Shadows of the Silver Screen

When I requested SoSS from Netgalley (in exchange for my honest review) I had no idea what to expect. Judging from the cover it could have been a children's book or an adult book with a quirky cover. I also didn't realize it was the 2nd book in a series. Technically, I guess this is geared towards middle school kids, but is fine for ages 8 and up looking for a clean read and stands alone well despite my having some initial questions about the set up.

Edge did a good job of setting time and place and the plot is interesting and inventive. I found it a touch slow in places and it had no humor which could have helped. I think the author wanted it to be a straight, serious, gothic horror read and didn't want humor to lessen the effect.

I liked SoSS and if I knew someone into this type of genre, I would recommend it. The characters and action didn't appeal to me enough to want to read more of the series for myself though.

Shadows of the Silver Screen (Twelve Minutes to Midnight #2)
by Christopher Edge (Goodreads Author)
Paperback, 256 pages Published January 10th 2013 by Nosy Crow (first published January 1st 2013)

A mysterious filmmaker approaches The Penny Dreadful with a proposal to turn Montgomery Flinch’s sinister stories into motion pictures. Penny, who is the real writer behind the success of her alias Montgomery Flinch, is only a teenager. So she has hired an actor they call Monty to take over her alias' persona. The filmmaker uses an unusual new type of camera that not only puts sound and images together, it makes the ghosts from the past appear!

I have to admit that I picked this book purely based on the cover image. I thought it was going to be a cozy mystery. Boy, was I wrong. This is set in between 1900 and 1920-ish. The motion picture craze has yet to start and before this time all they had were silent pictures that were the new craze. Penny writes really horrific and mysterious stories that have the public awed. And this filmmaker wants to put her words to screen.However, Monty, being an actor, wants to be in this movie as well and convinces Penny to accompany him.

I think this was a great book. The setting was interesting. I wished more than once there was a phone or some easy way to contact other characters who are 150 miles away. The mystery kept me hooked. I enjoyed the characters as well. I will definitely look into other books by this author. Nice accidental find.

I received this book as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) from Net Galley in return for an honest review. I thank the publishers and Net Galley for allowing me this privilege.