Feiwel and Friends - A fresh, original debut novel that Eoin Colfer has called "The Next Big Thing"
In The Black Book of Secrets, debut novelist F. E. Higgins has a created a very distinct, original setting and atmosphere-imagine David Copperfield in the world of Artemis Fowl. Already a bestseller in the UK, this mystery/adventure/thriller has a gripping plot, intriguing and thoroughly drawn characters, and a few secrets of its own that are revealed at the end of the story.
You can watch a short video with the author here
On the run from abusive parents who would do him harm for their own financial benefit, a boy named Ludlow Fitch arrives in a remote village in the dead of night. He is not the only stranger in town that night. Little does Ludlow know that the mysterious man he is watching from the shadows will become his new boss, offering him the safety and security of a home, good food, and a job-a job as an assistant to this man, a run-of-the-mill pawnbroker by day and a pawnbroker of secrets by night. Joe Zabbidou trades the townspeople's deepest, darkest secrets for cash, and Ludlow's new job is to transcribe these confessions in an ancient book: The Black Book of Secrets.
The people of Joe and Ludlow's new town have many secrets to sell, most of which involve the hated and feared local landlord, wealthy Jeremiah Ratchet. As Joe continues to buy the townspeople's secrets for good money, Ludlow longs to know more about his past experiences as a pawnbroker of secrets and his future intentions; and the people who have sold Joe their secrets begin to wonder anxiously what he will ask of them in return, now that he knows their deepest, darkest confessions and shames.
"Paraquels" (books that feature some of the same characters but that do not necessarily follow this one in chronological order) to The Black Book of Secrets are to come soon from Feiwel and Friends, beginning with The Bone Magician in Fall 2008.
"Anyone looking for the next big thing has come to the right place. Higgins has created a uniquely grim fantasy world that more than holds its own with Dickens or Peake. Her characters are brilliantly realized and the story grabs at the reader with hooked talons."
- Eoin Colfer, author of Artemis Fowl
For more information on the book, click here
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