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BOOKLOONS -
reviewed by
Hilary
Williamson |
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Just
as in his
popular
Cirque Du Freak
series, Darren
Shan takes a
(more or less)
ordinary boy -
in this case,
young Grubbs
Grady - and
throws him into
a maelstrom of
(particularly)
gruesome, gory
horror. His
parents seem
normal (aside
for naming their
son Grubitsch
and his sister
Gretelda, and
obsessively
teaching their
children chess)
until the night
they and Gret
are slaughtered
by demons named
Vein, Artery and
demon master
Lord Loss
(hence the
title).
After
coming under
suspicion of the
murders and a
stint in an
asylum, Grubbs
is rescued by
his mysterious 'wiry
as a rat'
uncle Dervish,
and taken to
live in a
macabre mansion
full of books,
chess boards,
ancient weapons,
and with a 'gut-churning
history'.
His uncle's
mysterious (and
steaming hot)
friend, Meera
Flame, drops in
for a visit,
making Grubbs 'blush
like a fire
engine.'
And Grubbs
notices a photo
gallery filled
with teen faces
- why did so
many family
members die
young and who
killed them?
Grubbs
meets a local
boy, Bill-E
Spleen, who
spends a great
deal of time
with Dervish and
may be a cousin.
Bill-E pulls
Grubbs into a
mystery - dead
animals have
been found
locally with
human
toothmarks, and
Bill-E
postulates a
werewolf. As the
duo investigate,
they quickly get
in over their
heads, and
ultimately
Grubbs must do
what he fears
most - take on
Lord Loss at
chess and his
demons in battle
to save someone
close to him. In
the process,
Lord Loss is
exposed to
something he's
never dealt with
before (horror
of horrors, 'a
vacant, yawning
teenager')
and Grubbs makes
a fearsome
enemy.
I
have to admit
that I don't
like horror
much, but, as
always, Darren
Shan gives
readers an
imaginative,
unusual, gross
story whose
surprises
continue until
the very last
page. Fans of
Shan's previous
works and of R.
L. Stine will
enjoy Lord
Loss and
appreciate the
fact that it is
only the first
in the ten book
Demonata
series.
http://www.bookloons.com/cgi-bin/Review.asp?bookid=5071 |
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