Read at your peril!
This magical tome possesses a sinister power
With magical books, travel to amazing places, a mysterious hidden library and an epic battle against evil, this fantasy thriller ticks a lot of boxes. There were things I didn’t love about it – in particular the level of brutal violence – but it’s brilliantly inventive and heart-pounding stuff.
Cassie works in a New
York book shop and leads a quiet life. One day, a regular customer dies while he’s sitting reading in the store. By his side, Cassie finds a mysterious old leather-bound book. Handwritten inside are the words “This is the Book of Doors. Hold it in your hand and any door is every door”, along with scribbled pictures of different doorways and a message to Cassie from the elderly customer saying that the book is for her.
Soon Cassie and her flatmate Izzy are beginning to discover what the strange little volume is capable of. With it in their hands, an ordinary doorway can lead them any place they choose to go. First it whisks them to Venice, then on a midnight tour of Manhattan on a snowy night. The friends are excited. What they don’t yet know is that the book can also open doors to the past. Or that it is one of a number of magical volumes that an underworld of hunters are desperate to get their hands on and a group of sinister collectors will stop at nothing to own. The two young women are in immense danger.
Fortunately, someone is on their side. Drummond Fox understands both the power of these special books, the trouble they can lead to and the dark cruelty of those who want them. Together they will battle to prevent his library falling into the wrong hands, and risk their lives in pursuit of a mysterious and destructive collector.
The Book of Doors is a whirlwind supernatural read, but also a very human story with tender, poignant moments. While for me the episodes of gory violence did detract from its magic and wonder, it’s still a hugely inventive, riveting adventure.