Constable & Toop

Sam isn’t your average boy. After all, what other eleven-year-old boy runs errands for ghosts that only he can see? Sam’s gift does not always seem like a gift to him. When ghosts make Sam run through London all day completing their unfinished business, it certainly feels like a curse. However, when ghosts start disappearing, this triggers a chain reaction, loosing a serial killer and a hellhound upon London. Sam must rise to the occasion and save both the ghostly world and the human world from a sinister menace.

While a ghost, a boy, and a murderer may seem like completely unrelated things, in the hands of a talented author, anything can be made to seem related. By that definition, Gareth P. Jones is certainly a talented author. He succeeds not only in making the above three things connect, he also succeeds in running three parallel plots, each with its own main character: Sam, Tanner, and Lapsewood. The book plots the adventures of these three simultaneously while carefully leading the characters towards a junction at the end of the book. Transitions from subplot to subplot are seamless, while remaining obvious, so as not to confuse readers. The combination of action and intrigue keeps readers motivated. I gave it five stars for good plot and laudable writing, but, because some of the murder scenes can be graphic, I would not suggest this book for readers under 12 years old.