Jackaby

I came down with a terrible cold and just didn’t feel up to the mental challenge of finishing the nonfiction book I was reading. So I set it aside for a while and my mom came to my rescue with this awesome book. It’s the first book by R. William Ritter and I am so excited that a sequel will be coming out later this year! I’m going to be the first in line to buy it.

The narrator is a young girl (Abigail Rook) who ran away from her well-to-do home in England to go on an archeological dig, just like her father. Only it turned out to be a lot of hard work instead of fun, and they didn’t find anything so they closed up shop. Abigail tried to book passage back home, only to find the merchant ship she would be boarding wasn’t going to England at all: it was going to America. Rather than admit she was wrong and face her parents after having stolen her tuition money, she decides not to give up on her adventure and continues on to America. I already like this girl.

I actually had a hard time believing this book was written by a man. He wrote so convincingly from the female perspective. He even got the style of clothing for the time period (1892) right. She’s no superwoman, but she’s not helpless either. She’s plucky and stubborn and I want to be BFFs with her. She’s frustrated by men’s assumptions of “the weaker sex” but she’s not above using those assumptions to her advantage if the occasion calls for it.

Enough about the narrator. Who’s Jackaby?

Jackaby is a bit like Sherlock Holmes, but … weirder. Like Holmes, he is dedicated to science and believes only what he can detect with his senses. He also solves mysteries by picking up on tiny clues that other people miss. Unlike Holmes, Jackaby can literally see things others can’t: like sprites and trolls. In the world Ritter has created, supernatural creatures are all around us, but only Jackaby can see them – or at least see them for what they really are.

Like Holmes, Jackaby consults with the local police force to solve mysteries. The latest involves a series of murders in which people have had their chests brutally ripped open, but most of the blood has been mysteriously removed. If you’re thinking vampire, you’re not entirely wrong, but you’re not entirely right either. Ritter does an excellent job of creating his own supernatural world by putting a twist on ancient folklore, while also just making some things up. It means your guesses as to what’s going on are never quite right, although they can come close.

The whole book is full of compelling characters, from Jackaby, to his ghostly roommate, to the exasperated police officer who can’t stand Jackaby but has to admit he’s useful. I love each and every one of them and I want to read more about them!

What about you guys? What sorts of things do you like to read when you’re sick? Let me know in the comments!