Shadowghast

The Legends of Eerie-on-Sea, Book 3

By: Thomas Taylor

Narrated by: Will M. Watt

Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

In the third mysterious tale of Eerie-on-Sea, it’s almost Ghastly Night, and the Shadowghast—an ancient spirit in a lantern—lurks in wait for the power to enslave the town.

In the third suspenseful adventure in the Legends of Eerie-on-Sea series, shipwrecked orphan Herbert Lemon, Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, must square off with a creature of town lore as he confronts a shadow from his past. While others towns celebrate Halloween, in Eerie-on-Sea it’s Ghastly Night, and a grim spirit in a lantern awaits its moment. Legend has it that if people fail to light manglewick candles on Ghastly Night, and if no showman conjures shadow puppets on the pier as an offering, the insulted Shadowghast will seize and devour the shadows of the living. This year, a professional theater troupe has been summoned, including two men with grease-painted masks for faces and a raven-haired magician named Caliastra with startling news of Herbie’s origins. No sooner have the players checked into the hotel than townspeople start vanishing into thin air, including the guardian of Herbie’s best friend, Violet Parma. It’s up to Herbie and Violet to separate truth from sleight of hand and solve the mystery of the Shadowghast lantern before darkness swallows them all.

©2021 Thomas Taylor, first U.S. edition published by Candlewick Press. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Another Great Addition to the Eerie-on-Sea Series

I'm not sure how Thomas Taylor does it, but these books just seem to get better and better. The Eerie-on-Sea series is just about perfection in how it has created a town full of unique, odd, and eccentric inhabitants and legends that come to life.

If you are not familiar with the series it features Herbie Lemon, the Lost-and-Founder at the Grand Nautilus Hotel, and his best friend Violet. Years ago Herbie washed up from a shipwreck in a crate of lemons having no memory of his past. But! That all potentially change in this latest book when someone comes to the Grand Nautilus and claims to be Herbie's aunt.

You might think Violet would be happy for Herbie, but she has her doubts about his "aunt." On the other hand, Herbie thinks Violet is just jealous that he found his family before she found hers. This disagreement creates tension between our two heroes resulting in one of the best fight scenes ever. These two are definitely not expert fighters and listening to it on audio book gave me quite a laugh.

But while the drama between Herbie/Violet is occurring, there is even more happening in the town itself. The Ghastly Nights are approaching (their fall event) and this year is looking to be even more 'ghastly' than normal. People go missing, odd behavior occurs for others, and in the end more mysterious things about the town are discovered leaving us with even more questions about what's to come.

Two side notes:
- Two of the best assistants/henchmen ever are featured in Shadowghast. The Mime assistants had me chuckling whenever they entered the scene as I could see their actions play out.
- If you have been wanting more of Erwin (the talking cat), then this is your book! He popped up everywhere you would expect and not expect him to be. I can't wait to see more of him in future books.

I had the pleasure of listening to this book on audio and once again Will M. Watt has brought the story to life. A terrific range of voices and inflections for each character. The perfect choice.

Rating: 5 stars

Another fantastic adventure!

Another fantastic adventure! I love this series. The narration is absolutely top-notch awesome! Herbie gets into another exciting sticky situation in this wonderful series!