Department Nineteen

Gr 9 Up—Jaime Carpenter is a sulky, antisocial teen. Having moved several times in the past two years, he is the perpetual new kid and constant target of bullies. But what does he expect after his father is gunned down by the authorities for aiding terrorists? Now more sins of the father are being visited on the son. Jaime is attacked and his mother is kidnapped by a being of unbelievable power. The teen is only spared his mother's fate when Frankenstein's monster appears on the scene wielding strange weapons. It whisks Jaime away to a hidden government installation occupied by Department Nineteen, or Blacklight, the most secret of secret agencies. He soon discovers that vampires, like Frankenstein's monster, are real and are an actual threat to Britain and the rest of the world. He is told that Stoker's Dracula and Shelley's Frankenstein are accurate recordings of historical events. He also learns that his father was a slayer of vampires and other dangerous creatures. The director of Blacklight reluctantly agrees to let Jaime and Frankenstein search for Mrs. Carpenter with the help of a captured teen vampire to whom Jaime is unnervingly attracted. There is plenty of action and gore to hook even reluctant readers despite the 500-plus pages. The author skillfully blends history, classical fiction, and teen fantasy into a unique novel. There is some weak dialogue with characters abruptly switching emotional gears, but the plot more than makes up for it. Fans of Darren Shan and Marcus Sedgwick will eat this up.—Anthony C. Doyle, Livingston High School, CA