Necropolis (The Gatekeepers #4)

Scarlett Adams lives in London and goes to a private school.  Strange things occur around her, like she can predict the weather.  After her parents divorce, she continues to  live  in London with her housekeeper.  But when her father calls her to come to Hong Kong, she steps into a deadly trap.  Scarlett is the fifth Gatekeeper and the Old Ones want to keep her away from the other four.  But they too are determined to find Scarlett to defeat the Old Ones.  The race is on and Scarlett has become the most important person.

 "I never have time to read the books. I'm too busy looking after them."

I really enjoyed this book and the series so far as a whole.  The action is upped with every book (and so is the violence and horror so be aware).  This book didn't really add much more to the mythology of the Gatekeepers.  Most of that was given in Nightrise, but it did explore the fifth Gatekeeper, Scar, thoroughly and we finally get to see her power which is pretty impressive.  I liked Scarlett.  She was cool and very smart.  I did feel sorry for her since everyone seemed to blame her, but she didn't really do anything wrong.  There are some chapters about Matt and the other Gatekeepers which is good.  There are also some chapters from Matt's Diary which I didn't like that much.  The first one especially was just a recap of the other three books.  So conceivably you can pick up the series from this one.  But why would you want to? Anyway, those parts felt contrite and unnecessary.  Although, one part did provide a pretty good scene and I hoped it is explored in the next book.  I hope the next book explains a lot more about where the children came from and who they are exactly and about the dream world in particular.  I also hope it comes out soon.

Nightrise (The Gatekeepers #3)

Scott and Jamie are telepathic twins in a magic show.  One night, in a kidnapping attempt gone wrong, Scott is taken and Jamie sets out to find him.  But with the evil corporation, Nightrise, standing in his way it's going to take a lot for Jamie to rescue Scott. Luckily, he finds some help in a mother who has lost her son and in his dreams.

The third in the Gatekeepers series, Nightrise raises the adventure up way more than a notch.  This book focuses on twins, Jamie and Scott, and Matt doesn't show up in the story until the very last.  There is a lot more background on the Gatekeepers and Jamie has a very enlightening experience in the course of looking for his brother.  The mythology that Horowitz's creating is very intriguing and so very interesting.  I love which he is doing with the Gatekeepers themselves and look forward to the next book, Necropolis. In fact, I've already started it!

Evil Star (The Gatekeepers #2) (audio)

In an amazing turn of events, I didn't check any new books out from the library this week. Crazy, I know.

Spoiler if you haven't read the first one.

After his adventures in Lesser Malling and the discovery that he is one of five children who will stand against the Old Ones, evil creatures from long ago, Matt is living with Richard Cole. After a visit to the Nexus and the introduction of a secret diary with information on the Five and the Gates, Matt and Richard go to Peru. Ambushed, they are separated and Matt must find him and figure out the location of the second gate with the help of a new friend, Pedro who may be the person Matt needs to find.

Evil Star is the second in the Gatekeeper series after Raven's Gate. I switch from book to audio for this series for no particular reason. Simon Prebble is the narrator and he does a good job. He tries to vary the voices for the characters and does an okay job with that. He's British and I tend to listen to audio with British narrators for unknown reasons.

Anyway, it was a good book, a good second in a series. It certainly wasn't a filler, adding a lot of excitement and action. It pretty much gets started right away with Matt's visit to London and from then on was non-stop action. Horowitz is moving things right along and now I'm curious to what happens next. I'm wondering about the rest of the Five and their abilities. I liked the description of Peru and the background stuff. That was very interesting and gave me good visuals. So onto Nightrise, the next book in the series.

Raven's Gate (The Gatekeepers #1)

Matt has been a troubled boy ever since his parents died when he was eight. Now fourteen, Matt is living with his aunt and her boyfriend. When a guardsman is stabbed while Matt and his friend break into a warehouse, Matt is sent to live with Mrs. Deverill in the town of Lesser Malling. Strange and sinister things are happening and Matt is at the center of an evil plan. But he is chosen for something else too.

Honestly, I went into this book thinking that it was going to be abandoned. I don't know why. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I liked it. It was really good. Matt is so sad and mistreated and he acts out and, yes, deserves punishment but getting sent to Mrs. Deverill is too much. She is a little cliched as are all the town characters. The premise is a good one, boy is chosen to guard the world from evil and to find the other Gatekeepers. The information is a little lacking, but then this was obviously set up to be the first in a series. It's like a pilot for a TV show. You get just enough information to pull you back. I think I'm going to switch to the audio though for no real reason.