Embassy of the Dead: Hangman's Crossing

My son really enjoyed the first one, this one was equally enjoyed.

Great story to be shared with the whole family.

It’s almost a month after EMBASSY OF THE DEAD. 12-year-old Jake Green has been appointed an Undoer (someone who helps trapped ghosts to move onto the Afterworld) and Cora Sanderford (a ghost known as a Possessor whose spirit is contained in a silver trophy) is his assistant. But Jake isn’t overly excited by his new job - he remembers how dangerous his last adventure was and how close he came to passing over himself - so even though he received a postcard from the Embassy summoning him to its premises almost a month ago, he hasn’t turned up in the hope that they’ve forgotten about him.But the Embassy never forgets and they’ve got a problem on their hands: someone is bringing in artefacts from the Afterworld to the world of the living and one of their ghostly investigators has disappeared. Every Undoer must report to duty, which delights Cora who is convinced that her position as a Sanderford means she’s destined to save the world, but Jake is distinctly nervous. He has good reason to be. There are still people intent on destroying the Earthly Plane and it will be up to Jake and Cora (with a little help from Zorro, the ghost fox who likes to hang around with them) to save the world …The second in Will Mabbitt’s spooky fantasy series for readers aged 9+ (gorgeously illustrated by Chris Mould) is fast-paced, has a hero who remains easy to relate to and sets up an interesting scenario for the next book but it is fairly episodic and takes a while to get going while Cora has little to do and is two-dimensional. I enjoyed it but it teeters towards being formulaic and the female characters don’t pop like the male ones do.You don’t need to read the first book in order to follow this one as Mabbitt does a handy recap of events a number of times (too many times for me, but younger readers will probably appreciate it) and explains what an Undoer is and how his fantasy world works. I really like Jake - I think it’s very easy to relate to his lack of enthusiasm for putting himself in danger and his desire to lead a normal, boring life with his best friend Sab and I completely empathised with his decision to just ignore the summons from the Embassy, not least because of the disdain that they have shared for him so far.However, while I understood Cora’s frustration with Jake’s decision I wished that more had been made of this conflict between them and the fact that as she’s dead, she doesn’t have the same attitude to risk as Jake does (which Jake touches on but I want to hear Cora explain it). Instead, as written, she seems quite petulant about it and also a bit of a nag and to be honest, I didn’t feel that she really had a huge amount to do in this book and I thought she needed a bit more of a defined role. I had a similar issue with Zorro the ghost fox who behaves a bit more like a dog than a fox and who again lacks a role.The book did take a while to get going but when it does it’s fast paced with Mabbitt keeping the action going. In fact at times I thought it was a little too fast-paced, especially in the Afterworld scenes where I kinda wished that there’d been some time to breathe and take stock of what the pair were experiencing. However, there are times when the beats veer towards formula and I could see what’s coming - but I am coming at it as a grown-up and have seen the twists a number of times, obviously the target age group may find it fresher.I love Chris Mould’s illustrations and wanted more of them as they help bring the text to life. My favourites were of the elite group of Undoers and the Afterworld boatman.The book ends with some interesting developments that hold a lot of promise for the third book - not least as Jake’s real life and ghostly job look like they’re going to interact a lot more but also Jake is keeping a secret that seems like it could have some serious ramifications.All in all, I did enjoy this despite my concerns and I would check out the next books. If you have a 9+ year old who likes spookier stories then there’s an excellent chance that they will love this.

Hangman's Crossing is the second book in the Embassy of the Dead series. There is a brief summary of what happened in the first book - Embassy of the Dead - but I think you will enjoy this story more if you have read the first book rather than trying to start here, because the world-building and a lot of character introductions take place in the previous book.Following the events of the first book Jake has been awarded an official position working for the Embassy of the Dead. His job is to protect souls in need and help them cross over. But when Jake and Cora his ghostly sidekick (she'd hate being called that) discover a plot to destroy the fabric between the land of the living and the dead, they must do everything in their power to stop it. Faced with an almost impossible task and with the odds stacked against them, can they save the world?I think we enjoyed this more than the first book. Already knowing the characters and world we can get straight into the action, plot and mystery. I love the relationship between Jake and Cora his ghostly partner in crime."You are going to get us both killed one day."Cora smiled sweetly. "Correction: I'm going to get you killed. I'm already dead, remember?"I love the contrast between them, how Jake is quite world weary even though he's young and Cora is so ready for adventure and thinks nothing about going where she shouldn't and investigating things.The story zips along, the chapters are quite short, with lots of things happening and a mystery unfolding that (as a reader) you can almost investigate along with Jake and Cora. You discover the clues as they do and you can start to piece them together. You start to get into the style and later on in the book when a character says something, they drop it casually into the conversation and you know something awful is going to happen. I love how nothing is wasted, if a character finds something or issues a warning at the beginning of the book then it is significant later on.There are a few full page illustrations which I thought added to the story beautifully. Just some moments from key scenes which help you visualise what is happening.Cora is definitely our favourite character, I love how she bosses Jake about but you can tell that she cares about him - "The dynamic of our relationship doesn't work if you're not boringly normal."The recommended age range is given as 9-11 years and I'd agree with that as there are a couple of quite scary (and yucky) bits. It does end on a minor cliffhanger (all main plot threads are resolved) but it just leaves you eager for the next installment.Overall - we thought this was excellent, one of our favourite books of the year. Recommended.

The second book in the Embassy of the Dead series, prior reading is not essential for jumping into the action in this instalment. The writer gives a summary of what happened in the first book for those who missed it and whilst it would be better to read it first before attempting this one, your enjoyment won’t suffer too much if you don’t.Jake now has a job working for the Embassy of the Dead and he is charged with helping people “cross over”. Things get complicated, however, when he and his friend, the ghostly Cora, discover a nefarious plot to destroy the fabric between the land of the dead and that of the living. Can Jake and Cora save the world? They will certainly try and do everything they can to succeed!Great fun and full of exciting adventure, the characters are well drawn and the plot well paced.