run accident. The dreams follow a pattern and he starts to suspect that they are not dreams, but contact with the spirit world. Desperate to shake the nightmares, he takes a sleepover job right on top of a haunted hotspot. Then the horror really begins. Elliott realises that while he's roaming the dream world, something is occupying his body. And one day, it decides not to give it back.

From the electrifying first chapter right through to the breathless climax, this book gripped me. Even when I was terrified and squeaking under the duvet, I couldn't stop reading. The descriptions are sumptuous and evocative; Past Times, the working museum where Elliott goes to work, is brilliantly conceived and described. I also liked the skilful way Michelle Harrison unfolded her characters' secrets, showing only enough to move the story along and never giving anything away until she's ready, so much so that I'm starting to wonder if she is secretly Derren Brown. Ophelia, Elliott's colleague at the museum, was especially fascinating and I really felt for Elliott's long-suffering father. Fom the very first moment, I could picture their squalid flat and imagine the dull drudgery of their day to day existence. I wanted to read on as fast as possible but also to linger over the masterful use of words. What I longed to do more than anything was to give Elliott a big motherly hug.

If you're after for a high quality ghost story then look no further; as scary as The Woman In Black but with a truly terrifying concept at its heart - anyone who has suffered the nameless dread of sleep paralysis will shudder in recognition at some scenes, and probably wonder whether there really was something lurking in the darkness as they lay there, unable to move. I know I did.

I read this book before going to sleep each night and it kept me awake long after the light went out. As Mummy to a one year old, the only places I get a bit of peace and quiet are in bed or soaking in the bath. Thanks to Unrest, I won't be relaxing in either for a while.

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