Lord Loss

Lord Loss, book 1 in the Demonata series by Darren Shan (author of the popular Cirque Du Freak series), is a great read, but definitely not recommended for anyone with a weak stomach. The title of the first chapter…Rat Guts…makes this fact quite clear to the reader early on.

By the second chapter our unfortunate teenaged protagonist (Grubbs Grady) arrives home to find his father hanging upside down and headless from the ceiling, his sister split in two, and his mother being eaten by a dog-like creature with the head of a crocodile! Before Grubbs can even begin to process the carnage before him, he is confronted by the horrific demon Lord Loss and his vile sidekicks Vein and Artery. After a very narrow escape from the demons, he is sent to a mental hospital to recuperate from his trauma.

Grubbs eventually leaves the hospital and goes to live with his eccentric Uncle Dervish in an ominous castle-like estate in the English countryside. There, Grubbs begins to uncover the mystery behind the murder of his family…a mystery involving werewolves, magic, and a deadly game of chess.

I enjoyed reading Lord Loss so much that I immediately checked out Demon Thief (Book 2). Slawter (Book 3) is due to be released in November 2006.

Darren Shan

So, I have a hard time reading series. I know, I know--most people love series and want to continue with the characters and all that. And bizarrely enough, I love manga series. But a novel series has to be really good for me to want to continue it. I think that's the reluctant reader in me. I'm just reluctant in a different way than other so-called "reluctant readers". So getting to the point, and yes, I have a point. Darren Shan's teen books (the Demonata series and the new book Zom-B) are exceptions for me. Pause now and re-read our posts on the first book in the Demonata series, Lord Loss.

You're back? Good! Shan's new series has the first book out now: Zom-B. Set in London, B watches on the news as reports of zombie outbreaks in Ireland hit. B laughs it because B's dad does. B's family follows his lead for everything--otherwise, you might get smacked around a bit. Following his lead means pretending to be a racist, but B struggles with the issue of when pretending becomes reality. Keeping focused on the day to day battles within the school and home, zombies are just a thing in the back of B's mind; that is until they invade the school. Then it becomes a fight for survival.

As I stated in my Goodreads review:
The ARC of book starts with a letter to the reader asking to please not give the twists away. I appreciated it. First, it prepared me to be shocked. Second, my anticipation grew as the ending got closer.


The novel starts off with a horrific bang. I'd put it on the level of Lord Loss in terms of gore. The prologue was so hardhitting and good zombie entertainment that I was disappointed that the middle section of the book was steeped in the horror of real life instead of zombies. But now I liked how Shan talked about racism and children being raised in a bigotry filled abusive life. It was uncomfortable in places and god knows you don't LIKE B the protagonist, but still it was well done in the endeavor. I wanted the action to get started though and Boy, when it got started; it really got started.

The only thing I will say about the twists is that they were great and shocking. I didn't see one coming at all. AT ALL. When it happened, I gasped and said "no way!" and promptly looked around since I read this at the car dealership waiting on the service department. When I finished the book, I also spoke aloud about wanting the next book NOW.

I can't wait to give this to my zombie lovin' teen who comes to the library. He'll love it. Kearsten--go pick it up. It's a great Shan horror novel--and it's got ZOMBIES!

Thanks to Victoria at Little Brown for my copy!!

Death and gore

So I'm reading death books for the popular paperbacks committee. Last night I finished reading Lord Loss by Darren Shan.

Greg posted about this book in September 2006, so go re-read his post now! Anyway, I have always felt that true horror books are sometimes missing in teen literature. The ones that seem to be coming out most are the supernatural romances instead scary stories.

I've known that Darren Shan's Demonata series was the exception to this, but I still never got around to reading them. Now I had the perfect excuse. The paperback copy has a quote from the SLJ review that says something aobut how this will gross out anyone. It was right! The perfect mixture of horror and gore. Starting with Grubbs prank on his older sister--he put rats guts on her towel while she was in the shower. He thought it was hilarious--no one else did. But the image that stayed with me is when he walked into his parents' bedroom to find them murdered by demons. His father was beheaded and blood draining from his body. His sister sawed in half and made into a puppet for the demons' amusement. Perfection.

But Shan doesn't stop there. His first person, present tense writing makes the story have more anticipation and excitement. Shan makes Grubbs into a realistic character when he breaksdown and is placed in a mental institution. His fear is tangible throughout the novel. And even at the end I still wanted to read more. So now, I think I'll be bringing them with me on my vacation this summer!