Starred Review ALA Booklist (Wed May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

Starred Review The second book in the Inquisitor's Apprentice series picks up where the first left off. And where's that? New York City stly the Lower East Side the turn of the last century. Ah, but this New York is overflowing with magic. Spells are cast, kabbalists reign, and dybbuks roam. Thirteen-year-old Sacha lives in a tenement with his parents; his rabbi grandfather, a mage of some repute; and his sister Bekah, a seamstress at the Pentacle Shirtwaist Factory, owned by the treacherous J. P. Morgaunt. Sacha may be only a young teen, but he is apprenticed to Inspector Wolf of the Inquisitor's unit of the NYPD ose tasked with investigating magical crime. The rather convoluted plot involves the murder of the Klezmer King (fried in his electric tuxedo) and a strike at the shirtwaist factory. Oh, and the dybbuk Sacha set free last time out reappears with dire consequences. But although this is full of story, what captivates is the world that Moriarty has created, one where magic is woven into its very fabric. That its many practitioners all have their own ways of casting spells is part of what makes these characters so memorable. But from crime lords to rebbes, it is their own particular wisdom that deepens the nonstop action. A touch of Chabon, a hiss of steampunk, and a blast of originality.

Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

The magic is darker in this intense sequel to The Inquisitor's Apprentice (2011). In a richly imagined alternate version of New York City at the turn of the 20th century, Sacha continues his on-the-job training in the police department's Inquisitor division amid murder, abduction and terrifying encounters with evil beings both real and magical. J.P. Morgaunt mercilessly wields his magical power over newspapers, transportation, manufacturing and just about everything else, including a soul-stealing machine with which he has loosed Sacha's doppelganger, a dybbuk that is constantly growing stronger. An impending strike at the Pentacle Shirtwaist Factory is the catalyst for Morgaunt's machinations, which encompass the workers' union, the crime syndicate Magic, Inc., martial arts and Kabbalists. When Sacha's family is drawn into this morass, he must make impossible choices between guarding their safety and working with Inspector Wolf, Lily and Peyton, all of whom have become dear to him. Moriarity again manages to capture the great distance between rich and poor, the struggle of immigrants to cope with bigotry and poverty, and the rapidly growing and changing world of the real New York City, while staying true to Sacha's mystical city. Rich language, colorful syntax, vivid description and a brilliant cast of characters beckon readers right into both the adventure and the heartfelt emotional landscape. Exciting, action-packed and absolutely marvelous. (Fantasy. 10 & up)

Horn Book

Moriarty (The Inquisitor's Apprentice) returns to his alternate early-twentieth-century New York, where magic and traditional Judaism are the major forces. In solving the murder of the Klezmer King, Sacha once again faces dark magic and must decide whether to defy his upbringing and use his own magical gifts. Occasional line drawings enhance the novel's evocation of setting, which is its greatest strength.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

The magic is darker in this intense sequel to The Inquisitor's Apprentice (2011). In a richly imagined alternate version of New York City at the turn of the 20th century, Sacha continues his on-the-job training in the police department's Inquisitor division amid murder, abduction and terrifying encounters with evil beings both real and magical. J.P. Morgaunt mercilessly wields his magical power over newspapers, transportation, manufacturing and just about everything else, including a soul-stealing machine with which he has loosed Sacha's doppelganger, a dybbuk that is constantly growing stronger. An impending strike at the Pentacle Shirtwaist Factory is the catalyst for Morgaunt's machinations, which encompass the workers' union, the crime syndicate Magic, Inc., martial arts and Kabbalists. When Sacha's family is drawn into this morass, he must make impossible choices between guarding their safety and working with Inspector Wolf, Lily and Peyton, all of whom have become dear to him. Moriarity again manages to capture the great distance between rich and poor, the struggle of immigrants to cope with bigotry and poverty, and the rapidly growing and changing world of the real New York City, while staying true to Sacha's mystical city. Rich language, colorful syntax, vivid description and a brilliant cast of characters beckon readers right into both the adventure and the heartfelt emotional landscape. Exciting, action-packed and absolutely marvelous. (Fantasy. 10 & up)

School Library Journal (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)

Gr 5-7 Imagine a turn-of-the-20th-century New York in which the Irish, Italian, and Jewish mob bosses are fighting to retain power, and the wealthy, in particular J. P. Morgaunt, are trying to rule the city with magical power. The police inquisitors use magic to catch criminals, and Morgaunt has used it to take a soul to create an evil twin, a dybbuk, of Sacha Kessler, the 13-year-old boy from the Jewish tenements who has been chosen to be an inquisitor's apprentice. The story picks up shortly after The Inquisitor's Apprentice (Houghton Harcourt, 2011) ended, with the dybbuk still causing turmoil and death. Inquisitor Wolff, Sacha's mentor, is investigating a murder of a famous klezmer player for which a boy is being framed at the same time that Sacha's sister and her fellow members of the IWW are going on strike at the Pentacle Shirtwaist Factory. Sacha is faced with the reality that his wealthy fellow apprentice Lily Astral might actually be his friend, that his mother has been drawn into Morgaunt's evil plan, and that his grandfather, the revered Rabbi Kessler, has sacrificed himself to Sacha's dybbuk. Faced with loss and heartache, Sacha must decide if he wants to learn to practice his gift for deep magic or remain faithful to his religion and the wishes of his grandfather. Moriarty has once again fashioned a complex mystery and adventure that is as twisted and unexpected as the stairways and rooms of the tenement buildings he so adeptly describes. Youngsters will want to read the first book before delving into this one. Many readers will be hoping for at least another volume to discover if good magic can overcome the evil seeping out of the ever-changing mansion of J.P. Morgaunt. Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA