The Shadow in the North
From AwardAnnals
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| Author(s) | Philip Pullman |
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| Subtitle | Book 2 of the Sally Lockhart Trilogy |
| Publisher | Listening Library (Audio) |
| Honors | |
| The year is 1878, and Sally Lockhart has started her own financial consulting business. When a client loses a fortune in the unexpected collapse of a British shipping firm, Sally is determined to find out why. But as she comes closer to learning the identity of the firm’s elusive owner, she discovers that her questions are far from simple—and that the answers could cost her her life. “Fraud, fire, and bloody murder pursue Sally Lockhart in a fine sequel to The Ruby in the Smoke. Sally, now 22, is in business as a financial consultant. When she and her… | |
The year is 1878, and Sally Lockhart has started her own financial consulting business. When a client loses a fortune in the unexpected collapse of a British shipping firm, Sally is determined to find out why. But as she comes closer to learning the identity of the firm’s elusive owner, she discovers that her questions are far from simple—and that the answers could cost her her life.
“Fraud, fire, and bloody murder pursue Sally Lockhart in a fine sequel to The Ruby in the Smoke. Sally, now 22, is in business as a financial consultant. When she and her friends challenge corrupt financial interests, they find themselves in a web of intrigue that stretches from fetid slums of the poor to the corporate offices of the richest man in Europe. Sally’s detective work reveals the connections between corrupt power and broken lives. The action is fast, scenes are tight and dramatic, the language is vivid, and the wealth of minor characters are sharply individualized. An immensely entertaining thriller.” —(starred) Booklist. Reading level: 6.7.
Honors
Reviews
Amazon.com
Six years after solving the mysteries surrounding the death of her father (in The Ruby in the Smoke), Sally Lockhart has set up her own consulting business. But her photographer friend, Fred Garland, has a habit of drawing her into his private detective work owing to her skill in both finances and firearms. When one of Sally’s clients loses a large sum of money invested in a shipping firm and Fred encounters a conjurer on the lam from underworld thugs, the two begin to find links in these apparently disparate cases.
Exquisitely written and packed with a wonderfully diverse, often terrifying cast of characters and dark twists and turns of plot, the second installment of the Sally Lockhart trilogy—an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, a Booklist Editors’ Choice, and a nominee for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery—is entirely impossible to put down. Make sure book 3, The Tiger in the Well, is close at hand as you near the end of this one. (Ages 12 and older) —Emilie Coulter
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Any book by Philip Pullman, award-winning author of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, is guaranteed to be a corker and The Shadow in the North is no exception.
Set against the backdrop of a veiled and misty Victorian underworld, the story of Sally Lockhart—female entrepreneur and expert financial advisor—and her allies Jim and Fred, begins to unfold as news of the disappearance of the steamship Ingrid Linde reaches the ears of the intrepid trio.
As they investigate the loss, they are unwittingly drawn into a dark and sinister plot fuelled by the business dealings of the cruel and heartless Bellman. As their investigations continue, strange and supernatural forces intercede, leading them deeper into the menacing back streets of Victorian London and taking them on a journey into the very heart of true evil.
Few authors spin such a cracking yarn as Pullman and The Shadow of the North, a complex story with seemingly endless and breathless twists, turns and cliffhangers, is one of his best. An intelligent, explosive, superbly written yarn that will mesmerise older readers. (Ages 11 and over)—Susan Harrison
