Author: F.E Higgins
Series: Tales From the Sinister City (No. 4)
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books; Unabridged edition
Release Date: Book - 2 July 2010, AudioBook - 4 April 2013
ISBN13: 9780312566821
ASIN: B00C6SY6C2
Synopsis
The town of Opum Oppidulum is home to the freezing Lake Beluarum and its rumored monster. On an island at the center of the lake is an asylum; no one has ever escaped it. So how will Rex, whose father, Ambrose Grammaticus, has been imprisoned there under false pretenses, prove that Ambrose is not insane? And if Rex can free his father, will his evil stepmother drive them both to madness?
My Review
I read the 'Black Book of Secrets', Book 1 in this set years ago for a Book Day at work and really enjoyed it, as the other books have come out I have bought them but never actually got round to reading them, so when I was looking for something to listen to in my car- I always like to have an audiobook for when I'm driving round as the radio is so annoying most of the time, I saw this on the shelf and thought why not! It saves me time actually reading it as my TBR pile is so huge.
We follow the story of Rex who lives with his father and stepmother, that is until his father goes 'mad' and gets carted off to the asylum across the lake. But not everything is as it seems and when Rex discovers a dark and dangerous plan he must try to help his father and discover the truth of what really goes on in the asylum.
When this first started I wasn't convinced I would like it, but the person narrating the audiobook was doing a good job and had a nice voice so I decided to stick with it for a while and I slowly started to get into the story. Rex is quite willful and resourceful and I liked his character, he can also be a bit impatient. We also meet Hildred a young girl come to work at the asylum as the cooks assistant, she was my favourite character, she has a sort of witty sarcasm and honesty about her that you can't help but like, she's good for Rex too and keeps him in line.
This story is quite dark in places but more creepy than scary, I was mostly just intrigued to find out what would happen next. I did keep expecting there to be more though, not sure what but just more. More detail, more information, more story. It felt like we only ever really brushed the surface and the ending was a bit weak in my opinion, but I did enjoy it overall.
Although this is book 4, the stories don't have to be read in order, they are all set in the same area and sometimes cross mention characters but they don't actually follow on form one another as far as I can tell.
I am quite glad I listened to this in the end as some of the names he read out were very long and strange and I may have got a bit confused had I actually been reading it, and it added another dimension to the story, the narrator sets the scene more with his tone of voice and pauses.
I wouldn't ever re-read it but I am glad I heard it.
My Rating
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