Wednesday, September 2, 2009

The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray by Chris Wooding


2010 Lincoln Award Winner Nominee

A phenomenally scary body of work - read this with the lights on!
I couldn't put it down! A very sophisticated story for this genre; very well-researched. The plot moves quickly and with many surprises. Mr. Wooding's powers of description are impressive. - Ms. Monegato
Jack the Ripper meets the supernatural in this Bosch-like horror tale set in an alternate Victorian London where supernatural "wych-kin" lurk around every corner waiting to prey on humans. Hot on the trail of a vampirelike "Cradlejack," 17-year-old wych-hunter Thaniel stumbles upon beautiful Alaizabel Cray, who unknowingly has been possessed by an "old wych" named Thatch. Determined to rescue Alaizabel from Thatch and the sinister cult responsible for depositing the evil spirit in Alaizabel's body, the innately chivalrous Thaniel slashes and burns his way through a nightmarish city crawling with enough ghastly human and supernatural villains to stock a wax museum. Eerie and exhilarating, this book marks a thematic and stylistic departure from Wooding's earlier, more contemporary teen novels of partying, drug addiction, and pyromania. Instead, he fuses together his best storytelling skills–plotting, atmosphere, shock value–to create a fabulously horrific and ultimately timeless underworld where heroes battle menacing foes to save the world from demonic overthrow. -From School Library Journal




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