Yet another London urchin series. CD has much to answer for. Jem, on the search for his ex-handler who sent him to be boggle food, connects a bar maid with a boggle problem to a retired boggle hunter and becomes an apprentice boggler's boy. Boggling and near escapes abound. ( )

This second in the series has Jem Barbary living with Alfred Bunce (Birdie McAdam is now living a comfortable life with Miss Eames) and trying to hold down a regular job. Although Alfred is trying to give up bogling (killing child-eating monsters), he is invariably drawn back into it when children go missing. Jem fills in as the bogler's boy (bait) but he feels he's still got a score to settle with Sarah Pickles. But when an outbreak bogles is found in a part of London, even Birdie and Miss Eames are drawn into it.

I love this series. There's a good mixture of excitement and tension with likeable (if imperfect) characters. I'm looking forward to the next book. ( )

...dark doings in high and low places!

Boggles are back! Sarah Pickles, Jem Barbary's nemesis is maybe near or faraway, dead or alive. Children are going missing near Newgate Prison.
I must admit to being a longtime Catherine Jinks fan. Her Bogle world draws us in on a different plane. Bogles are the stuff of terrifying nightmares. No need to look under the bed for these child-eating monsters because they are dwelling in those dreadful places that none of us would wish to be. Set in Victorian London when children were still used as chimney sweeps or sent into dark dank cellars to fetch and carry it seems many are disappearing at an alarming rate.
Boggles seem to be clustering, not the solitary hunters that they were.
A plague is lurking in the sewers of London and all are unaware.
A missing child here or there. Plenty of reasons they say...and yet!
Jem, our former pick pocket is in the thick of things. He's more or less talked himself into being Alfred Bunce's apprentice even though Alfred has retired. Jem is unsure of his place, longing to belong, and sees this as his chance.
Birdie is taking singing lessons, yet appears to be feeling stultified and trapped.
Miss Eames is here sure and confident, yet somehow a tad off. Yet she comes through dispute her disapproval of the goings on and Birdie's involvement.
I really like the glossary of terms of all things to do with Bogles and the dark side of London.
Did you know that a 'cracksman' is a burglar, and that a 'flam' is a lie? All very useful!

A NetGalley ARC ( )

For fans of Spook's Apprentice and Screaming Staircase. Bridie McAdam is a bogler's apprentice. Bogles are creatures that live in the dark recesses of London during the late 1800s that eat children . They feed on despair and only come out to take their prey if the child is all alone. Bogles are also only seen by those who believe ( usually only children) but Alfred Bunce is different. He can see bogles and has a noose and a knack for catching them using Bridie as bait. The girl has the voice of an angel when she sings and she does this while standing in an almost complete circle of salt to lure the bogle out of its hole for Alfred to catch and kill. Alfred is tormented by the guilt of putting Bridie in such a difficult and dangerous position, but on the other hand, if he doesn't, the bogle might claim another innocent life. In this, the first of three books, we are also introduced to Ned ( a boy who scavenges metal on the riverbanks) and Jem ( a tiny pickpocket) who are drawn into helping Bridie and Alfred. Also on the scene comes the very upper class Miss Eames who has studies bogles and other supernatural beings and can perhaps offer Bridie a life away from the grimy and dangerous streets of London. Suspenseful, absorbing with fantastic character development, this first in the City of Orphans series transports you back to the seamy historical underbelly of London on the edge of the industrial revolution with its brutal consequences of poverty, crime and every-man-for-himself attitude. ( )

Second book in the City of Orphans series and my favorite of the three. Focus is on eleven year old Jem, a former pickpocket in London's 1880s, who is now apprenticed to the Bogle catcher Alfred, after Bridie from book one has been "adopted" by the rich Miss Eames. Jem stands in a salt circle and sings to lure the children-eating monsters from their hiding places, so that Alfred can catch and kill them. Book starts brilliantly with Jem discovering and telling Alfred that a show man has a girl posing as Bridie and is re-enacting Bridie's famous captures from book one on stage for money. Alfred has been reluctant to keep bogling as it places his apprentices in so much danger but the discovery of the fraud provides the catalyst for Jem and Alfred to discover that there appears to be a "plague" of bogles in London, and they are using it's dirty sewer network to congregate in certain areas where they can prey on children. This forces Alfred back into the game, and with the help of Bridie and Ned Roach from Book 1, Jem and Alfred tackle the plague. Jem's previous life and his hope for the future, his dreams of escaping from abject poverty and crime and his terror while he helps Alfred bogle are all brilliantly handled by Jinks. This is one for fans of the Spook's Apprentice series. ( )