When I released the first three Archibald Lox books last year, I and my publicists pitched them to as many reviewers as we could. Many passed, as they always do, but a good number committed to reading and writing a review, at least for book 1, and some other reviewers picked them up by themselves.

As hard as it is to get a reviewer to write up a review for the first book of a series, it's a hundred times harder to get them to review book 4 or 5 or 6. I totally understand why -- a book requires a LOT of time to read (even short books, like the Archibald Lox titles), and a review takes time and concentration to compose. And there are a LOT of books that every reviewer gets asked to run their eye over -- if you say yes to writing a review for a later book in an established series, it means you have to say no to some other author's novel. I always say, when I approach reviewers with books from midway through a series, that I totally understand if they want to reject it, and it never surprises or disappoints me when they take a rain check.

But it DOES surprise and delight me when some of them return to write a follow-up review, because that shows the story has pulled them in and they want MORE. It's proof that my story has worked the way I hoped it would. And one such reviewer is Mandy Southgate, who runs the Addicted To Media site. She wrote some wonderful reviews for the first three books, but didn't want to stop there, and was back for Book 4, Archibald Lox and the Forgotten Crypt, when I released it at the start of last month. It was a special review for her, because as she notes in her summation:

"Archibald Lox and the Forgotten Crypt is the 500th book I've read since I picked up a book about a boy wizard in 2005 and started reading fiction again. I wouldn't have wanted to celebrate this milestone with any other book and I give it an excellent four out of five stars."

I'm so thrilled that Mandy wanted to celebrate her big milestone with one of my books -- and even more thrilled that it didn't disappoint!

To check out the full Addicted To Media review, click here: https://www.addictedtomedia.net/2021/07/archibald-lox-and-forgotten-crypt.html

For even more info about my Archibald Lox books, click here: https://darrenshan.com/news/shanville-monthly