13 Days Of Midnight by Leo Hunt
May. 7th, 2016 01:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Luke Manchett is 16 years old. He’s just inherited $6 million from his estranged father.
Life is great.
But the cash comes with a catch.
Luke’s dad was a necromancer, which means the inheritance also includes 8 murderous ghosts … Ghosts who want revenge.
16-year-old Luke Manchett lives with his mum in the North Eastern town of Dunbarrow. He’s been estranged from his dad (a celebrity ghost hunter and psychic) ever since his dad walked out on them 10 years ago. Now Luke has received a letter from his dad’s solicitor, Mr Berkley, informing him that his dad has died and left him his entire estate, worth $6 million. The problem is that the inheritance comes with a condition: Luke must sign a contract or everything goes to charity. It’s only after Luke signs that he discovers that his dad was a necromancer and that the contract has transferred 8 ghosts to Luke’s control. Worse, the ghosts are not happy with their situation and want their freedom at any cost …
Leo Hunt’s debut YA supernatural thriller is a mixed affair that didn’t quite work for me. I picked it up because I loved the premise and was interested to see what Hunt did with it but what sealed the deal was the cover blurb, which recommends it for fans of Derek Landry’s SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT series. Unfortunately, I think that comparison raises expectations that are too much for the material. Luke has a great first person voice and I completely believed in him as a teenage boy and his relationship with his mum and dad. I also believed in his crush on Holiday and how his attitude to Alice is informed by his desire to fit in with the other kids at school and because he genuinely thinks she’s weird. The supernatural elements start off with a suitable creepiness – I particularly enjoyed the introduction of the Judge and the Vassal and was hoping from more from the other 6 ghosts. The problem is that the Fury (the main antagonist) is pretty two-dimensional and the other ghosts don’t really get a lot of page time and the Fury’s desire for vengeance against Luke didn’t make a lot of sense. I also found the inevitable romance between Luke and Alice to be unnecessary and a bit jarring not least because of their lack of chemistry on the page and Alice is basically relegated to a sidekick part. Mainly though, there just wasn’t enough humour or action in this book for me while the set up-for a sequel doesn’t have enough to make me read on, although I will check out Hunt’s other work.
The Verdict:
Leo Hunt’s debut YA supernatural thriller is a mixed affair that didn’t quite work for me. I picked it up because I loved the premise and was interested to see what Hunt did with it but what sealed the deal was the cover blurb, which recommends it for fans of Derek Landry’s SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT series. Unfortunately, I think that comparison raises expectations that are too much for the material. Luke has a great first person voice and I completely believed in him as a teenage boy and his relationship with his mum and dad. I also believed in his crush on Holiday and how his attitude to Alice is informed by his desire to fit in with the other kids at school and because he genuinely thinks she’s weird. The supernatural elements start off with a suitable creepiness – I particularly enjoyed the introduction of the Judge and the Vassal and was hoping from more from the other 6 ghosts. The problem is that the Fury (the main antagonist) is pretty two-dimensional and the other ghosts don’t really get a lot of page time and the Fury’s desire for vengeance against Luke didn’t make a lot of sense. I also found the inevitable romance between Luke and Alice to be unnecessary and a bit jarring not least because of their lack of chemistry on the page and Alice is basically relegated to a sidekick part. Mainly though, there just wasn’t enough humour or action in this book for me while the set up-for a sequel doesn’t have enough to make me read on, although I will check out Hunt’s other work.
Luke Manchett is 16 years old. He’s just inherited $6 million from his estranged father.
Life is great.
But the cash comes with a catch.
Luke’s dad was a necromancer, which means the inheritance also includes 8 murderous ghosts … Ghosts who want revenge.
16-year-old Luke Manchett lives with his mum in the North Eastern town of Dunbarrow. He’s been estranged from his dad (a celebrity ghost hunter and psychic) ever since his dad walked out on them 10 years ago. Now Luke has received a letter from his dad’s solicitor, Mr Berkley, informing him that his dad has died and left him his entire estate, worth $6 million. The problem is that the inheritance comes with a condition: Luke must sign a contract or everything goes to charity. It’s only after Luke signs that he discovers that his dad was a necromancer and that the contract has transferred 8 ghosts to Luke’s control. Worse, the ghosts are not happy with their situation and want their freedom at any cost …
Leo Hunt’s debut YA supernatural thriller is a mixed affair that didn’t quite work for me. I picked it up because I loved the premise and was interested to see what Hunt did with it but what sealed the deal was the cover blurb, which recommends it for fans of Derek Landry’s SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT series. Unfortunately, I think that comparison raises expectations that are too much for the material. Luke has a great first person voice and I completely believed in him as a teenage boy and his relationship with his mum and dad. I also believed in his crush on Holiday and how his attitude to Alice is informed by his desire to fit in with the other kids at school and because he genuinely thinks she’s weird. The supernatural elements start off with a suitable creepiness – I particularly enjoyed the introduction of the Judge and the Vassal and was hoping from more from the other 6 ghosts. The problem is that the Fury (the main antagonist) is pretty two-dimensional and the other ghosts don’t really get a lot of page time and the Fury’s desire for vengeance against Luke didn’t make a lot of sense. I also found the inevitable romance between Luke and Alice to be unnecessary and a bit jarring not least because of their lack of chemistry on the page and Alice is basically relegated to a sidekick part. Mainly though, there just wasn’t enough humour or action in this book for me while the set up-for a sequel doesn’t have enough to make me read on, although I will check out Hunt’s other work.
The Verdict:
Leo Hunt’s debut YA supernatural thriller is a mixed affair that didn’t quite work for me. I picked it up because I loved the premise and was interested to see what Hunt did with it but what sealed the deal was the cover blurb, which recommends it for fans of Derek Landry’s SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT series. Unfortunately, I think that comparison raises expectations that are too much for the material. Luke has a great first person voice and I completely believed in him as a teenage boy and his relationship with his mum and dad. I also believed in his crush on Holiday and how his attitude to Alice is informed by his desire to fit in with the other kids at school and because he genuinely thinks she’s weird. The supernatural elements start off with a suitable creepiness – I particularly enjoyed the introduction of the Judge and the Vassal and was hoping from more from the other 6 ghosts. The problem is that the Fury (the main antagonist) is pretty two-dimensional and the other ghosts don’t really get a lot of page time and the Fury’s desire for vengeance against Luke didn’t make a lot of sense. I also found the inevitable romance between Luke and Alice to be unnecessary and a bit jarring not least because of their lack of chemistry on the page and Alice is basically relegated to a sidekick part. Mainly though, there just wasn’t enough humour or action in this book for me while the set up-for a sequel doesn’t have enough to make me read on, although I will check out Hunt’s other work.
