The Watcher in the Shadows

April 22, 2013
In this exciting, if somewhat over-the-top Gothic thriller, originally published in 1995, 14-year-old Irene Sauvelle, her younger brother, and their widowed mother relocate from Paris to the coast of Normandy in 1937. Madame Sauvelle has been hired as housekeeper and secretary at Cravenmoore, the mansion of the kindly, but reclusive genius Lazarus Jann, one of the greatest toymakers in the world. Irene, to her delight, soon finds a boyfriend and kindred soul in Ismael, a handsome young fisherman, but in the wake of a brutal murder, Irene and Ismael discover that Jann is not what he seems and that mysterious dangers haunt both the mansion and the surrounding forest. Zafón’s pre-WWII French setting is nicely realized, and his romantic leads are entirely believable. Unfortunately, Jann—mad scientist and demon toymaker rolled into one—is too much, a character seemingly drawn straight out of Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann. There are plenty of thrills and chills, however, and this book should please readers who like to be scared, but aren’t looking for overtly graphic violence. Ages 12–up.

March 1, 2013
Originally published in Spain, this chilling book follows the mysterious events that take place in a sleepy French coastal village in 1937. After her father dies and his debts drive the family into a new life of poverty in Paris, 14-year-old Irene Sauvelle moves with her mother Simone and younger brother Dorian to Blue Bay. Simone becomes housekeeper at Cravenmoore, the grand, secluded mansion of retired toymaker Lazarus Jann and his bedridden wife. In exchange for her work, which includes overlooking Jann's strange proclivities and supervising the single cook/maid, a local teen named Hannah, the Sauvelles get to live in a picturesque cottage called Seaview. The talkative Hannah introduces Irene to village life and to her orphaned cousin Ismael. Back at Cravenmoore, the enigmatic Jann wows Dorian with his numerous mechanical toys and inventions. As romance ignites between Irene and Ismael, a brutal murder in the forest between Seaview and Cravenmoore quickens the pace and the pulse. Many of the standard tropes of the mystery genre abound (an off-bounds west wing, a sinister forest, a cruel mother, eerie newspaper clippings), yet Zafon has created an original tale that will keep readers turning pages. The romance and female protagonist may make the novel more appealing for females, but there are enough creepy elements to reach male readers. A genuine mystery with occasional horror elements. (Historical mystery/horror. 13-18)

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December 1, 2012
Grades 8-11 First published in Spain in 1995, this early work from Zafn hits all the gothic horror bases: creepy castles, foreboding caves, haunted lighthouses, murky woods, masked balls, and just about everything else you might hope for. Mostly, though, this is a cunning twist on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydewith a little bit of ventriloquist-dummy horror thrown in for good measure. Fourteen-year-old Irene's penniless mother has just won the jackpot: she's been hired to keep house at Cravenmoore, the estate of reclusive toymaker Lazarus Jann. He's a kindly eccentric, but the grinning automatons populating his castle carry an air of menace. Just as frightening is the personless shadow giving chase to Irene and her little brother. And what of the legend of the woman who drowned in the lagoon? Though there is probably one mystery too many here, Zafn cuts between his various characters with cinematic skill, and his habit of telling stories within the narrative is put to spine-tingling use, just as it was with The Midnight Palace (2011). Good, solid scares. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Zafn is still cruising off the might of the international best-sellers The Shadow of the Wind (2004) and The Angel's Game (2009). Anything he does for quite a while will garner a good deal of interest.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)