The Screaming Staircase

July 1, 2013
In what has come to be called “the Problem,” the British Isles have become plagued with ghostly Visitors in this highly entertaining first book in Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. series. Since children and young teenagers are most able to sense the ghosts, psychically gifted youths are employed by agencies large and small, and use iron chains, magnesium flares, and salt bombs to contain and dispatch the Visitors. Narrator Lucy Carlyle has moved to London following a ghost-hunting mission gone very wrong, and her luck improves when she joins a small, independent outfit run by the dashing Anthony Lockwood and his studious and exasperating (to Lucy) partner, George Cubbins. Stroud (the Bartimaeus series) shows his customary flair for blending deadpan humor with thrilling action, and the fiery interplay among the three agents of Lockwood & Co. invigorates the story (along with no shortage of creepy moments). Stroud plays with ghost story conventions along the way, while laying intriguing groundwork that suggests that the Problem isn’t the only problem these young agents will face in books to come—the living can be dangerous, too. Ages 8–12.

January 27, 2014
Stroud’s first entry in his new Lockwood & Co. series begins with all manner of spirits and ghosts haunting London. To address what becomes known as “the Problem,” young Lucy Carlyle, Anthony Lockwood, and George Cubbins must rid England of its otherworldly visitors using their ability to perceive spirits. Stroud’s novel comes to life thanks to the narration of Raison. Her performance is reserved, but this proves a wise choice for such an outrageous story, with the narrator employing slight shifts in tone and style to create realistic and believable character voices. This straightforward approach makes the audio edition all the more immediate and thrilling. Ages 8–12. A Disney-Hyperion hardcover.