Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw

Title: Wintercraft

Author: Jenna Burtenshaw

Publisher: Headline

Published: May 2010

ISBN: 0755370961

Author's Website: http://jennaburtenshaw.blogspot.com/ 

Rating: 5/5 with merits

The cover on this drew me in, and had me more curious than ever after I'd read the book synopsis.  What you can't see clearly from the Amazon cover above, is that there's also symbols around the outside of the dome.  

I couldn't wait to read this, so it didn't.  There's not many books that I've jumped up my reading list yet...but this one did :)  From the start, the pages grabbed me, urging me to read more....I couldn't put it down.  It's unlike any book I'd read to date...mingling those not really dead, with other who have special, sought after powers....

Kate lives with her Uncle, Artemis, in their bookshop, after her parents were taken away when she was younger.  Kate's life as she knows it is about to be turned upside down.  Everything she thought she knew comes into question, her friendships, her family, and even more than that - herself.  

The characters in Wintercraft are so vivid.  Silas is a chillingly evil character. I'm surprised I've got any hair left on the back of my neck after Silas' menacing theatrics put the fear of god into the whole village, including Kate. The evil characters in this book are simply outstanding.  From the moment Silas stepped into the book, I could feel the palpable, heavy air in his words.  With it, Siras gives the story a sense of death and foreboding, although he's mostly doing his master's bidding (and he's not dead)....he's downright scary...and oh, so good at it!  Kalen is also scary, in a nails-down-the-chalkboard way.

There was an Alfred Hitchcock moment with black birds that had me squirming in my seat, trying to read all hunched up and with half my eyes closed...I can't stand birds flying low!!!!  Wintercraft would make a fantastic film, I would *love* to have this on dvd or even better, see it on the cinema. (The book trailer will have to suffice for now!)

I could babble about this most of the afternoon, but it would come out as gushing, and then you'd know all the book's secrets!  So...this one is awarded a rating of 5/5 with merits.  If you haven't read it, you really should.  I can't wait for the next in the series, Wintercraft: Blackwatch to come out.  US readers - Wintercraft is titled Shadowcry,and due out Summer 2011 in the US - one for your diary! To give you a taste of Wintercraft, here's the book trailer for it:

Book Synopsis:

"Ten years ago Kate Winters’ parents were taken by the High Council’s wardens to help with the country’s war effort.
Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane – the High Council’s most feared man – recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council’s experiments into the veil, and he’s convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace.
The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft – a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft"




Source: Many thanks to Headline and to Jenna. Headline resent this for me as the first one was lost in the post, and it had been signed by Jenna.  Received for an honest review.