Peter And The Shadow Thieves

Peter And The Shadow Thieves: A Penny Dreadful Review

            Starstuff is the source of legends. It is an extremely powerful substance, and it… changes those that it touches. The evil Others will do anything to get their hands on it. The Starcatchers attempt to return it to the ether, where it cannot be used to harm anyone. A young orphan called Peter came into contact with the stuff in a previous novel, and now he doesn’t age and he can fly. He lives happily on a tropical island and throws mangoes at pirates for fun. Then, something comes to the island looking for the starstuff. Something that can control peoples’ minds if it touches their shadows. Something that knows the starstuff is now with Peter’s friend Molly…

            Peter journeys to London to save his friend, testing his powers against a huge, cold city that doesn’t much care if a few people die in its streets. London is more dangerous than poor Peter could have guessed in Peter And The Shadow Thieves, by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.

            The only trouble with this book is that there is action taking place on the island Never Land as well as in London, and there’s little overlap in the groups of characters. Captain Hook, who was so formidable in the previous volume, is here diminished to a subplot. It is a little difficult to keep track of the events of the story, but there is still so much to love.

            As with the first book, Peter And The Shadow Thieves is illustrated in the expressive and impressive style of Greg Call. I very much enjoyed turning the page and finding a gorgeous interpretation of events. I also fell in love with his darling depiction of Tinker Bell.

            If you enjoyed Peter And The Starcatchers, you simply must read Peter And The Shadow Thieves. I award it four gears out of five. The canny reader will also pick out the clever cameo of a certain author named James, whose last name rhymes with ‘Perry.’

Your Correspondent From The Bookstore,

Penny J. Merriweather