This book has been a little hard for me to review, I overall liked the premise and many aspects of the story, but I also have some issues with it. Meddling Kids pays homage to many of the kid detective series of the past like Scooby Doo, Hardy Boys, The Famous Five. I really loved that aspect of the book, I enjoyed catching the comments and references. And the first 1/2 to 2/3 of the book was pretty well done, it was interesting and I felt invested in the characters and the story, but by the end it fell apart a bit for me. There was just too much going, too many bad guys, and the storyline a little all over the place, a lot of it felt unnecessary. it really could have been separated into different books that felt with each bad guy individually and I think that that may have worked better. The concept is solid but the execution left a lot to be desired. The ending is set up in a way that I expect this is going to be a series as there are still a few losses ends, and I hope that the author is better able to condense the story a bit for the next book. If you love Scooby Doo and nostalgic kid detective stories then I would give it a read. I would rate this about 3 to 3.5 stars.

The remaining members of the Blyton Summer Detective Club reunite after 13 years to finally resolve their final case from 1977. They knew then that the masked man they trapped was not the real horror they had hid from that night in the Deboen Mansion. So Andy gathered Keri from NYC along with Tim the dog and Nate from the Arkham Asylum and they drove across the country to confront their past in Blyton, Oregon. And it is a doozy of a case Unfortunately, they do not figure out they had been played for suckers until too late. They do their level best, enlisting old friends and enemies in their search and manage to solve the mystery. But then they have to figure out how to stop a multi-tentacled horror from taking over the town and trying for the world. Plenty of adventure and horror with a fun soundtrack running through the reader's head as the characters face their fears and manage to keep their heads mainly intact! Read and find out what grown-up meddling kids can really do!

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this!

The story is very interesting with lots of exciting, nostalgia-fueled concepts that I was very excited to see explored. However, the execution doesn't live up to the premise. The prose vacillates between being engaging and befuddling with the combination of made-up words which quickly lose their charm to become distracting over time and puzzling word choices that muddle more than elucidate. This was also the case with the injection of section of screenplay format and stage directions dropped without warning into the middle of standard prose storytelling. I tried to discern the significance of these interjections but haven't had any luck.

The pace of the story flags after a strong start and only seems to recover in the final act when the action picks up. Meddling Kids doesn't seem able to thread the needle between being satire and an homage, and consequently doesn't quite accomplish either successfully. Perhaps a story purporting to be both a Scooby Doo homage and an H.P. Lovecraft tribute is trying to accomplish a bit too much.

There were a number of troubling aspects to this story that took me right out of the reading--the use of "hermaphrodite" in a book meant to be published in 2017. Regardless of when the story is set, that word is offensive and unnecessary. The dream Kerri has at the start of the book was graphically described in a way entirely unlike anything else in the book. It left me uneasy as we are initially led to believe this was Andy's doing. I believe this was done for the shock factor and it could have been left out.

As for what worked: when it wasn't punching down, the humor was generally pretty funny (though sometimes the jokes failed to land). The characters were interesting enough and pretty well-drawn. The settings were impressively, if sometimes excessively, described. The action sequences were immersive and suspenseful. The overall premise was strong. I was happy to see an f/f relationship be established over the course of the novel. I'm all in favor of f/f relationship representation, so that was a pleasant surprise in this story. I was a big fan of friendship being given pride of place in Meddling Kids as I don't see nearly enough of that in contemporary and genre literature.

In summary, this story had a lot of impressive elements, but it would be a great deal more enjoyable with some revision for word choice, clarity, pacing, structure, and mechanics.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read Meddling Kids ahead of the book's publication.

I was so excited to read this book. I grew up watching shows like Scooby Do and Inspector Gadget. Loved the mystery and suspense of the hokey cartoon on Saturday morning. When I came across this book, it was almost like the story had finally continued. Its too bad I was board reading this story.

It started off pretty good. The characters were introduced, and their back stories were starting to emerge, but that's kind of where I got lost. It took way too long for the real mysteries to happen. I'm wondering if I was just expecting a mystery and got a contemporary fiction.

All together, it wasn't terrible. I'm just not a contemporary fiction kind of girl. Good concept thought.

This book is like a grown-up version of Scooby Doo. I truly don't know how I feel about this. On one hand I like it, but on the other hand it was a little blah for me. I'm pretty sure the characters were meant to unlikable, but I couldn't find one think I liked about them...well besides Nathan. Andy would be confessing her love for Kerri, either verbally or internally, during some serious moments and it was so annoying. It felt like Andy was desperate for Kerri to love her, she would deal with being used. Kerri is not a nice person at all, she's a user and it's so annoying.
The only character I liked was the darn dog and he really didn't say anything.
The only reason I would continue if there were more books is because of that ending, that's it.

UNfortunately, this was a DNF for me. I got about halfway through and gave up. I just didn't like the story

This was a very interesting premise for a book with the characters and the cover constantly reminding me of the cartoon show, Scooby Doo. I remember watching Scooby Doo on Saturday mornings growing up and immediately requested the book.

That being said I found this book very humorous on several fronts. The story was filled with comments from the dog (Tim is pretty hilarious, I know he would say for himself) as well as inanimate objects which made me crack a smile and at times, laugh out loud.

For the most part, this book was a pretty good read, however, after a while I kind of got over the premise and found the story grating. I did finish the book and like I said, for the most part I found it entertaining. I think it had a good premise, however it being sometimes hokey and very cheesy, but there is only so much cheese I can take.

Thanks to Doubleday Books and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

What if a group of kid detectives accidentally stumbled onto a mystery that was far deeper and darker than the standard “guy in a mask with an overelaborate scheme” to which they’ve become accustomed?

That’s the central question in Edgar Cantero’s “Meddling Kids,” a freewheeling, frightening and gloriously weird mashup of pop culture tropes and Lovecraftian horror that centers around a gang of young detectives and the long-ago case that has never stopped haunting their dreams.

In the mid-1970s, the quaint village of Blyton Hills – a former mining town nestled in Oregon’s Zoinx River Valley – played host to a cadre of young detectives. This group of fast friends – confident leader Peter, bookish genius Kerri, adventurous tomboy Andy and horror nerd Nate (along with a canine compatriot) – solved a number of mysteries as the Blyton Summer Detective Club. Their final case was the unmasking of the elusive Sleepy Lake Monster, who turned out to be yet another in a long line of get-rich-quickers taken down by the BSDC.

But that case was more than a mask – and deep down, they all know it.

Fast-forward 13 years to 1990. Kerri’s once-promising future has been derailed by bad memories and booze; she’s a New York bartender sharing a dingy studio apartment with her pet Weimaraner Tim (a direct descendent of the club’s original doggie sidekick). Andy has been in and out of trouble for years; she’s in it now, on the run from the law in at least two states. Nate is holed up in an asylum in Arkham, Massachusetts; he’s the only one who’s still in touch with Peter, which is unfortunate considering that Peter has been dead for some time now.

Forces beyond their understanding slowly bring the club back together; the only thing that they know for sure is that what happened that night at the Deboen Mansion involved far more than just another petty crook in a costume. There were true horrors at work that night – and those horrors might be returning.

The gang is all grown up, but in some ways, they never moved beyond that dark night in 1977. And if they can’t solve the mystery for real this time, the consequences could be dire – not just for them and for their friends, but for the whole town of Blyton and – just maybe – the world as we know it.

The elevator pitch for “Meddling Kids” is pretty simple – call it Scooby-Cthulhu and you’ve not only gotten the gist, but also the attention of anyone who might have been remotely interested in the book. While that’s great – and accurate – it’s also not the whole story.

What Cantero has done here is bring together two disparate narrative flavors in a surprising and wildly entertaining fashion. The kid detective trope is a resonant one; maybe you weren’t into the Scooby Gang, but you dug the Hardy Boys or some other youthful crime-solving characters. And any fan of Lovecraft or Robert Howard or any of the weird fiction writers who came after are going to be familiar with the tropes and traps of the Cthulhu Mythos. It’s a jarring, yet perfectly logical pairing that allows for some pretty incredible storytelling possibilities.

“Meddling Kids” could have been a gimmicky pastiche, a slapdash exercise in genre fusion. Instead, it is a thoughtful and well-constructed narrative that captures elements of horror and humor in just the right proportions. You’ve got Old Gods slumbering miles beneath the surface of the Earth and their foot soldiers ready to overwhelm an unexpected populace. But then you’ve also got occasional reminiscences about cases solved and criminals captured with schemes that seem even more outlandish than their cartoonish descriptions.

Not to mention the realistic treatment of the adult aftermath of a childhood spent solving mysteries, fighting crime and getting caught up in occult weirdness far too esoteric to process. There’s an emotional connection here that really elevates the story – seeing these people (and their remarkably thoroughly-characterized dog) strive desperately to deal with past events they barely understand and rebuild relationships abandoned to the darkness makes for one hell of a compelling narrative.

“Meddling Kids” is smart and scary, with chuckles and shudders aplenty. It’s the best kind of mashup – one that doesn’t use its premise as a crutch. Don’t get me wrong – the concept is awesome, but that’s not all there is. Cantero uses his brilliant central idea to spin out a story that proves worthy of such an outstanding origin.

It was a great plan, and he got away with it too – thanks to those meddling kids.

If you take the mystery team from your childhood, add a hefty dose of sarcasm and reality, and a good dose of Stephen King style horror, what do you get? Yup, the characters and story of this book! At times it can be hard to stay with the story, as you are laughing so hard at the references to your childhood heroines/heroes/TV shows, but if you stick with it, you have a fun book that is made for older teens (due to adult situations/dialogue), but perfectly suited for the parents too! It is made more fun for the adult reader thanks to the changing pace, and eventually a 'screen play script', that brings more irony and humor to the book. If you set aside what you thought you knew about those 'meddling kids', you'll find this quite a good look at what might have happened to them after all, when one of their cases wasn't someone in a costume!

Take four middle -school kids (and their trusty dog) with nothing to do for the summer in a sleepy, small town. Throw in a mystery, a mansion, and buried treasure, and you have all the makings of a Scooby-Doo cartoon. But,what if the kids felt like they actually had seen some evil, supernatural, ghoul (in addition to unmasking the bad guy)? What if their adventure left them traumatized? What kind of adult would these children become? Meddling Kids, by Edgar Cantero aims to answer that question. He creates an adventure that is scary, but populated with fun characters that the reader will want to follow.

What I Liked:

Andy:

Andy had the most mysterious past. How come she seems to know so much about weapons and fighting? Andy often is the tie-breaking vote when the trio makes decisions, making her the de-facto leader of the group. Even though she is confident about her skills, she is still unsure how to interact with the people she cares about, especially Kerri. She is the kind of person who go charging in to protect her friends.

Kerri:

Kerri seems the most damaged of the group. She was the one that was left alone in the dungeon when they were kids. She loves her friends, but has trouble letting go of her feelings of anger and abandonment. Kerri is smart, but can't seem to finish what she starts. Does she have a fear of failure, or success?

Nate:

We first see Nate in a Psych ward of a hospital. He has enormous guilt about what happened when the group "solved" the first mystery. Could he have unleashed an unspeakable evil that night? He self-loathing seem to manifest itself by Nate seeing (hearing) the ghost of Peter. Peter has a running commentary in Nate's head of all the mistakes Nate makes. So, of course, Nate cannot seem to make a decision or have any confidence in his abilities.

Peter:

At First, Peter was the golden boy, becoming a successful movie star. Until he suddenly is found dead, from an apparent suicide. Only Nate can see Peter, but that doesn't stop him from commenting on all the action in hilarious asides. Peter has/had a personality where he was the natural leader. But he is/was also kind of a jerk. Can Nate see past Peter's jabs and understand that each person in the group has their own strengths?

Tim:

The dog, Tim, is such a delightful character that any time he was commenting (in thoughts only) I was smiling. Tim is not like Scooby-Doo. He is loyal, smart, and feels like he is an important part of the group. And he is. I loved how the book showed the relationship between Tim and Kerri (his human companion).

What I Was Mixed About:

Backstory:
I also would have liked even more information about what did happen to each character in the ten year gap between the original adventure and now. There are a lot of hints as to what happened to each person, and if the author wanted to keep things vague, I understand. But maybe he could have at least gone in to more detail about how they were emotionally affected.

What I didn't Like:
Action Scenes:

I found the writing confusing when the action got particularly intense. There was just so much going on that it was hard to follow. Also, I felt the scenes went on too long. It's hard for the reader to maintain that "edge of your seat" feeling when the scenes go on and on.

Outstanding novel! Could not put it down. Truly one of a kind.

Scooby Doo meets H.P. Lovecraft? Who wouldn't want to dig in with a book being marketed this way? Certainly not me since that seemed quite the, um, interesting pairing.

Teen detectives (The Blyton Summer Detective Club) are well known for solving a particular case, and their last one at that, in Sleepy Lake. Somehow, something resonates horrifically with each of them - the invariadubitably (hey, if the author can make up words, so can I - it's fun to say - try it!) large pink elephant in the room! Thirteen unlucky years later, they reunite to go back and face this metaphorical elephant head on.

I am so torn with this novel. I want to love it. I really do. But I just... don't. What I liked about it: various ha ha moments with nods such as "Nancy Hardy, journalist", Arkham Asylum and Zoinx River. Cute, very cute. And going in with Scooby Doo being the main factor, it was easy to see how this was more humor and nostalgia than anything else. For that, I can appreciate it. However, what didn't work for me was the writing style. I felt it was all over the place. Set stage one, scene one... and then back to novel style... then screenplay... sometimes dispersed sporadically throughout a section written like a (dare I say) "normal" book. I also learned more about the proper way to destroy a man's testicles than I ever needed to, though I found myself smiling during this part and I'm not sure what that says about me as a person or if I'm just in a mood... *wink*. And that was just in the first 50 pages. Ultimately the story line was fine - I can totally appreciate what the author was trying to do and found my love (again) for the Scooby Gang, er... BSDC, that is. I think the writing style hurt my brain a bit though. I'm off to find the Mystery Machine and Shaggy for some Scooby Snacks.

Meddling Kids is about a teenage detective club reuniting as adults to go back and solve a mystery from their youth. In the prologue, one of the guys who was foiled by this teenage detective club (and their dog) is up for parole. The manner in which the parole board describes his apprehension involving "a high-speeding serving cart, two flights of stairs, and a fishing net" as well as his admission to staging a haunting in an old mansion and dressing up as a giant salamander was incredible. The prologue was so much fun, and it promised a Scooby Dooby great time!

The unfortunate thing about having a prologue is the excitement usually drops once the story gets underway, and the reader is left waiting for a promise to be fulfilled. That period of waiting is something I never enjoy, and when a book like Meddling Kids never delivers on that promise, the entire book can be very disappointing.

Even if the story itself had been a great one, the writing style in Meddling Kids was something I wouldn't have been able to overcome. The book kept popping in and out of screenplay format. I can't think of any valid reason to write that way so it came across as extremely lazy. It wasn't just random dialog being presented that way. There was also stage direction among the narrative.

I also had issue with the dialog itself. I don't mind a fucking f-bomb here or there, but 143 times in a 300 page book? Again, it all felt terribly lazy. There is no way I could have ever been invested enough in the story to have not been pulled right back out due to the writing style, not to mention all of the made up words like "triviaed" and "tragichuckled".

Meddling Kids is being marketed for fans of Scooby Doo, but it definitely wasn't for me. In the end, the only thing that worked for me was the first 10 pages.

This is a pretty specific niche book. It's a dark parody of both Lovecraft and teen sleuths such as the Scooby gang. The text is very dense, at one point I thought it was trying to mimic Lovecraft's style (of which I'm a huge fan) in a more modern approach, but really I think it was just too overwritten for my tastes. It was compelling, even though I felt like it dragged in several parts I had to see it through.

Very rarely do I rate books I don't finish, but in this case, having read 61%, I feel as if I've read enough to merit an opinion. My opinion is this book isn't for me.

I absolutely loved the premise-sort of a Scooby Doo/Cthulhu mash up-I mean, what could be more perfect for me? However, what I found to be funny and entertaining at first, soon turned into ennui. I found myself making excuses or reading short stories to avoid going back to this book.

I've seen a lot of reviews mentioning the author's inventions of certain words and while I found some of them to be fun, after a while it got too cute. "Tragichuckled" for instance. Another thing that bothered me were the very dense run on sentences. Some were so long my mind wandered more than once trying to read them. Reading for fun shouldn't be this much work.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I wish I could honestly say that I liked it.*

The year is 1990 and thirteen years have passed since the Blyton Summer Detective Club solved their greatest case, the mystery of the Sleepy Lake Monster. Things have never been the same for the kid detectives, as tragedy and brokenness has overtaken their lives. The smiling faces from 1977’s newspaper story in the Pennaquick Telegraph, have changed quite a bit over the years. Andrea “Andy” Rodriguez was and still is the tomboy of the group. She’s also on the run from the law after breaking out of prison. Kerri, known as the kid genius of the group, has become a bartender in New York, forgoing her dreams of becoming a biologist. Companion to Kerri, is Tim, the extremely upbeat great-grandson of the original Weimaraner who tagged along with the club. Nate, the horror know-it-all, has been in and out of mental institutions since the case ended and is currently in the middle of another stint. He still sees the final member of the detective club, Peter, the all American jock turned movie star. That’s sounds great, except the issues is, Peter died years ago from an overdose.

The man the detective club unmasked all those years ago, Wickley, has been released. Andy makes a point to go visit him on his first day free from prison. What she discovers is a weak, nervous old man, who could never have committed the terrifying events linked to the case they put to rest in 1977. Andy is determined to discover the true meaning behind those events and find the person who was responsible. After much convincing, the club reassembles and heads back to Blyton Hills. This mystery soon becomes much more than they were expecting. Instead of a guy in a mask, there are real monsters waiting for the detectives.

Cantero delivers an exhilarating ride to the reader, full of mystery, horror, friendship, and good old campy fun! Marketed as a mix of H.P. Lovecraft and Scooby Doo, the comparisons live up to the expectations. Despite loving all of the characters and the novel as a whole, I wasn’t able to give a 5 star rating because of some formatting issues that caused me hang ups while reading. Cantero fluctuates between a straight narrative and what could be compared to a screenplay format, complete with stage directions. The change in style in random throughout the novel and does not lend a benefit to the book, it instead is distracting and out of place. This is not for someone looking for an intense psychological thriller or horror book, but would be perfect for anyone looking for a fun and mysterious read! Fully of characters a reader can’t help but want to get to know better and a story that truly draws you in, I would gladly recommend MEDDLING KIDS!

Thank you to Doubleday Books, Edgar Cantero, and NetGalley for providing me a free digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Just wanted to take note of the writing. His style is gorgeous and so original. There are many examples but one that has stuck with me for a couple chapters- "...the sun cat-scratched at the shutters" and you know exactly what that looks like, despite having never heard it described quite that way before."

Review Scooby Cthulu, where are you? Well, right here, as a matter of fact. I'm recommending this to everybody because you all need to know what happens when the Scooby gang grows up and reopens a case from their teenage years that happens to involve Lovecraftian type monsters.

The writing was interesting. I loved the description of one of the characters hair as an almost sentient being. It was kind of wonderful. So were the dog and the penguin. There were moments when I was sure the author was unnecessarily employing a thesaurus, a couple fight scenes dragged on a bit and I would have liked an ending that balanced a bit differently, but this was a fun original story full of satire, witty dialogue, and cool characters. It was exactly what I wanted. I strongly recommend it to and anyone who likes the idea of the Scooby Squad vs Cthulhu. Fans of A. Lee Martinez and Joss Whedon shows will enjoy.

<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7TKy89X2MrYCu1X2/giphy.gif"/>

<i>”It was a guy in a costume, Nate. Same as always.”</i>

but what if, one time, it <i>wasn’t</i>?

this book is a pure romp, but in order to enjoy it, you need to be willing to get on board with cantero’s style and authorial choices, which can be jarring if you try to fight ‘em. it starts out in second-person before switching to the third-person POVs of a number of characters, and there are many instances of the author breaking the fourth wall, shifts to screenplay-format complete with stage directions, metafictional asides eliding certain conventional expectations like descriptions or filler-moments, the anthropomorphism of one character’s hair, unusual and specific similes: <i>Bruises sprawled throughout his slender chest and arms like industrial developments in nineteenth-century Britain.</i>, and neologisms of the most arresting kind:

-<i>An Endeish Nothing had erased the lake and the firs and the sky.</i>

-<i>The new hill two blocks away from there howlretched, for lack of a real word.</i>

me, i love that stuff, but it definitely pulls the reader out of the story, so some will balk.

apart from that dealbreaker-for-some, it’s a wonderfully overloaded buffet - sad and funny with elements of horror and adventure and many pop culture references, and like [book:The Supernatural Enhancements|18782854] proved, this guy writes some excellent dog-characters.

<img src="http://pbs.twimg.com/media/CTjfmKHWsAA6mVT.jpg:large"/>
<i>I rescued the penguin!</i>

i clicked ‘gimmie, netflix!’ on this because i loved [book:The Supernatural Enhancements|18782854], but i was wary of the title and synopsis, not only for the lovecraft mention (sorry, l-craft!), but also because i have no personal connection to scooby-doo*; it just wasn’t something i watched growing up, so i was relieved to discover this isn’t his scooby fanfic - there are some allusive echoes, but mostly just details that are commonly-known if you are a citizen of this world.

<img src="https://66.media.tumblr.com/c8a698081c66d9d8eb71dd608702db6b/tumblr_ngg4atO1kc1qft49to1_500.gif"/>

these characters all have different names and attributes, including those of race and breed - scooby is a weimaraner named tim and velma-andy is an unambiguously lesbian latina.

in this version of the scoobyverse, once upon a time, there were four teenagers: kerri and her cousin nate, peter, <s>andrea</s> andy, and kerri’s dog sean, who met every summer in the small mining town of blyton hills, oregon, where they were collectively known as the blyton summer detective club and became notorious, if not popular, for solving many cartoonish crimes perpetrated by bumbling masked men teen-thwarted in many cartoonishly-named ways like the “reverse werewolf trap,” involving fishing nets and serving carts and the like. their last investigation - the sleepy lake monster - took place in 1977, culminating in the unmasking of thomas x. wickley, who was sentenced to thirteen years in prison for the crimes of fraud, attempted burglary, kidnapping and child endangerment. but some weird shit went down during that case, unexplained loose ends were willfully ignored, and the fallout from the experience scattered the group into their separate damaged trajectories, never to reunite.

kerri was the brains of the group whose early promise withered and despite a biology degree, is bartending, fending off dive bar creeps and living in a crummy apartment with sean’s descendent tim, alcohol, and night terrors. andy wandered around, odd-jobbing and briefly joining the air force before getting herself into the kind of trouble you need to break out of jail to overcome, and she’s been nursing her long-held rage and an equally long-held infatuation with kerri for all these thirteen years. peter became a teenage film star heartthrob before suiciding on pills, and nate is a self-committed resident of arkham asylum, where he immerses himself in dark fantasy pulp novels and is visited by peter’s ghost on a regular basis.

andy decides enough is enough, and gets the band back together for a return to the much-diminished blyton hills and the creepy deboën mansion to get to the bottom of all the eeriness they never quite solved and discover the roots of why they’re all so broken.

so now, twenty-five, with ample life experience, drivers licenses, and no curfew, will they be able to put this case to rest once and for all?

<img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/ca2abe0e4edd29f0b2ed893a42e2d599/tumblr_nrcgd41yv81uylufgo1_500.gif"/>

spoiler alert - yes, but it is not going to be tidy at all.

<img src="https://media.tenor.com/images/e8353300d682d2769ddb52343e6d1bfa/tenor.gif"/>

but at least they’ve learned one thing from those earlier cases. never ever listen to peter’s ill-fated suggestions:

<img src="https://media.giphy.com/media/OUZDNRKZlhFOo/giphy.gif"/>

i had a great time with this one. it’s very tongue-in-cheek and it revives a lot of stock cartoon imagery like escaping via mining cart, but with much more intense foes and consequences.

<img src="https://i.makeagif.com/media/2-01-2014/B8Db9l.gif"/>

all manner of horrors are contained herein:

scary houses:

<img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/cecd2375ddd0a9789cee846125282aac/tumblr_nhett6e7DA1rke6o8o1_500.gif"/>

lake monsters:

<img src="http://68.media.tumblr.com/e766eecb86a697021629952357d71e30/tumblr_n34jryBI1H1s2wio8o1_500.gif"/>

other assorted monsters:

<img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/af0d27958c512cf1f7cbd969cae964b2/tumblr_n4lc5bGvUx1s2wio8o1_500.gif"/>

<img src="https://68.media.tumblr.com/2fbb3c3d3112072ab447600ce0c00b76/tumblr_omminkyfSA1s2wio8o1_500.gif"/>

boats (which are not a ‘horror,’ but i found a GIF, so ppbblltt):

<img src="https://31.media.tumblr.com/c132635d43eb84d724200cec074c1c94/tumblr_nd6ntb3XtR1s2wio8o1_500.gif"/>

arcane books:

<img src="http://imagesmtv-a.akamaihd.net/uri/mgid:file:http:shared:mtv.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/1-1491838341.gif?quality=.8&height=472&width=635"/>

and g-g-g-g-ghosts:

<img src="https://thebleedingeyes.files.wordpress.com/2016/05/giphy3.gif?w=863"/>

it's a satirical caper-filled ride, but there are some sobering bits in between all the mayhem when their own masks drop. just enough for flavor.

i have one little gripe in the category of erroneous facts, and i only mention it because this is like the third time i’ve come across it in recent reads, and this book makes the mistake several times, so for the record: there were zero witches burned in salem. hanged, yes, or smooshed between stones, but never burned. burning accused witches, like the metric system, is a european thing that never caught on in salem.

to offset that gripe, allow me to compliment the complementary covers of cantero’s books:

<img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1391307741l/18782854.jpg"/><img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1491342454l/32905343.jpg"/>

i really dig the similarities and contrasts both, and was never a fan of the paperback cover of s.e.:

<img src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494275496l/35098264.jpg"/>

and one more little thing - this made me smile:

<img src="http://i1131.photobucket.com/albums/m545/kettincat/flat%20stanley/flat%20stanley003/IMG_2370_zpsuo8qdgn8.jpg?t=1498864931"/>

because this book was selected as a discover title on my watch, back when i was a discover-reader, and me and greg both fought for its inclusion. we didn’t always win, and greg had some heavy losses after i got laid off and was no longer eligible for discovering and helping to second his excellent tastes, but that one was some good teamwork for sure.

this one is not as amazing, but it's a very solid second book.



* i didn’t even know its origin story, which greg kindly mansplained to me and which, when i looked into for the writing of this review, turned out to be <a href=“http://valleyadvocate.com/2015/03/18/jinkies/“>a friggin’ urban legend!</a> thanks, greg!