Lockwood & Co: The Creeping Shadow

Book 4

By: Jonathan Stroud

Narrated by: Emily Bevan

Lucy has left Lockwood & Co. A freelance operative, she is hiring herself out to other agencies – agencies that might value her ever-improving skills.

But now Lockwood needs her help.

Penelope Fittes, leader of the well-renowned Fittes Agency wants Lockwood & Co. – and only them – to locate and remove the ‘Source’ for the legendary Brixton Cannibal.

It’s a tough assignment. Made worse by the tensions between Lucy and the other agents – even the skull is treating her like a jilted lover!

What will it take to reunite the team? Black marketeers, an informant ghost, a Spirit Cape that transports the wearer, and mysteries involving their closest rivals may just do the trick.

But not all is at it seems. And it’s not long before a shocking revelation rocks Lockwood & Co. to its very core . . .

'Stroud is a genius' - Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series.

Critic reviews

like the Famous Five fused with HP Lovecraft [...] cosy and terrifying (Suzi Feay)

Stroud's nerve-shredding ghouls, laconic hilarity and intelligent character development make him a must for fiction aficionados with an iron nerve (Imogen Russell-Williams)

this spine-chilling adventure is the perfect ghostly read (Book Club)

Brilliant as ever

If you’re in the market to have your pants scared off this Halloween, this atmospheric tale, finely balanced between horror and humour, will definitely do the trick . . . There are few writers whose work I look forward to more. (Imogen Russell Williams)

Publication of a new Lockwood and Co. adventure must qualify as one of the literary events of the year. Jonathan Stroud not only writes like a dream, he creates some of the most inventive, most exciting storylines around. (Andrea Reece)

I enjoyed it so much, I hope there will be yet another book soon to follow in this fabulously told series.

I love this series so much, the characters are funny . . . the ghosts are awesome.

So Darn Good!

Sometimes, you find a series so great, you wonder why it isn't the next Harry Potter. Because truly, The Lockwood series has all the things that made Harry Potter great: intricate plot and worldbuilding, intriguing characters, a fascinating story, and excellent pacing/writing. For me, these books do to mild horror what Potter does for high fantasy - they create an immersive experience that you never want to end and an appeal for all ages.

Story: Lucy has left Lockwood to protect her former employer from himself. But living with the Skull has its own problems, even if she seems to be doing decently in her free-lance work. But she has stumbled upon corruption in the agencies and then the skull is stolen. Lucy will have to team up with Lockwood again - but he appears to be even more reckless than before.

Quite a bit of the large backstory was revealed in this book four - all clearly leading to the finale in the next and final book. The interactions of Lucy and the skull were so well written as to be laugh out loud funny and bone chilling at the same time. Even more interesting, we get a picture of what the skull originally looked like - and it is quite shocking. I am even more intrigued to find out the mystery behind the skull in the jar.

Of course, there are great interactions with Lucy and Lockwood and the Mulder and Ssully type of uncomfortable attraction. Lucy is great at denial and Lockwood is too preoccupied - but darn if it isn't so well written that you want to lock them into a room together. George and Holly are as distinct and well drawn as ever and the addition of Kipps makes the story all that more engaging. I'm glad that Stroud doesn't drop characters between books and instead seamlessly incorporates them back into the plot.

This is definitely one of my favorite reads/listens of the year. Extremely well written, exciting, genuinely scary at moments, and laugh out loud funny at others. Note: I listened to the Audible version and the narrator did an excellent job (though I wish the series kept the same narrator throughout).

Story

Why do you make this required I don’t want to write 15 works and won’t write a review in future as I can’t get out of the screen

Top book. Well written and crispy

Loved it as the rest of the series. Stroud has a catchy writing style. I love the skull. I don’t like as much the reader’s accent if I may say

Looove it!

The story is absolutely amazing! Not only for young adults, by the way! I’m in my late thirties and enjoying every word of it! Touching, fun and scary at times. I wish there were more of these books!

Can’t wait to hear the last book of the series.

I enjoyed the 4th book a lot. The narrator was not as good as in the previous ones but except giving the performance 5 stars, I only gave 4.