A very well written little thriller! | The Figure in the Shadows (Lewis Barnavelt)

Not as Thrilling as its Predecessor, but Interesting Nonetheless. | The Figure in the Shadows (Lewis Barnavelt) | John Bellairs

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	• The Figure in the Shadows (Lewis Barnavelt) John Bellairs Puffin, 1993 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 26 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

2nd book in the 'Lewis Barnavelt' series

John Bellairs is best known as the author of sixteen gothic mystery novels for young adults comprising the Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon series. "The Figure in the Shadows" (1975) is the second book in the Lewis Barnavelt series and is preceded by "The House with a Clock in Its Walls" (1973).

So far from what I've read of this author, his characters tend to be elderly eccentrics, or ordinary children (no superkids, here). Lewis is resourceful, but with a child's fears and limitations. Most especially, he is afraid that his uncle Jonathan might send him off to reform school if he discovers that his nephew has been dabbling in magic.

Lewis is a newly orphaned, plump, pre-adolescent boy who wears "purple corduroy trousers, the kind that go `whip-whip' when you walk." He went to live with his Uncle Jonathan (who is also a wizard) in New Zebedee, Michigan after his parents were killed in an automobile accident. It is the late 1940s, and New Zebedee bears a strong resemblance to Marshall, Michigan, where the author was born--- The Cronin House and the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Hall still stand in Marshall, just as their counterparts do in New Zebedee.

Lewis wants desperately to believe that an old coin belonging to his Great-Grampa Barnavelt has magical powers. He and his best friend, Rose Rita sneak a book out of Uncle Jonathan's occult library and perform a ceremony to `activate' the coin or `magical amulet' as Lewis likes to think of it. He is being bullied at school by a nasty character who stole his new Sherlock Holmes hat, so Lewis starts to wear the old Civil War coin around his neck for protection. Finally he turns on the bully and beats him up, but soon learns that the coin has other, even darker powers.

Late one night, Lewis hears the mail slot on the front door clang. When he picks up the postcard addressed to him, a line of writing appears on the back: "Venio" which means "I come" in Latin.

Lewis picks up a crumpled piece of notebook paper on the sidewalk with the same Latin message, and soon he begins to see a shadowy figure in a long coat. One night as he is walking home from the library, Lewis spots the figure standing under a street lamp. He goes up to it and "the figure walked forward out of the circle of lamplight. Now it was standing before Lewis. Lewis smelled something. He smelled cold ashes. Cold wet ashes."

After he manages to escape, Lewis is so frightened that he asks his friend, Rose Rita to take the coin and throw it away. She wrestles the coin away from him, but instead of throwing it into the storm drain, she hides it.

The bully starts in on Lewis again, and he decides he'll do anything to get the coin back again, even steal it from Rose Rita.

By the time we figure out who the shadowy figure is and why it smells like wet ashes, this story has taken a very frightening turn. Lewis has disappeared and it is up to his Uncle Jonathan, his neighbor, Mrs. Zimmerman, and his friend, Rose Rita to rescue him from a particularly unpleasant fate.

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A very well written little thriller!

I bought this book for my 11 year old son and he has read it several times, he says he enjoyes this book more than the Harry Potter series and that is talking. The first time he read it he needed help with many of the words so I got to know the story pretty well, after lurking where he is not supposed to, Lewis Barnavelt awakens a terrifying demon who will take control over him and put his life in terrible danger. The books is extremely well written with a lot of details and very good characters, my son liked Rose Rita the best. I recommend this book to any parent who would like to reward their child with a good kid's thriller, my son Alex has it on his favorites list.

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Not as Thrilling as its Predecessor, but Interesting Nonetheless.

"The House With a Clock in Its Walls" has been my all-time favorite read since third grade, so i figured i might go beyond my little comfortable nest and try another book by Bellairs. This one claims to the the sequel to "Clock" but unfortunately fails to raise the stakes as high as those in "Clock" and suffers from the doldrums because of it. The exposition is so plain and the ending so pulled from the air and devoid of mystery that it can barely fill the shoes of its predecessor.
The writing at times seems stilted and awkward. I suppose I can describe the writing in this book as an experience similar to struggling to put on a twisted sweater: A bit of a struggle, but with moments of clarity- yes, there are really great images to be had in this book, but you have to rummage through the jumbled stuff first.

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Second in a Great Trilogy

The second book in John Bellairs trilogy, The Figure in the Shadows, delighted me as much as the first. This book follows our same characters as the first book: Lewis, his Uncle Jonathan, and Mrs. Zimmerman, and adds Lewis' new best friend Rose Rita.

Lewis is still quite the unpopular kid at school as he was in the first book. He's still chunky, still no good at sports, and is still quite clumsy. He's getting picked on quite a bit at school. To try to cheer him up, his Uncle Jonathan goes through an old chest with Lewis and they root through all kinds of old treasures. Among them is an old "lucky coin." Mrs. Zimmerman declares that the coin has no magical value, but Lewis is not convinced and decides to wear the coin aware his neck. Things start to look better for Lewis, but with things looking better, a not so friendly side of Lewis appears (can we say "my precious"). A figure in the shadows also appears as do some haunting messages.

The Figure in the Shadows is another delightfully creepy tale by John Bellairs and I'm so glad that chose to read this series! Next up is the Letter, The Witch, and the Ring...the final book in the trilogy.

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An interesting story, but the ending is confusing...

John Bellairs' "The Figure in the Shadows" is sequel to the now classic children's thriller, "The House with a Clock in its Walls," and I must say that perhaps, "The Figure in the Shadows" suffers mostly from being a sequel; Compared to the original book and following sequels, this one is rather disappointing in story and atmosphere. High points in this book are once again the great combination of everyday life with magic and sureal happenings as well as the introduction of a fantastic character, Rose Rita Pottinger, Lewis' new best friend who I found more likeable and interesting than our little hero.

Lewis Barnavelt does it again; After he is given Grandpa Barnavelt's 1859 lucky coin, he is sure that nothing bad can happen to him, unfortunately he won't feel completely safe until some sort of magic is involved so he decides to lurk around some forbidden books where he finds the formula to unleash the power of the coin, not knowing that that is not all that's been unleashed.
In this book, Lewis has to confront a big bully named Woody Mingo who is giving him a lot of trouble at his school and even in the streets. Lewis does not quickly realize that some uncontrolable power is surrounding him, his strength seems to have increased as well as his rage, it takes Rose Rita's intelligence to realize that the coin is making Lewis do things he doesn't want to do and that Lewis' life might be in danger. Unfortunately, being able to stand up to a bully and even fight him was always no more than a fantasy for Lewis, but now that power is within him, so giving up the coin would be a great sacrifice. Now Lewis has another problem, he's under the control of an unknown being and giving up the coin is against this soul's wishes, for this Lewis cannot get rid of the coin even if he wants to. Lewis begins receiving letters, all with just one message, "Venio" and eventually a visit from an evil spirit who's come back from the dead only for evil.

That's as far as I can extend the storyline of the book, for I've never been able to fully understand the ending myself. The book is easy to read, as it uses everyday language rather than big words, I would advise the reader to beware of a few moments of profanity use. The bottomline is that this book isn't quite as good as "The House with a Clock in its Walls" or "The Letter, the Witch and the Ring" and the ending is a bit hard to understand, still enjoyable, three stars out of five.

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John Bellairs, the name in Gothic mysteries for middle graders, wrote terrifying tales full of adventure, attitude, and alarm. For years, young readers have crept, crawled, and gone bump in the night with the unlikely heroes of these Gothic novels: Lewis Barnavelt, Johnny Dixon, and Anthony Monday. Now, the ten top-selling titles feature an updated cover look. Loyal fans and enticed newcomers will love the series even more with this haunting new look!

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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