For thousands of years, young women been vanishing from the Hallow Hill estate. Now Kate and Emily have come to live there. They have no idea of the land's dreadful heritage--until the powerful magician Marak tells them himself. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Paying tribute both to the elements of Victorian novels and fairy tales, first novelist Dunkle turns out a luminously polished fantasy that starts off strong and just gets better. Sisters Kate and Emily, recently orphaned, move into Hallow Hill, the estate they are to inherit; their great-aunts, dismayed at "all that book reading, all that flowery poetry," that has constituted the girls' education, plan to launch Kate into London society, as befits a modern 19th-century young woman. But others have plans for Kate as well, including her humorless official guardian and, so it seems, the goblins around whom so much local lore revolves. Kate senses danger, even before she realizes that she faces supernatural challengers-and even before the goblin king, Marak, lets it be known that he will take her by force to be his wife, to live forever in his subterranean realm. Dunkle laces her plotting with twists and surprises, at the same time staying true to archetypal themes about love and death. She introduces original developments in the construction of her fantasy kingdom, but never drops her control over the protagonists' growth, as a keen romantic tension builds between Marak and Kate, who move, credibly and engrossingly, from the roles of predator and prey to inhabiting positions of peers. The story line does not slow, offering suspense and plenty of evil to be vanquished. A masterly debut, it will almost certainly leave audiences hoping for more. Ages 12-up. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 6-9-Kate and her younger sister, Emily, are orphans, sent to live with great aunts at remote and mysterious Hallow Hill. Hugh Roberts, their guardian, is a surly and somewhat sinister cousin. One afternoon, the girls come upon some strange people and an abnormally huge cat in a clearing. One of these folk, Marak, is a goblin king. He needs Kate to be his human bride, for goblins may not marry their own kind. When Emily disappears, Kate assumes that he is responsible and agrees to marry him in exchange for her sister's freedom. Once in the goblins' vast underground kingdom, Kate is sure she will die from not being able to see the stars. But she does marry Marak and assumes her life as a queen. At this point the plot takes an unexpected turn. A sorcerer attacks Marak, and Kate discovers some surprising things about herself and her relationship with her husband. This is an interesting fantasy world with well-realized characters. Hugh Roberts is a true villain and Kate is a feisty heroine. Marak is frequently described as an ugly monster, and he definitely comes across as something other than human. However, he has a good nature and a sense of humor as well as a great love for his chosen wife. The goblin kingdom itself is beautifully described, as are the strange creatures that inhabit it. The story moves a bit slowly in places, but overall it should attract readers who like magic and adventure. Kate is surely a heroine to be reckoned with, and girls will relate to her predicament.-Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NCCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 5-8. When orphaned Victorian teenager Kate and her younger sister move to an estate they have inherited, Kate feels sure she's being watched. She's not wrong. The suave, hideous Goblin King, Marak, plans to kidnap and wed her (goblin women are mostly infertile, so crossing out to other species ensures the survival of the race). All seems poised for clever Kate to outmaneuver the villain, but the seemingly conventional setup gives way to something far more intriguing: the dreaded marriage actually happens. Readers are then plunged into the goblins' eerily lovely subterranean world, where Marak, despite his pitiless disregard for certain human sensibilities, surprises Kate with his wise leadership and husbandly concern. Each of the novel's three parts fairly brims with plot, at times things seem a bit rushed, and Kate's concluding adventure presupposes a devotion to her husband that hasn't yet been convincingly established. But this is a fresh, powerful twist on the Beauty-and-the-Beast theme, and the impact of Dunkle's evocative storytelling lingers long after the final page. JenniferMattson. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.