Dead Voices

Starred review from August 5, 2019
In a spooky sequel to Small Spaces, Arden alternates between the perspectives of friends Ollie, Coco, and Brian as they travel with Ollie’s father and Coco’s mother to a Vermont mountain cabin, where Ollie’s dad has won a stay. The three friends have been inseparable since autumn, when they encountered an alternate world populated by living scarecrows and governed by a terrifying figure called the Smiling Man, and they are eager to put the experience behind them. Soon, though, snowed in at the foreboding Mount Hemlock Resort, which once served as an orphanage, the friends find themselves trapped within a paranormal labyrinth haunted by the ghosts of Gretel, a child who died after becoming locked in a closet, and of the frightening woman who locked her there. With the assistance of a reporter investigating the resort’s hauntings, Ollie, Coco, and Brian set out to communicate with the restless spirits. Arden excels at creating an atmosphere of claustrophobic tension with memorably menacing details. Readers will again be invested in the ghoulish surprises in store for the resourceful, likably flawed protagonists. Ages 10–up.

Renee Dorian returns to narrate this sequel to SMALL SPACES. A ski vacation turns into a terrifying supernatural adventure for middle schoolers Coco, Brian, and Ollie. Dorian's youthful voice belies the sinister mood as the guests are snowed in without power and discover that the ski lodge is haunted. When a guest named Mr. Voland claims to be a ghost hunter, the kids think he can help communicate with the ghosts. Too late they discover that he is really the evil "smiling man" trying to trap them. Dorian brings the adventure to life, embodying Mr. Voland's cool, slick confidence and the kids' trembling fear. A satisfying audiobook for fans of SMALL SPACES and new listeners alike. S.C. � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine