Barnaby, an errand boy, takes on a new client: a headmaster who collects stuffed birds. After delivering a rare specimen, Barnaby finds the school in a state of anarchy, under the control of a strange power. As the students commit wicked acts, Barnaby fights to solve the mystery. Striking black-and-white illustrations accompany the darkly gruesome tale.

Gr 5-8 "Cut out his beating heart-and give it to me" a voice commands Barnaby Grimes in the opening chapter of this roller-coaster ride of horror. The Grassington Hall School headmaster has asked Barnaby, a tick-tock lad who leaps across 19 th -century English rooftops to make and pick up deliveries, to fetch an exotic stuffed bird that will arrive in a crate by boat. Shortly thereafter, he learns that the students at the school have become violent, bloodthirsty, and intent on sacrifice. He finds himself in the middle of the melee and is finally able to track the trouble back to the birdthe Catincatapetlnamed after a Toltec demon god. In the end, he is able to restore order using special concentration powers that his friend Mei Ling has taught him. Foreshadowing livens up the pace for most of the story and will keep young readers guessing until the final twist. Riddell's line drawings are woven throughout, and the silhouettes at the end of each chapter spice up the text with occasional subtle humor and added layers of meaning -James K. Irwin, Sandy Library, UT

In this sequel to Curse of the Night Wolf (2008), Barnaby the tick-tock lad (messenger) resumes his adventures as a highstacker (traveler by rooftops rather than roads) in an unnamed city resembling Victorian London. His new friend, Mei Ling, teaches him a seemingly magical martial art, which comes in handy when he challenges evil Catincatapetl, the feared and revered god of "an ancient jungle civilization." Riddell's full-page ink drawings and small silhouettes add great visual appeal. The second book in the Barnaby Grimes series, this will please readers with a taste for bloodthirsty adventures and a tolerance for unlikely story lines.