Stanly’s Ghost

The third and final book in the Bitter Sixteen trilogy concludes the adventures of reluctant Welsh superhero Stanly Bird. At the end of Ace of Spiders, we left Stanly in the strange otherworld populated by horrifying monsters that had been slipping through into normal reality. Stanly’s Ghost brings Stanly back to fight the evil Angel Group for the second time, but a lot’s changed while he’s been gone, and it looks like the baddies might not be the baddies anymore.

One of the strengths of this excellent teen series is Stanly’s rich friendship group. Mohamed refers to cult TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer frequently, and it’s evident that he knows the power of positioning a superhero within a supportive community, a la the Scooby Gang, to create a rounded story with believable characters that power the action along. Added to Mohamed’s (by now) trademark razor sharp dialogue and frame-by-frame action, this makes a trilogy with a huge amount of heart.