The Watcher in the Shadows - Softcover

Zafon, Carlos Ruiz

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0753829088 ISBN 13: 9780753829080

Publisher: Phoenix

Synopsis

An enigmatic toymaker who lives as a recluse in an old mansion, surrounded by the magical beings he has created to escape his solitude ... An eerie figure that watches from behind the curtains of a locked room and holds a terrifying secret. ... A shadowy figure that hides deep in the woods and has already claimed one life ... These are the elements of a mystery that will bind Ismael to 14-year-old Irene when her mother becomes housekeeper to the toymaker, Lazarus Jann.

About this title

About the Author

CARLOS RUIZ ZAFON was born in Barcelona and is the author of six novels including The Shadow of the Wind. He is one of the world's most read and best-loved writers. His work has been translated into more than forty languages and published around the world, garnering numerous international prizes and reaching millions of readers. He divides his time between Barcelona and Los Angeles.

From Booklist

First published in Spain in 1995, this early work from Zafón hits all the gothic horror bases: creepy castles, foreboding caves, haunted lighthouses, murky woods, masked balls, and just about everything else you might hope for. Mostly, though, this is a cunning twist on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—with a little bit of ventriloquist-dummy horror thrown in for good measure. Fourteen-year-old Irene’s penniless mother has just won the jackpot: she’s been hired to keep house at Cravenmoore, the estate of reclusive toymaker Lazarus Jann. He’s a kindly eccentric, but the grinning automatons populating his castle carry an air of menace. Just as frightening is the personless shadow giving chase to Irene and her little brother. And what of the legend of the woman who drowned in the lagoon? Though there is probably one mystery too many here, Zafón cuts between his various characters with cinematic skill, and his habit of telling stories within the narrative is put to spine-tingling use, just as it was with The Midnight Palace (2011). Good, solid scares. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Zafón is still cruising off the might of the international best-sellers The Shadow of the Wind (2004) and The Angel’s Game (2009). Anything he does for quite a while will garner a good deal of interest. Grades 8-11. --Daniel Kraus

Edition details

• Publisher: Phoenix
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0753829088
• ISBN 13: 9780753829080
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 246