Brief Synopsis
“The Creeping Shadow” is the fourth book in Jonathan Stroud’s “Lockwood & Co.” series. Having quit the company and struck out on her own, Lucy Carlyle (along with a talking skull) is finding the freelancing life to be frustrating. But when she gets an offer to work with her former colleagues, should she really take it? What trouble have they gotten themselves into this time?
Content Warnings: Violence (PG-13), Horror, Death
What Do I Think?
In my previous review for “The Hollow Boy,” I noted how the series was suddenly finding itself picking up in excitement, having a story with both personal and external stakes. “The Creeping Shadow” continues this trend, bringing with it the external stakes of a strange new type of ghost appearing in a remote English village and the personal stakes of Lucy struggling to understand her feelings for Lockwood.
As a whole, the story just works well. It moves quickly through fast-paced set pieces while also providing moments to slow down and think through the decisions and actions taking place. Lucy’s voice continues to grow and be a beacon of (albeit sarcastic) light, and the rest of the supporting cast does not disappoint. I said this before and I will say it again: the inclusion of the talking skull helps the story in leaps and bounds. Jonathan Stroud is at his best when writing goofy, sarcastic, and at-times-diabolical characters.
“The Creeping Shadow” also brings with it a sense of foreboding. Since the first book, the reader has been introduced to what is collectively known as The Problem, wherein ghosts are returning to the land of the living and causing a general bit of chaos everywhere they appear. It is never explicitly clear how The Problem began or whether there is even a plan to stop it, but in recent books it has become clear that there are some within the seedy undergrounds of society who have been experimenting with ghost Sources and doing, well…something, with them. This novel continues that trend, but what was previously a hidden background is pushed to the forefront. We’re given much more explicit information about The Problem and some of what those seedy underground folk are up to, and it brings with it some extra fascination. The end of the book, in particular, brings those conflicts to a head, and promises much more in the story to come.
In short, “The Creeping Shadow” does not disappoint, continuing its predecessor’s ambitious method of blending a number of story threads together in a way that is some parts creepy, some parts exciting, and all parts intriguing.
Jacob Ryckman 