June 27, 2011
Johnson's trademark sense of humor serves to counterbalance some grisly murders in this page-turner, which opens her Shades of London series. Rory Deveaux trades the sultry heat of Louisiana for the academic rigors of a London boarding school, only to arrive in the middle of a spate of murders that echo those committed by Jack the Ripper. As one mutilated body after another turns up, Johnson (Scarlett Fever) amplifies the story's mysteries with smart use of and subtle commentary on modern media shenanigans and London's infamously extensive surveillance network. With the sordidness of Criminal Minds and the goofiness of Ghostbusters, it's a fresh paranormal story. Rory is a protagonist with confidence and a quick wit, and her new friends are well-developed and distinctiveâboth the "normal" ones and those who, like Rory, can see ghostsâand Wexford, Rory's new school, is an appropriately atmospheric backdrop to this serial murder mystery. Rory's budding romance with a classmate takes a backseat to more pressing (and deadly) concerns, but readers looking for nonstop fun, action, and a little gore have come to the right place. Ages 12âup.
August 15, 2011
A clever, scary, little-bit-sexy beginning to a series that takes Louisiana teen Rory to London.
Rory's parents are teaching for a year at the University of Bristol, so she gets to spend senior year at Wexford, a London boarding school. She recounts her story, from mining her colorful relatives for stories to wow her English classmates, coming to grips with heavier course loads and making a couple of fairly adorable friends. But London is soon caught up in fear, as a copycat killer has begun recreating Jack the Ripper's bloody murders in gruesome detail. Johnson fearlessly takes readers from what seems like a cool innocent-abroad-with-iPod story to supernatural thriller, when Rory sees a man no one else does on campus the night of one of those murders. Enter a trio of young folks who are ghost hunters of a very specific sort. The tension ramps up exquisitely among cups of tea, library visits and the London Underground. The explosive ending is genuinely terrifying but never loses the wit, verve and humor that Rory carries with her throughout. While this tale does conclude, it does so with a complicated revelation that will have readers madly eager for the next installment.
Nice touches about friendship, kissing, research and the way a boy's curls might touch his collar fully integrate with a clear-eyed look at a pitiless killer. (Supernatural thriller. 12-18)
(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)
September 1, 2011
Gr 7 Up-Rory, 17, leaves rural Louisiana and enrolls in a British boarding school. Her arrival coincides with the emergence of a new terror in London: a murderer mimicking the 1888 grisly killings by Jack the Ripper. As she reports to officials her knowledge of events leading up to these gruesome deaths, she reaches the startling realization the she can see individuals not observed by others or picked up with electronic surveillance: Rory can see ghosts. She recognizes the one who poses as a modern-day Ripper and who is responsible for the horrific murders spreading across London. His plan intensifies and Rory becomes his target, with an announcement that the killings will continue until she surrenders to him. Employing a terminus, a device used to eliminate lingering ghosts, and a few friends who, like Rory, possess "the sight," she goes deep into the London underground to "terminate" this modern-day Ripper. While she is successful, there is obviously more to tell in this planned trilogy. This savvy teen, who uses her considerable smarts and powers against the ghosts, will return to battle all who haunt her world. Johnson uses a deft hand, applying the right amount of romance and teen snarkiness to relieve the story's building tension. Departing from her previous works, she turns paranormal on its head, mocking vampires and werewolves while creating ghosts that are both realistic and creepy. A real page-turner.-Barbara M. Moon, Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 1, 2011
Grades 8-11 Flip-flop-wearing, Cheez Whizeating 18-year-old Rory has left her Louisiana home to spend her senior year at an esteemed London school, Wexford. Her arrival, though, is met by a series of grisly murders precisely mirroring the 1888 killings of Jack the Ripperand Wexner is right in the center of Saucy Jack's stomping grounds. After a near-death experience, Rory finds herself with the ability to see the shades, ghosts drifting about London. This ability brings her to the attention of a squad of young people with similar talents who are working with the authorities to sniff out the copycat killer before the final murder takes place. Johnson proves again that she has the perfect brisk pitch for YA literature, never overplaying (or underplaying) the various elements of tension, romance, and attitude. The mechanics of the squad's ghost busting are a little goofy, but, otherwise, this is a cut above most paranormal titles, with a refreshing amount of space given to character building. What's that coming through the fog? Yes, it's more volumes in the Shades of London series headed our way.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)
January 30, 2012
In Johnson’s supernatural thriller, Rory Deveaux, a teenager from smalltown Louisiana, arrives at a London boarding school just in time for a resurgence of Jack the Ripper–style serial killings. Soon, Rory finds herself the target of a mysterious murderer as she attempts to navigate the complex social circles of boarding school and uncover London’s ghostly secrets. Nicola Barber strains to create a believable American accent for Rory’s first-person narration and delivers her dialogue as if the young protagonist were constantly on the verge of a swoon. Additionally, Barber often fails to capture Rory’s teenage flippancy, opting instead for breathy enthusiasm. However, the novel boasts a colorful supporting cast of British characters, and in rendering their voices Barber shines, breathing life into everyone from the coach of the school’s field hockey team to the “queen bee” of a clique at boarding school. Ages 12–up. A Putnam hardcover.
January 1, 2012
Arriving in London for the school year, Rory is told that someone "pulled a Jack the Ripper." Soon after, Rory starts seeing people her classmates don't and falls in with a group investigating the murders. Smart, breezy, self-deprecating narration and textured boarding school atmosphere provide easy entrance to this increasingly eerie murder mystery.
(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)
November 1, 2011
Upon arriving in London from Louisiana for the school year, high-school senior Rory is told that someone "pulled a Jack the Riper" the night before. She assumes the phrase is some quaint British colloquialism she has yet to learn, not an actual reference to a gruesome murder committed on the same date -- August 31 -- and in the same location. The smart, breezy, self-deprecating narration and textured boarding school atmosphere provide easy entrance to this increasingly eerie murder mystery in which the only sure thing is the schedule -- Jack's. On September 8, the anniversary of the Ripper's second strike, police find another body near Wexford, Rory's school. Johnson raises the stakes even further after Rory has a near-death experience, starts seeing people her classmates don't, and falls in with a ragtag undercover group investigating the possibility that the murders have a paranormal explanation. Suspenseful and utterly absorbing, this first book in the Shades of London series will leave readers glad that Johnson, like her copycat killer, plans to return to the scene of the crime. christine m. heppermann
(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)