Constable and Toop by Gareth P. Jones

Synopsis

Sam Toop lives in a funeral parlour, blessed (or cursed) with an unusual gift. While his father buries the dead, Sam is haunted by their constant demands for attention. Trouble is afoot on the 'other side' - there is a horrible disease that is mysteriously imprisoning ghosts into empty houses in the world of the living. And Sam is caught in the middle - will he be able to bring himself to help?

Blue Peter Award winner Gareth P. Jones has woven a darkly comic story, a wonderfully funny adventure that roams the grimy streets of Victorian London

I read this book a while ago after receiving a copy from Hot Key Books. To be honest I wanted to read it because of the beautiful cover and I love anything to do with Victorian London. I was also intrigued by Sam, a child who can see ghosts. At first he's quite introverted - used to doing as he's told. But the arrival of his uncle who needs hiding from the police reveals parts of Sam's dad's life that he knew nothing about.  The first few chapters introduce the reader to quite a few characters. First there's murder victim Emily who's encouraged not to follow The Knocking which will move her on to the next world - her spirit is pretty much kidnapped by an unknown assailant. Then there's Lapsewood, a ghost who thrives on order and whose afterlife is staid and controlled until he's threatened with being despatched to The Vault. 

Lapsewood is offered a second chance though - to be a Prowler and track down rogue ghosts (those who've ignored The Knocking - the sound which heralds entry into the next world). But ghosts are going missing and this draws together the stories of Sam, Lapsewood and also Clara who's just moved in to a haunted house. The murders are cleverly mixed up into the story of haunted houses and their resident ghosts. I was transfixed from the first few pages. I fell in love with the ghost world that the author has created - there's loads of brilliant little details too like the receptionist who's reading the complete manuscript of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

Even though the subject matter is fantastical there's wonderful material here that all sorts of people can relate to. Firstly there's Lapsewood who's in his early-thirties and stuck in a rut. He's not doing the sort of work he dreamed of and finds it impossible to try for the things that his heart desires. Initially, at the beginning of the book he isn't sure that he wants to change and actively fights against it but as the story develops he starts to take chances and surprises himself. Sam has to deal with loss and secrets. After his mother dies he feels alone and is bullied at school for being different. His family has secrets and he has to come to terms with the realisation that perhaps he doesn't know his father as well as he thought. He also has to accept himself, strange gifts and all which is perhaps the hardest thing.

Constable and Toop is a magical book. It's the kind of read that I would have loved to have been given as a child at Christmas. It's got the right combination of mystery, ghosts and excitement. Scratch that - I would be over the moon if someone bought this for me now! I also think this is a good book for boys with it's male protagonist and a good dose of horror. A special book that I'll definitely read again. 

Angel Dust by Sarah Mussi

Synopsis

Would you move heaven and earth for the one you love? ANGEL DUST is a powerful, gritty and utterly modern tragic love story with a twist. When Serafina, the brightest and most beloved of all God's angels, is sent to collect Marcus Montague - the original badman - and take him to Hell, she finds herself powerfully drawn to him and makes a decision that places her in the middle of a war between Heaven and Hell. Can Serafina fall in love without falling from grace? Can Marcus's soul be saved? And just who is the mysterious and ever-so-helpful stranger Harry?

I've read a great deal of paranormal romance but I don't think I've ever read one where the angel is both the main character and the narrator. I've got behind in my reading as there's been a couple of books recently that I didn't want to finish. Once I'm in a reading slump it takes a special book to give me a jolt and I hoped that Angel Dust would be the one. I knew I was reading something very different from the first chapter. Serafina is new on soul collection duty and the only other ones she's done were asleep at the time. So when Marcus is on The Manifest for collection that night she wasn't expecting to fall in love. All the others were so easy but she's keen to get it right, not to mess up. Despite her best efforts she finds herself unable to do her duty; it's something about the way he talks, the way he smiles. She's offered a way out by an odd man called Harry, a way to buy more time for Marcus and she grabs the chance without asking any questions.

I hardly ever read prologues. I sort of skim read them then read them afterwards but for some reason this one grabbed me. True, it didn't make a whole lot of sense but it's a sign of a great book when I go back and read it again as soon as I'd finished the last page. I loved Serafina's voice. She revels in all things human and has an appealing mix of naiveté and knowledge. She's seen all sorts of souls in her time as an angel and doesn't really understand why humans make the choices they do. Angel Dust is full of religious world building - some references I recognised but others I wasn't overly familiar with but it didn't hinder my enjoyment. I was intrigued by Serafina's heavenly world though and how eager she was to leave it to be by Marcus's side.

Marcus is in a gang but Angel Dust doesn't glamorise this in any way. It's desperately clear how much hurt and suffering he causes his family and those who love him. Marcus isn't depicted as a victim either who's trapped against his will. The theme of free will runs through the book and Serafina (and the reader) has to separate her feelings for Marcus the individual and the man who has the potential to do terrible things. Marcus makes mistakes and bad decisions but he's not alone in this. Confused by how to save his soul Serafina struggles to be both the perfect angel and Marcus's saviour. As she falls deeper in love she starts to question everything she's been told.

I loved this book so much. There's some witty references to paper work, contracts and the workings of heaven that keeps it fresh. Serafina may be an angel but as a character who's struggling to find her way her journey is easy to identify with. More than anything I fell in love with Serafina, Marcus and their struggle. They go through so much that I was crying by the time I finished their story. There's some perfect symmetry in the writing too: repeated sentences and music leads to one very powerful ending scene. This book's a keeper, I'll definitely read it again and it goes on my list of the best of 2012.

Random Bits #7

A quick bit of Random Bits on a Tuesday - we look at new books coming from Hot Key Books and the new cover for Darren Shan's Zom-B from Simon & Schuster. And for good measure, because I adore this book so much, the paperback cover for Daughter of Smoke and Bones.

Hot Key Books have announced their debut list to all the world and there are some corkers.  I'm particularly excited about there three titles:

I love anthologies and Under My Hat has every one of my favourite authors in it.  Charles de Lint!!!  Jane Yolen!!! Garth Nix! Holly Black! Jim Flipping Butcher! Tim Pratt! Delia Sherman (I love her) Tanith blinking Lee! *points at the picture* Just look at them all! The list is so incredible, my eyes have started watering. This anthology should win awards purely going by the names of awesome contributors.  These guys and girls are the who's who of writing speculative fiction for younger readers and older teen readers and adult readers too.  *muppet flail*  My friends, I think I'm in heaven.

 I have no idea what this book is about.  From the cover I get a bit of Howl's Moving Castle and Avatar with a bit of Stardust.  Ah, but cleverly, I've gone and read the write-up about this one and I'm loving it even more:

Set in an imagined world where water has run out and the Cloud Hunters take to the sky to harvest water from the clouds.

In a world where water is scarce and jellyfish swim through the sky, mollycoddled teenager Christian dreams of excitment and danger.  When he meets the exotic and alluring Jenine and her family of Cloud Hunters, he becomes determined to fulfil that dream...

I do like Gareth P Jones's writing - he constantly surprises me with brilliant books and just lets his imagination run wild:

Sam Toop lives in a funeral parlour. While his dad buries the dead, Sam is haunted by their constant demands for attention. Trouble is afoot on the "otherside" and there is a mysterious disease imprisoning ghosts into empty houses, leaving Sam caught in the middle.

The list looks like so much fun.  This link will take you to their catalogue as it stands at the moment.
Next up is the cover for Darren Shan's new book: ZOM-B.  I couldn't believe it when I saw it - it is both gory and gross and perfect at the same time.  I love it!

I mean, come on - who in their zombie-loving mind won't like this? From Amazon: Zom-B is a radical new series about a zombie apocalypse, told in the first person by one of its victims. The series combines classic Shan action with a fiendishly twisting plot and hard-hitting and thought-provoking moral questions dealing with racism, abuse of power and more. This is challenging material, which will captivate existing Shan fans and bring in many new ones. As Darren says, "It's a big, sprawling, vicious tale...a grisly piece of escapism, and a barbed look at the world in which we live. Each book in the series is short, fast-paced and bloody. A high body-count is guaranteed!"

I have no words.  I have grabby hands looking at this cover.  I didn't think Hodder would have been able to entice me into buying my fourth copy of the same book, but they have.  Here's my review I did for it all that time ago.