Synopsis:When Luke Manchett’s estranged father dies suddenly, he leaves his son a dark inheritance. Luke has been left in charge of his father’s ghost collection: eight restless spirits. They want revenge for their long enslavement, and in the absence of the father, they’re more than happy to take his son. It isn’t fair, but you try and reason with the vengeful dead.Halloween, the night when the ghosts reach the height of their power, is fast approaching. With the help of school witchlet Elza Moss, and his cowardly dog Ham, Luke has just thirteen days to uncover the closely guarded secrets of black magic, and send the unquiet spirits to their eternal rest. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about.
Summary:
A fantastic debut from Leo Hunt filled with mystery, madness and the macabre!
My thoughts:
Luke Manchett is your average teenager, well, as average as you can be with a non-existent father who dabbles in things he shouldn’t i.e the dead. Upon his father’s death, Luke discovers just how far his eager hands had delved into the macabre world of deadside and its inhabitants through his father’s lawyer – Mr Berkley.
A few inheritance papers – included one made of skin – later and Luke finds himself the new owner of an old book and his father’s collection of rings and his metaphorical pockets a few million dollars heavier… or so he’d hoped. Instead, he ends up with eight, very real and very haunting, ghosts known as The Manchett Host. Ghosts that his father had collected over years of ghost hunting, seances, exorcisms, oh and practicing necromancy.
This obviously doesn’t end well for Luke who clearly isn’t adept in dark magic. The Host take the opportunity to use their new owner’s lack of knowledge against him, in order to achieve their freedom. Elza, local goth and witch however, knows her fair share and is certainly in tune with Deadside. She can see ghosts and spirits so naturally once she sees the horrors of the Manchett Host lumbering around town, she is more than a little curious.
Luke and Elza team up to unravel the secrets of his Luke’s Father’s rings and decipher the Book of Eight so that they might stand a chance of standing up against the collected powers of The Host. And with Halloween looming, it’s only a matter of time before they grow stronger than anything Luke and Elza can throw at them.
I enjoyed this book immensely, not only because it was based in the Midlands, my home turf, but because Luke and his predicament is just so intriguing and exciting! Living in the suburbs, Luke is your typical teenager who tries to hide his unusual family life from the public eye. His Mother suffers from severe headaches which put her out of commission for days at a time and his Father, when alive, had his own TV show in the same vein as Most Haunted. Understandably he doesn’t brag it, reveling in mocking the show with his friends at his Father’s expense. Even though the circumstances following his Father’s death are far-fetched, the teenage lifestyle that Leo sets up perfectly captures that expected of teens today.
The ghosts are fantastic. Each of their personalities and differences constantly create conflicts and humour and help to guide the plot along hundreds of different pathways. I’m interesting in learning more about each ghost’s history, especially the full story behind The Shepherd! In fact, it could make for a fantastic series of Novellas!
I mean, JUST LOOK AT THEM. These ghosts are seriously scary and bad-ass. These images are part of the books marketing campaign.
From top left to bottom right we have: The Shepherd, The Vassal, The Heretic, The Judge, The Oracle, The Prisoner, The Fury and The Innocent.
You may find that your book will have one of these guys hiding among its pages upon purchase! I had the pleasure of getting The Vassal included in my proof copy! My personal favourite however is The Fury for reasons which the book will explain!
Elza is a great supporting character adding her own layer of quirk with her protection spells and wards, I’m hoping that we see a lot more of this side of magic in the sequel because I think there’s a lot of potential there!
Ham, Luke’s dog is adorable and is inspired by a very real version owned by the author himself! To say I loved the scenes where Luke and Ham became intertwined is an understatement. Its both hilarious and extremely well done.
My only slight qualm with this book was the lack of responsibility where Luke’s mom was concerned. I understand most teenagers are selfish nowadays and would be like “Hey, Mom’s sick, oh well I’m still going out.” But when there’s estranged ghosts wandering around I feel like that line would be blurred somewhat, in hindsight, much of what happens could have been resolved before it happened had he not been so careless. That being said, if he was boring and behaved appropriately, we wouldn’t have such an exciting book!
Final Word:
A brilliantly British book that is perfect for fans of Skulduggery Pleasant, Goosebumpsor Supernatural, who are looking for something that little bit different! I for one cannot wait for the sequel which will hopefully give us more of an insight into Deadside!
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