Lockwood & Co: The Hollow Boy: Book 3 (Lockwood & Co., 3)

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Also, I don't know why I never noticed this before, but Stroud is spinning some extended thoughts on government and bureaucracy underneath the story. Also, the artwork here is great and so are the interior chapter headings, but please lighten the chapter artwork.

I thought this was a good addition to the series and the book starts off with the crew of Anthony Lockwood, George and Lucy tackling ghosts while there's a ghost epidemic brewing in the Chelsea neighborhood of London. The whole thing is handled very badly for two reasons: first, I'm not saying that Lucy and Holly had to be besties from the moment they met, but "badass heroine who isn't like other girls" is a trope that needed to die twenty years ago, and I'm so mad at Stroud for using it. Anthony Lockwood is dashing, George insightful, and Lucy dynamic, while the skull in the jar utters sardonic advice from the sidelines. A secretary is required, someone who can deal with the clients, organize their schedule and clean the mess in their kitchen.series gives it a great twist by having the kids be more professional and in many ways more adult than the actual adults, but the Lucy/Holly spat throws a wrench in that, and frankly, so does Lucy's minor fixation on Lockwood. Because until it happened, the Lockwood series read as lighter fare, creepy manifestations and nighttime horrors and deaths and all. Lockwood helps the others escape and is trying to save Lucy but is blown skyward by the raging poltergeist.

Actually, my favorite character in this installment is by far the whispering skull, who cheerfully offers ways to murder Holly to Lucy. In The Hollow Boy we get all the ghost chasing fun we've had in the previous two books, but with a little darker tone. I wasn’t sure about giving out five stars because I’m a little wary of the direction the story might take next, but well, the book itself is fantastic.I was sucked into the world, I interacted with the characters, I was emotionally involved with everything that was happening and I completely forgot that this is just a work of fiction.

This is done by examining the perspective of the sarcastic and slightly egomaniacal djinni Bartimaeus. Lockwood remains adult-like and hard to know; George, clever and kind (in his own rough way); and, in general, all characters keep their essence, though Kipps and his team develop an intriguing, more positive side, and the Skull In The Jar gets more time in the spotlight (Yay!After studying English Literature at York University, he moved to London, where he worked as an editor at a publishing firm. You can find everything you need on this one site, including all the bonus pages from the Sweet Hearts books and further information on my Young Adult novel Red Tears.