Barnaby Grimes – Curse of the Night Wolf by Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell, reviewed by Andreea Heriseanu
Curse of the Night Wolf is a faux Victorian adventure novel set in a city where “there are a thousand and one ways to meet your end”. It’s an exciting new story, darkly colourful and brimming with action, by the creators of The Edge Chronicles and the Far-Flung Adventures series.
Barnaby Grimes is a tick-tock lad – a delivery boy in a Dickensian city, full of grime, poverty and exploitation. Barnaby “highstacks” his way around the city, in search for commissions and mystery. Following the strange disappearance of his good friend Old Benjamin, Barnaby unwittingly gets caught in a nefarious plot involving the city’s poor and sickly members, mad science, curious potions, and fashion for high society. Why are people disappearing? Where did the huge wolf-like beast haunting the city’s rooftops come from? Who’s behind it all? Will the demand for the exquisite Westphalian trim ever subside?
The plot is easy to follow, the twists and turns, although not entirely unpredictable, are very enjoyable nonetheless. Curse of the Night Wolf is reminiscent of Roald Dahl’s often bizarre, macabre stories, enriched by Barnaby’s colourful descriptions of places and events. Each chapter ends with a hook, making the book very hard to put down, for young and more mature readers alike.
The black and white Victorian-style ink illustrations, accompanying the most striking scenes in each chapter, are a gorgeous complement to the text, making the quirky, caricatured characters and the city come to life.
Readers will not rest until the curious mystery at the heart of the story has been solved, with a very satisfying twist!
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