Anthony Horowitz is the New York Times bestselling author of The Gatekeepers series, Raven's Gate, Evil Star, Nightrise, and Necropolis, as well as the Alex Rider series, which includes Stormbreaker, Point Blank, Skeleton Key, Eagle Strike, Scorpia, Arc Angel, and Snakehead. He lives in London.
Gr 9 Up-Matt is in serious trouble. He's been involved in a robbery where a man was stabbed, and he now has to choose between jail or a new program that places juvenile offenders with community members. Suddenly he is moving to Lesser Malling and finding out about his chores on Mrs. Deverill's farm. There is something sinister about his new foster parent and the town. The teen stumbles across a murdered man who disappears by the time he returns with the police, an old broken-down nuclear-reactor plant that hums and glows at night, and suspicious activities at the farm. As things become more and more frightening, Matt is forced to find an ally and try to escape the bodies that are piling up around him and the evil that is taking over Lesser Malling. Horowitz departs from his popular teen spy series and turns up the horror in this first installment in a new series. The creepy activities and the overall atmosphere of fear are well defined, and once the action starts, it doesn't let up. People are stabbed with sickles, dinosaur skeletons return to life to attack Matt and his ally, and the protagonist is subjected to strange spells and potions that keep him from discovering the true reason he has been brought to this remote town. This powerful struggle between good and evil is a real page-turner.-Lynn Evarts, Sauk Prairie High School, Prairie du Sac, WI Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Horowitz (the Alex Rider series) unveils a thoroughly creepy new tale with this first entry in the Gatekeepers series. The novel opens as 14-year-old Matt Freeman reluctantly helps an older friend break into a warehouse. A frequent truant (he has lived with his aunt since his parents were killed in a car accident), Matt's problems grow exponentially worse when he finds himself charged as an accessory to assault after his friend stabs a security guard during the failed burglary. Matt is offered a chance to participate in the LEAF Program (Liberty and Education Achieved Through Fostering), which sends troubled youths to rural settings where "there are fewer temptations." In the custody of severe, stern Mrs. Deverill, Matt must clean the pigsty among other chores. But his tasks pale compared to the gathering threat in the village of Lesser Malling. Though he tries to escape, Matt finds his attempts thwarted by unseen forces, and he soon realizes that his presence in Lesser Malling is no accident. Among Mrs. Deverill's belongings he makes a chilling discovery: "The photograph was black-and-white, taken with a telephoto lens.... With a sense of horror and sickness, he realized he was looking at a picture of himself. This was his parents' funeral. Six years ago." Sinister magic melds with modern technology, and Matt's few allies are killed off one by one. Horowitz's talent for building suspense is as strong as ever, and this unnatural tale, which descends into ancient evils, should attract a strong following. Ages 12-up. (June) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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