The Phenomenals: A Tangle of Traitors
by F E Higgins
Deep in the wood bubbles the malevolent tar-pit, where criminals’ bodies are flung. The howling wraiths want to escape, and The Festival of the Lurids is the perfect time. Evil Kamptulicon releases one ghoul, but needs a living body to complete the transformation. Nobody is safe.
Four unlikely teenagers are Degringolade city’s only hope: Folly Harpelaine, a brave hunter; Vincent, the Pilfering Picklock; beautiful heiress Citrine Capodel; and Jonah, a kind, disfigured whale hunter. Together, can The Phenomenals force the Lurid to return to the tar-pit - and then escape the gallows?
This is a creepy and gripping tale of a murderous world where drifting stones and a fortune-teller’s cards reveals surprising truths, and nothing is quite as it seems. Unusual and imaginative, and full of intriguing characters, it will be especially enjoyed by confident readers.
Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
-
F E Higgins
F E Higgins was born in England but raised in Ireland. She now lives and writes in a house that dates back to the fifteenth century, in a small village in rural Kent. The Black Book of Secrets, her debut novel, was published in hardback in January 2007 with the paperback following in September 2007. It met a huge amount of critical acclaim including being the first Sunday Times Children's Book of the Week in 2007. Eion Colfer also heralded it as 'Wonderful. Anyone looking for the next big thing has come to the right place. Higgins has created a uniquely grim fantasy world that more than holds its own with Dickens or Peake. Her characters are brilliantly realised and the story grabs at the reader with hooked talons'.
The Bone Magician, her second novel for Macmillan Children's Books, was published in March 2008.
F E Higgins Photo: Macmillan
More like this
-
The Black Book of Secrets
Macmillan Children's booksWhen pickpocket Ludlow Fitch runs away from his evil parents,... -
The Lunatic's Curse
Macmillan Children's BooksRex Grammaticus investigates the mystery surrounding his father, who went...
Reading Age: 9+
Interest level: 10+
Send an e-card
