Friday, January 21, 2022

Returning to the Embassy of the Dead


Embassy of the Dead: Hangman’s Crossing 
by Will Mabbitt; illus. by Taryn Knight 
240 pages; ages 8-12
Walker Books US, 2021

Jake, fresh off his adventure in book #1 of Embassy of the Dead, is trying to get back to his normal life. But, since he can see ghosts (not to mention has one hanging out in his house) he has been appointed as an “official Undoer”, someone who helps ghosts pass on. So Jake ignores the summons to the Embassy.

Until he can’t. There is a state-of-emergency and the Ambassador needs to swear in the newest Undoers so that the elder, elite Undoers can head off on a mission to save the dead-world. At the ceremony, each new Undoer is sworn in, receives an official ID card, a special box, and a name. “Wormling” is NOT the name Jake would have chosen.

After the ceremony Cora, former hockey player and now Jake’s ghostly assistant, wanders into a room. Jake sees a line of photos of a missing ghost – a test pilot from the 1920s. She was investigating a gang involved in the illegal trade of artifacts stolen from the afterworld, but no one has seen her for weeks.

Jake’s first assignment is to locate a career criminal haunting a snookers club in London. Jake’s ghost-handler is so recently dead that it’s his first case, too. What could possibly go wrong?



What I like about this book: 
  • This is the perfect book for today’s political climate. It is about followers of a corrupt leader, growing in power and working to overturn the rules of the Afterworld.
  • There is a Plague demon
  • A wardrobe turns out to be a portal to another world
  • There’s an out-of-body experience
  • And lots of Old Magic

Thanks for dropping by today. On Monday we'll be hanging out at Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers. It's over at Greg Pattridge's blog, Always in the Middle, so hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copy provided by the publisher.




7 comments:

  1. This sounds like a fun book. I like the idea of a mystery to solve, and Cora, Jake's ghostly assistant sounds interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I had heard about book one but didn't know it was a series. Sounds like something I would enjoy. Thanks for featuring on MMGM.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is really different share for you Sue. Until you mentioned it's current relevancy in our world, I wasn't sure about the ghosts. But now I'm intrigued. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds like this book has a lot fun elements :) Thanks for the review

    ReplyDelete
  5. The title gave me chills. But the books sounds pretty fun. Thanks for telling me about it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This sounds like such a fun story—and I love the cover! And I appreciate the parallel you mention with today's politics—it's fun to see stories like these that can pull real-world elements together with what sounds like an entertaining story. Thanks so much for the great review, Sue!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sounds like an interesting read! The cover is awesome too. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. :)
    ~Jess

    ReplyDelete