Buon lunedì, prodi seguaci!⛈️

Spero che abbiate passato bene Natale e Ceppino e che vi avviate a questa fine dell’anno con una buona disposizione d’animo: il tempo qua da me non aiuta il buonumore, ma è molto indicato per la continuazione di libri pieni di fantasmi. La mia lettura della serie Lockwood & Co. di Jonathan Stroud continua con The Hollow Boy.

Once again Sir Rupert Gale tapped his fingers on the stone. He  turned away from the edge and, in the same deftly casual movement, his rapier flicked up and jabbed straight out at Lockwood’s side. The action was so quick I didn’t fully comprehend it; nor the way Lockwood’s arm shot down to block the sword tip with his rapier guard. For a second, the blade was caught in it, trapped in the twisted fronds of metal; I could sense Sir Rupert’s exertion, Lockwood’s, too. It gave me a chance to see how close the sword had been to slicing cleanly beneath the ribs. It would have traveled into his lungs and pierced his heart. Then the young man sprang back, wresting the tip free. His eyes were bright, he balanced lightly on the tips of his toes. 

“Fast,” he said. “Well done.” 

“You, too.” Lockwood turned to face him, bending his wrist as if it pained him. “Of course, I never attack from behind.” 

“Oh, hardly behind, Mr. Lockwood. You had a fair chance, as you’ve just proved most admirably.” Sir Rupert ran a hand through his hair. “Well, our  mutual enemies have gone, as you say, but here we are—you and I alone together. Isn’t this a wonderful opportunity to settle our dispute?” 

“Hey,” I said. “In just what sense is he alone? I’m here too.” 

“Don’t worry, Luce,” Lockwood said. He flicked back the edge of his coat and lifted his rapier. “Well then, Sir Rupert? Come on.” 

“You can’t do this!” I cried. “There’ll be witnesses! The others will be here  in five minutes—” 

“Miss Carlyle,” Sir Rupert Gale said, “a few seconds is all I need.” 

Lockwood’s grin was flinty. “That was what I was going to say.” 

As a massive outbreak of supernatural Visitors baffles Scotland Yard and causes protests throughout London, Lockwood & Co. continue to demonstrate their effectiveness in exterminating spirits. Anthony Lockwood is dashing, George insightful, and Lucy dynamic, while the skull in the jar utters sardonic advice from the sidelines. There is a new spirit of openness in the team now that Lockwood has shared some of his childhood secrets, and Lucy is feeling more and more as if her true home is at Portland Row. It comes as a great shock, then, when Lockwood and George introduce her to an annoyingly perky and hyper-efficient new assistant, Holly Munro.
Meanwhile, there are reports of many new hauntings, including a house where bloody footprints are appearing, and a department store full of strange sounds and shadowy figures. But ghosts seem to be the least of Lockwood & Co.’s concerns when assassins attack during a carnival in the center of the city. Can the team get past their personal issues to save the day on all fronts, or will bad feelings attract yet more trouble?
Danger abounds, tensions escalate, and new loyalties form in this third delightfully terrifying adventure in the critically acclaimed Lockwood & Co. series.