Monday, February 16, 2015

The Madness Underneath (Shades of London #2) by Maureen Johnson



Publication: February 26, 2013
Publisher: Speak / Penguin Group
Source: Bought/Own
After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Deveaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance to get back to her friends. But Rory's brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she's become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades--the city's secret ghost-fighting police--are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it's too late.

In this follow-up to the Edgar Award-nominated THE NAME OF THE STAR, Maureen Johnson adds another layer of spectacularly gruesome details to the streets of London that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

So Rory is back at home with her parents, trying to come to terms with what happened to her with the whole Ripper thing. But that’s not going so well for her at the moment. Because of the contract she signed, she can’t discuss what happened to her. Though it’s likely they wouldn’t believe her if she did tell them anyways, but still.  One day when she is out around town, she spots a ghost and tries to talk to him, but ends up making him disappear when she touches him...sending him into oblivion...She has become a terminus.

Stephen ends up discovering what she can do, and he pulls strings to get her to come back to boarding school. Once there, Rory begins investigating a string of murders that she believes to be connected, which leads her to some unusual situations and suspicious characters.

Because I liked The Name of the Star so much, I was really hoping to love The Madness Underneath. Unfortunately I did not like it as much as the first book, but I did enjoy reading it. It felt like it took a really long time for the story to pick up and for things to happen. I did like the surprises that popped up throughout the story. The one thing I wasn’t so keen on? That ending. I don’t want to say what happened and spoil it for those who have not read it yet, but I really wish things would have turned out a little differently. That being said, I am curious to see how everything plays out in The Shadow Cabinet; the third book in the series.




RATING: 3 out of 5.



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2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed this book! Just realised there is a third one out now too.

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    1. Yeah, I think there will be a fourth one coming out next year too. I have the third one, but haven't read it yet. Hopefully I'll like it.

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