Ghosts of Shanghai: Book 1

Description

A powerful teen thriller with echoes of J G Ballard's Empire of the Sun and Miracles of Life ... Obsessed with martial arts and ghost stories, Ruby is part of a gang of Chinese and ex-pat children who hide out in ruined White Cloud Temple. But the world of Shanghai in the late 1920s is driven with danger: disease, crime, espionage and revolution are sweeping the streets. And since the death of her younger brother Thomas, Ruby is stalked by another anxiety and fear. Faced with a series of local hauntings, and armed with a lucky bookshop find - The Almanac of Distant Realms - Ruby forms the Shanghai Ghost Club to hunt down restless spirits. When best friend Faye is kidnapped by the Green Hand, Ruby must trust a mysterious stranger - and face her worst fears - in order to save her friends, and her own life. And in the ensuing fight she will catch a glimpse of the one spirit she has longed to see ... The secrets that Ruby's father and friends have kept from her are coming back to haunt them all.

Julian Sedgwick resolved to become a writer at the age of 12. He has written continuously since then - but got sidetracked along the way - and has subsequently worked as a painter, bookseller, researcher and advisor for film and TV, graphic artist and therapist. A lifelong interest in Asian culture led him to study Chinese and Philosophy at university and has shaped much of his working life. In his spare time he is a fire juggler and spends as much time as possible drawing. Recently he has been co-writing with his brother - the children's author, Marcus Sedgwick - working on a graphic novel, and various film projects. Julian lives in the Cambridgeshire Fens with his wife and two sons.

There are twists and turns throughout the plot and no one is quite what they seem * School Librarian * Ruby is one of the best young female characters I have read in ten years as a bookseller. * Kenilworth Books *