Ms McGuire brings back Nancy.  I’m wondering if she’s a favorite since McGuire is giving her another story.

Nancy has been back in the Halls of the Dead for years now; happy and content years.  She has become quite skilled and is well-regarded.  Her skill is what saved her from the carnage.  The dead, who have always had a place in the Halls as they waited for their fate, are now attacking the Living Statues.  And Nancy has had to silently watch as her friends are slaughtered in front of her. At length, the Lord and Lady of the Halls have to concede they have no idea what is happening or how to stop it.  Nancy begs the chance to return to her School and enlist the help of her friends and the Lord and Lady have no choice but to give her a door.

Many of her friends are still at Miss West’s school:  Christopher, Kade, and Sumi.  And Miss West doesn’t argue when it’s apparent they are to be off on another quest.  The surprise is that Talia insists on coming, as well.  Christopher and his flute that plays to the dead will be Nancy’s shield, Sumi insists on wielding a sword plus the fact that she was once one of the dead and they might listen to her, and Kade comes to control Sumi because someone has to. Talia has decided that, historically, people who go on quests have a better chance of finding their door and she brings a multitude of skills to the group – she can spin anything from her cocoons, see in the dark and talk to moths.  All of their skills will be needed if any of them are to survive what is to come.

They discover that there is one particularly malevolent spirit that seems to be responsible for agitating the other ghosts to kill and consume the living.  And it was as much a shock to this reader as it was to the group to learn they actually knew this particular ghost.  But stopping this particular ghost will take all of their strength, cooperation and intelligence; and that might not be enough.

This series continues to amaze me; not just for how she plots the story but how well it stands without all the dialogue and scenes a longer story requires.  It is true that to appreciate the characters and their history, both alone and with their friends, one really needs to have read the earlier books.  McGuire wastes few words bringing the reader up-to-speed; that’s on the reader.

The concept itself still sort of boggles me – children who are born in the wrong world might be given an opportunity to go through a door into a world more suited for them.  But, and here’s the catch, they have to be ever so sure.  If they lose that sureness, they might find a door to return them to their birthworld; but finding a door back once they decide they really want that new world….well, that’s less of a certainty.  And it’s not always clear to the reader just what the outcome will be.  Nor is it clear just how sure one has to be; the doors do seem a bit arbitrary at times.  The more detail that McGuire provides with each new book, the more questions I have; but I long for that detail.  ~~ Catherine Book

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