Lockwood & Co.

Book 1: The Screaming Staircase
Book 2: The Whispering Skull
Book 3: The Hollow Boy
Book 4: The Creeping Shadow
Book 5: The Empty Grave

By: Jonathan Stroud

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I feel like Simon Cowell standing up to give my rare and reluctant standing ovation, but here it is:

Lockwood & Company is as great as Harry Potter.

Mike drop. I’m out.

And…

I’m back.

The five books of the Lockwood and Company series are fantastic!

It’s modern-day England, except for one thing: “the Problem.” Beginning around 50 years ago, ghosts inexplicably began to run rampant, disrupting lives of the living. These aren’t Casper and his friends. The more gruesome their death, the more ghostly powers they have. These ghosts are mean and nasty!

In this England, Agencies now exist to seek out and fight against the Problem. Only children are sensitive enough to detect these Ghosts, and the big agencies have all the resources–teaming up the children with adult supervisors. Small firms like Lockwood & Co have to make it on their own, without all the flashy gear and expensive high tech equipment. What does Lockwood & Co have that those big agencies don’t? They are brash. They have style. They have confidence.

And they have no adults.

It’s kids only at Lockwood & Co, where the brashness, style, and confidence cause as much harm as it does good. It does make for an awesomely fun story, though!

This is Venkman, Ray, and Egon meets Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and I loved it!

Instead of proton packs and energy streams, we get magnesium flares and salt bombs.

Instead of wands, we get swords.

There are mysteries to solve, ghosts to hunt, reputations to make, and a lot of fun to be had…

…as long as they don’t die in the process.

Book one starts on a high, and the pace doesn’t let up. Book five is explosive (literally!) and ties things up in that perfect way that leaves you satisfied on one hand, but wishing for another five books on the other.

Read these with the light on, they’re legit scary. Other than that, Lockwood and Company should be required reading for everyone. It’s brilliant!

Get your copy here

Happy Reading!