Lockwood & Co. The Screaming Staircase By Jonathan Stroud

Lockwood & Co. The Screaming Staircase *****

Jonathan Stroud Disney. Hyperion Books

Dark and creepy paranormal suspense

I am deliberately NOT going to give away all the juicy details of this story. This is an excellent book and very well worth the read. This is a “review”, not a school book report.

When I saw that this book was written by Jonathan Stroud, writer of the Bartemaeus series, I was super excited. I KNEW this would be a great book, and I was right.

I love the book cover. It is colorful, a bit whimsical, yet every bit spooky and creepy. The illustrations inside are dark and eerie and fit the story perfectly. Stroud's books always have such awesome book covers.

This book is a ghost hunter, paranormal, suspense, thriller, mystery, with a bit of other world Fantasy thrown in. I say Fantasy because Stroud has built this alternative world, set in London (England), where “the problem” of ghosts has become an epidemic. The time period is a bit of a challenge. It must be current or near future because descriptions of 50 year old pictures and the people's formal attire sounds correct for 50 years ago from today.

In this “other world” London, ghosts have become a huge, very dangerous, even deadly problem (no pun intended). Psychic Investigation Agencies and all things related have become a hugely prosperous industry. Adults can't see or hear ghosts – only certain children can. The task of eradicating ghosts is performed by the children who have special psychic/sensitive abilities.

Excellent story with very well developed characters. Our 3 characters are: Anthony Lockwood is an early teen boy and the owner of Lockwood & Co, a psychic investigation agency. He has the ability to see ghosts and “death glows”. George Cubbins, who often seems to be the outcast, is more of the nerdy/geek researcher of the group. As his character develops through the story, we see how essential his character is to the plot. Lucy Carlyle is our main character and is a strong protagonist, although at times, her character seems a bit reserved. The story is told from Lucy's point of view. Lucy has been able to “feel” a psychic connection with ghosts since she was 6 years old, and has worked as a ghost hunter since age 8.

In the story, we follow these 3 children in their work of investigating paranormal activity and the dangerous task of eliminating ghosts. There are moments that are very dark and scary, the suspense has you sitting on the edge of your seat, heart racing – trying to read faster – trying to get to the big thing that goes bump in the night. Except in this book, it's never just a little thing that goes bump in the night! In this book you'll have anything from dead men hanging themselves from trees, house fires, angry, aggressive and restless souls.

Echos of the past.... echos of hidden things...

There are several more books in the Lockwood & Co. series, and I'll be adding those to my library very soon :-)

The Whispering Skull, The Hollow Boy, The Creeping Shadow, The Empty Grave, and short story “The Dagger in The Desk”

Thank you Disney-Hyperion Books and the author Jonathan Stroud for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.