The Bone Snatcher

January 16, 2017
British author Salter makes a memorable debut with this eerie psychological adventure. The tale opens with Sophie Seacove, a 12-year-old in a country much like England, being spirited away from parents who may (or may not) have sold her into servitude while gripped by something called sea fever. Sophie finds herself on an island known as Catacomb Hill, the once-grand estate of an inventor-businessman and his family, in the midst of a monster-infested sea. The inventor’s wife and twin sons remain on the island, along with an elderly caretaker, Mr. Scree. Sophie’s new job as Bone Snatcher is to feed the monsters—keeping them from devouring the island—and to stay alive herself. The secrets of the island appeal to Sophie’s storyteller soul, and with the help of the inventor’s mysterious nephew, Cartwright, she aims to solve the mysteries hidden in the decrepit house’s walls. An accessible narrative style combines with a darkly detailed environment—morbid and creepy moments are in no short supply—to spark imaginations. Ages 10–14. Agent: Kirsty McLachlan, David Goodwin Associates.

December 1, 2016
A lonely orphan endures monsters and mayhem in a house on a haunted hill.After being sold to finance her parents' journey to the New World, Sophie, a plucky white English girl, finds herself delivered to Catacomb Hill, a mysterious island-mansion that is built atop catacombs and surrounded by a sea teeming with carnivorous monsters. Apprenticed to Scree, the mansion's caretaker, Sophie's task is to feed bones to the monsters, lest they rise up to devour the house and its inhabitants instead. She is also forced to serve the shrewish mistress of the manor, nicknamed Battleship, and her odious twin offspring, who reek of formaldehyde and dream of being famous actors. Though she's been told that there is no way out of bondage, Sophie is determined to escape by any means necessary. Salter's love of storytelling and fantasy is evident in this debut novel, and in Sophie, Salter creates a truly tenacious and indomitable female protagonist. The novel's wealth of material, which includes sea monsters, an eerie house seething with secrets, fantastic machines, a mysterious inventor, flying horses, and insufferable aristocrats, is at times overtaken by its sheer abundance. Overambitious worldbuilding keeps the rules that govern the story's monster-laden England from clear definition, and, as a consequence, key characters feel underdeveloped. An adventure-filled tale that intrigues despite its flaws.(Fantasy. 10-15)

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January 1, 2017

Gr 6-8-Sophie Seacove lives in a world where Sea Fever has made people terrified of the water and sea monsters fill the ocean. Her parents abandon her to a strange family who live on an island, Catacomb Hill, off the coast. Trapped in a rotting, mysterious house, Sophie learns from the house's caretaker how to keep the sea monsters at bay. At the same time, she tries to devise a way off the island. When the family's nephew arrives and offers her a chance to escape in exchange for a hidden invention of his uncle's, Sophie has to outwit both the crazy family and the mazelike house. Though Sophie has a clear goal (to get away from Catacomb Hill), her actions seem aimless, and the story wavers confusingly between quirky adventure and dark science fiction. She's harassed by the family's psychopathic twin sons, whose purpose, beyond serving as cruel, violent obstacles to her search, is unclear. Readers don't learn enough about Sophie's background to be invested in her efforts or to care about whether she succeeds. VERDICT The novel doesn't manage its many characters and plotlines in a cohesive, entertaining way, making it a low-priority purchase.-Marian McLeod, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, CT

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2017
Sophie's parents have sold her into bondage, to the owners of a decrepit mansion surrounded by deadly sea creatures; she is determined to escape before either the voracious monsters or the house's crazy residents do her in. The world-building is ambitious, and Salter's talent for storytelling shines through vividly drawn characters, plentiful action, and creepy gothic atmosphere.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)