Note: there are different covers, all of them awesome, but for the sake of space I put the one from my copy of the book here
Book stats (from Amazon:)Amazon rating: 4.7/5 for hardcover, 5/5 for paperback
Goodreads rating: 4.2/5
Summary (from Amazon):
A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren't exactly friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see-and eradicate-these supernatural foes. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business.
In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. Will Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall's legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day?
Readers who enjoyed the action, suspense, and humor in Jonathan Stroud's internationally best-selling Bartimaeus books will be delighted to find the same ingredients, combined with deliciously creepy scares, in his thrilling and chilling Lockwood & Co. series.
I chanced upon this book one day and picked it up, thinking it looked interesting. It was more than interesting, to tell the truth. Honestly, I fell in love with the world and its characters. From the hilarious humour to the unique ghosts, it was an overall amazing book.
This book is classified as Young Adult. It is written in first-person, from the perspective of Lucy Carlyle, a 15-year-old girl and former Agent. Without going into too many details and spoiling the book, Lucy didn't have a very good end to her former job as an Agent, and has a bit of trouble learning to trust herself and her instincts again. Lucy is quite unlike many female protagonists in current YA novels. She doesn't concern herself much with romance and the like (although I think I speak for more than a few fans in saying that Lucy and Lockwood would be a perfect couple. Seriously.) There's a few little hints of a potential relationship between the two, but we'll just have to wait and see I suppose.
Honestly, this was one of the freshest takes on a ghost-hunter novel that I've ever seen. It's a ghost story at its heart, yes, and it has the right amount of spookiness and tension for that. But it's also a mystery - both the mystery of how one of the ghosts that is dealt with in the novel ended up dead, and also a good few other mysteries. What happened in Combe Carey Hall? And what is in that private room next to Lockwood's bedroom? This book comes with a glossary of different types of ghosts (they're organized into three categories: mostly-harmless Type Ones, dangerous Type Twos, and perhaps non-existent Type Threes, rumoured to communicate with those who have a strong Talent for Listening), but within those three they're categorized into smaller types, such as Shades, Lurkers, Phantoms, and more. I could honestly go on and on about the intricacies of the world Stroud created in these books, from the similarities and differences to our modern world, to all the different ghost hunting equipment the agents use, to Lockwood & Co.'s rivalry with the other, larger agencies in London. Of course, if I do that, this review will be about 20 pages long and it's only a matter of time before I slip up and spoil something. So I'll move on.
My absolute favourite part of this novel, although I do love the ghosts and the tension of the conflicts with both ghosts and outside forces, is the relationships between the three main characters: Lucy Carlyle, Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic teenage owner of the agency, and George Cubbins, the portly, studious, yet sometimes insufferable, researcher. The interactions and dialogue between these three is hilarious at times, but also heartbreakingly sincere at other times. I won't go into too much detail, to avoid spoilers, but you can tell that as much as these characters love to get under each other's skin, they really do care about each other.
Oh, and the best part? This is going to be a series. No word yet on book three, but book two (Lockwood & Co.: The Whispering Skull) is already out, and it ends on quite a bit of a cliffhanger so I think we can look forward to a third book in this wonderful series!
Overall, a great book for anyone who likes ghost stories. 5/5 stars!
Your review has peaked my interest. Now I have to read these books. Thanks for spotlighting without spoiling.
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