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PUBLISHERS
WEEKLY |
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The author of
the popular
Cirque du Freak
books launches
another no less
gruesome series
with this first
installment in
the Demonata
books. Readers
meet teen
narrator
Grubitsch Grady
("Grubbs") in a
bad spot-he's in
the principal's
office, caught
smoking
cigarettes-but
things are about
to get far
worse. Grubbs
seeks revenge
against the
informant, his
sister,
Gretelda, by
smearing her
bath towels with
rat guts. He
feels guilty
about this when,
just a few pages
later, Gretelda,
Mom and Dad are
killed in
appalling
fashion by Lord
Loss, a "demon
master," and his
grotesque
familiars-Vein
and Artery.
Grubbs is sole
witness to his
family's
execution and
his narrow
escape, by means
he doesn't quite
understand
himself, nearly
drives him mad.
He goes to live
with insensitive
Uncle Dervish,
who regales his
newly orphaned
nephew with
stories about
the "long and
bloody history"
of the house
that Grubbs will
now call home.
Written mainly
in sentence
fragments with
an excess of
exclamation
points, the
narrative is a
mish-mash of
occult motifs.
Halfway through
the story,
werewolves make
an appearance.
It's tough to
take any of this
seriously: the
cartoonish
villain stages
high-stakes
showdowns that
mix slasher
flick-style
battles with
chess matches.
The author
introduces
threads about
rare books and a
missing
treasure, then
drops them,
presumably to
pick them up in
the following
volume, due out
next year. |
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