Perfect for fans of Libba Bray's The Diviners and Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices series, this spellbinding sequel to Something Strange and Deadly delivers a mix of supernatural forces and intense romance, set against the enchanting backdrop of nineteenth-century Paris.
With her brother dead and her mother insane, Eleanor Fitt is alone. Even the Spirit-Hunters—Joseph, Jie, and the handsome Daniel—have fled to Paris. So when Eleanor hears the vicious barking of hounds and sees haunting yellow eyes, she fears that the Dead, and the necromancer Marcus, are after her.
To escape, Eleanor boards a steamer bound for France. There she meets Oliver, a young man who claims to have known her brother. But Oliver harbors a dangerous secret involving necromancy and black magic that entices Eleanor beyond words. If she can resist him, she'll be fine. But when she arrives in Paris, she finds that the Dead have taken over, and there's a whole new evil lurking. And she is forced to make a deadly decision that will go against everything the Spirit-Hunters stand for.
In Paris, there's a price for this darkness strange and lovely, and it may have Eleanor paying with her life.
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Sara J. Mass
A dark, glittering world, full of unforgettable characters, swashbuckling action, and heart-stopping romance. Susan Dennard’s books now have a permanent place on my All-Time Favorites shelf!
Sarah J. Maas
A dark, glittering world, full of unforgettable characters, swashbuckling action, and heart-stopping romance. Susan Dennard’s books now have a permanent place on my All-Time Favorites shelf!
bookseller at Mysteries on Mainstreet Melissa
Oh. My. God. IN LOVE! This book takes the walking dead to a whole new level! This whole book keeps you on the edge of your seat… chewing your nails waiting to see what is going to happen next…This book is a MUST read.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
praise for Something Strange and Deadly: A wonderfully brisk pace sweeps readers into an intriguing mystery. Eleanor serves as a highly entertaining guide and readers will find themselves settling in among the undead just fine.
Melissa - Mysteries on Mainstreet
Oh. My. God. IN LOVE! This book takes the walking dead to a whole new level! This whole book keeps you on the edge of your seat… chewing your nails waiting to see what is going to happen next…This book is a MUST read.
Shelf Awareness
praise for SOMETHING STRANGE AND DEADLY: “From the first page, readers will be awakened to an 1876 Philadelphia replete with animated corpses, irresistible romance and a game of intrigue. Those who enjoy Cassandra Clare’s the Infernal Devices series will be spellbound by Dennard’s macabre and impressive debut.
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
praise for Something Strange and Deadly: A wonderfully brisk pace sweeps readers into an intriguing mystery. Eleanor serves as a highly entertaining guide and readers will find themselves settling in among the undead just fine.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
praise for Something Strange and Deadly: A wonderfully brisk pace sweeps readers into an intriguing mystery. Eleanor serves as a highly entertaining guide and readers will find themselves settling in among the undead just fine.
The Bulletin for the Center for Children's Books
praise for Something Strange and Deadly: A wonderfully brisk pace sweeps readers into an intriguing mystery. Eleanor serves as a highly entertaining guide and readers will find themselves settling in among the undead just fine.
Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
praise for Something Strange and Deadly: This debut novel is quite compelling and features a plot that moves at breakneck speed. The plot is full of action, betrayal, and romance.
VOYA - Sarah Flowers
In this sequel to Something Strange And Deadly (HarperCollins, 2012/Voya April 2012), Eleanor Fitt is still struggling with the death of her brother, Elijah, and the realization that he was a necromancer, as well as the loss of her own hand. When strange things start to happen, Eleanor resolves to leave Philadelphia to rejoin her Spirit-Hunter friends, who are now in Paris. On the way, she meets Oliver, her brother's demon, who begins to teach Eleanor how to use her own latent powers. Although she suspects that this is wrong, she finds it tantalizing and difficult to resist. When she meets her old friends in Paris, she finds herself hiding things from them, while they all try to discover what it was that Elijah had been doing. This book suffers somewhat from being the middle book in a trilogy—readers need to understand what went on in the first book, and many issues are left unresolved for the conclusion. Still, it is fast paced and entertaining. Eleanor, Jie, Joseph, Daniel, and Oliver are all interesting characters, and fans of the first book will want to follow up with their doings. Reviewer: Sarah Flowers
School Library Journal
11/01/2013
Gr 9 Up—In this zombie thriller set in 19th-century Paris, 17-year-old Eleanor Fitt is left behind in Philadelphia to take care of her mentally fragile mother while the three "Spirit-Hunters" she met in Something Strange and Deadly (HarperCollins, 2012) move on to their next job of protecting Paris from the reanimated dead. However, when hellhounds and the yellow eyes of a dangerous necromancer appear to her, Eleanor quickly boards a steamer to find the Spirit-Hunters, knowing she can't fight Marcus on her own. Along the way she meets a demon named Oliver and begins to discover the depths of her own power. Upon arriving in Paris, these experiences clash with the Spirit-Hunters' adamant stance that all magic is dark and corrupting. While they battle reanimated corpses, Eleanor must also battle within herself to either embrace or deny her burgeoning powers. Eleanor is a strong female protagonist forgoing corsets, fighting dark forces, and finding her own way in the world. At the same time, she battles insecurities about her looks, her family, and her crush. Her sassy dialogue will further endear her to teens. Dennard describes amputations, mutilations, and corpses with stomach-churning realism. In addition, she does a great job of reminding readers what happened in the first book without boring those who have read it recently. Darkness is enjoyable as a stand-alone, but will especially thrill fans of Something Strange and Deadly.—Sunnie Lovelace, Wallingford Public Library, CT
Kirkus Reviews
Still reeling from the zombie cataclysm that took her hand and left her necromancer brother dead and his body possessed (Something Strange and Deadly, 2012), Eleanor Fitt sets her sights on Paris, where the Spirit-Hunters who had helped her are now battling its Dead. Strange occurrences--the sound of howling dogs, yellow eyes glittering in the darkness and, most disturbingly, the on-again, off-again reappearance of her hand--and the knowledge that the evil spirit who took over Elijah's body is after the letters he sent to her hasten her departure from Philadelphia. On the boat, she meets Elijah's demon, Oliver, a charismatic, haunted young man who begins to teach her necromancy, which she finds intensely pleasurable--almost addictive. Unsurprisingly, her reunion with the necromancy-hating Spirit-Hunters is fraught, and it is further complicated by her ambivalent feelings toward Daniel, whom she fell hard for in Philadelphia. This outing lacks its predecessor's focus, sending Eleanor hither and thither across Paris after the Dead and clues to Elijah's necromantic research. A rotating cast of characters--Oliver, the various Spirit-Hunters, new French friends and acquaintances--keeps both Eleanor and readers busy, and plot transitions come thick, fast and often clunky. But pastry-loving Eleanor remains an appealing character, and Oliver is an intriguing new addition. Fans will likely give weaknesses the benefit of the doubt and look forward to the third volume; here's hoping it repays their faith. (Paranormal historical fiction. 12 & up)
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