Eight Rivers of Shadow (The Host) - Hardcover

Hunt, Leo

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0763689947 ISBN 13: 9780763689940

Publisher: Candlewick, 2016

Synopsis

In a high-stakes sequel, reluctant necromancer Luke Manchett must call upon the most wicked and eerie ghosts of his dispelled Host to save two innocent souls.

It’s been a few months since Luke Manchett inherited a Host of eight hostile spirits from his dead father and made a deal with the devil to banish them. Luke’s doing his best to blend in to the background of high school, to ignore the haunting dreams spawned by his father’s Book of Eight, and to enjoy the one good thing to come from the whole mess: his girlfriend, Elza. And then it all begins again. Ash, a strange new girl with stark white hair, requests his help—and his Book of Eight—to save her twin sister, who was attacked by a demon. Ash knows a lot more about necromancy than Luke and seems to know what she’s doing, but can she be trusted? As Luke is drawn into a spiral of ever more dangerous favors, he finds himself not only summoning the deadliest members of his father’s Host, but returning to Deadside in a terrifying quest to save what he holds dearest—or die trying.

About this title

About the Author

Leo Hunt wrote his first book, Thirteen Days of Midnight, in his first year of college and signed with an agent the following year. He lives in northeast England.

Reviews

Gr 9 Up—Luke Manchett assumed that his paranormal problems ended when he banished his father's Host of spirits a few months ago. And aside from some strange dreams and a nagging worry over a deal he made with the devil, Luke is right. That is, until an American girl named Ash shows up in his math class, claiming to be an exchange student, and Luke subsequently passes out at the front of the room. Ash quickly pulls Luke and his girlfriend Elza back into the world of the dead, but Luke won't have Elza's help for long. Without her, he must summon one of the more fearsome members of his previously liberated Host and return to a place he hoped to avoid for years to come: Deadside. As dark and witty as the first work in the series, this sequel is a perfect follow-up to 13 Days of Midnight. Once again, grim and clever Elza is a foil for humorous and rash Luke; newcomer Ash is ambiguous in word and action, and she swiftly creates a rift between the couple. The characterization of the teens, combined with a quick pace and a betrayal- and revenge-driven plot, speeds the work along to a satisfying if somewhat sad conclusion. But a few unresolved loose ends will leave readers sincerely hoping for another installment. VERDICT Those already familiar with Luke, Elza, and the spirits of the banished Host will not be disappointed in this new adventure.—Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University, SC

Edition details

• Publisher: Candlewick
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0763689947
• ISBN 13: 9780763689940
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368