The Creeps

May 19, 2014
The modest English town of Biddlecombe has largely recovered from the events of The Infernals and hesitantly welcomed a few friendly demons. The demon Mrs. Abernathy is being recoveredâone molecule at a timeâby a servant of the Great Malevolence, and a team of CERN scientists is studying how a sleepy town became the nexus for a great deal of trans-dimensional activity. Added to the mix are a performing troupe of ill-behaved little people, a washed-up boy band, and creatures of dark matter that are even worse than demons. The sweetness of protagonist Samuel Johnson's nature and his friendship with the demon Nurd, which were cornerstones of the previous two books, are obscured by the comic set pieces. Even Connolly's energetic storytelling and funny, capacious footnotes can't contain the bursting seams of his trilogy's finale.

October 15, 2013
Connolly (The Gates and The Infernals) roars back with a hilariously macabre conclusion to his Samuel Johnson series. Unfortunately, ever since the gates of Hell opened in a basement in the town of Biddlecombe, the place has never been the same. As per usual, all is not right in the topsy-turvy Biddlecombe universe and it remains up to young Samuel Johnson and his loyal dachshund, Boswell, to save the day. As the dynamic duo battle the forces of darkness, incarnated in the forms of various demons, in order to save the world from utter destruction and damnation, a lovesick Samuel also struggles with typical adolescent angst. Connolly proves once again that anything can happen when good battles evil, and the supernatural meets science.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)