Watcher in the Shadows

The Watcher in The Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafon            262 pages

Irene’s family has moved to a new town following the death of her father.  Nearly a year after his death it seems their fortune has changed.  Her mother was offered a good position and it seems that she and her brother, Dorian, will be able to go back to school instead of looking for work to help support the family.  Once they arrive however, Irene becomes involved with Ismael, a young fisherman.  When his cousin, Hannah, is found murdered, Irene begins to wonder if there is any truth to the ghost stories she has heard in the village and whether her family might also be in danger.  This book didn’t hold my attention very well.  Despite the supernatural mystery going on, I didn’t find it that scary and my mind kept wandering while I was reading.  A teen reader might like it better than I did, but I probably won’t be recommending it very strongly to anyone.

Defy The Dark

Defy The Dark edited by Saundra Mitchell            466 pages

This is a collection of stories from various authors such as Sarah Rees Brennan, Rachel Hawkins, Malinda Lo, Jackson Pearce, and others.  All of the stories deal with the dark in some form or another.  Most of the stories have an element of horror or fear about them.  I really liked several of the stories.  A few didn’t appeal to me as much but overall I thought it was a pretty good collection.  One of my favorite stories, Almost Normal by Carrie Ryan, was about a group of high school teens who have snuck out for one last “Normal” night because a pack of zombies is reportedly on the way to town.  Unfortunately, the zombies appear earlier than expected and the teens are caught in an amusement park and don’t know how to escape.  Not all of them are quite so horror-oriented though, Now Bid Time Return by Saundra Mitchell seems like a ghost story but in the end is really more of a slightly supernatural love story.  I think that teens who like scary fiction would be drawn to this book more than other teens, but if a teen has liked books by any of the authors, they may like the whole compilation.