February 1, 2010
Grades 4-6 This third entry in the historical-horror Barnaby Grimes series pits the tick-tock hero (a sort of elite messenger boy) against an army of Victorian-era zombies. The funeral of a master criminal brings a dozen squabbling gangs together for a moment of peace, but when Barnaby shortcuts through the graveyard and sees the body rise from the earth, a terrifying mystery is born. Stewart ramps up the ick factor in his decadent descriptions of rotting corpses, and Riddell matches him note for note in devilishly detailed ink drawings. Barnabys pervading good cheer and chim-chiminey rooftop skittering again make for tremendously entertaining reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2010
In Dead, tick-tock lad Barnaby finds himself fighting against an uprising of dead soldiers back for revenge. In Alley, he follows a murder trail only to learn that nothing about the case is as it seems. Both gory thrillers begin right in the middle of the action, with gruesome full-page drawings enhancing the frightening alternate-Victorian atmosphere.
(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)