Shutter

by Courtney Alameda Narrated by Pamela Lorence

Overview

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat-a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual. The corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a technowhiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.

When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that, if she doesn't exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she's faced before-or die trying.

Lock, stock, and lens, she's in for one hell of a week.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

12/22/2014
Alameda makes a strong debut with this fast-paced urban fantasy/horror novel, which sees the last remnants of the Van Helsing and Stoker bloodlines running an organization dedicated to fighting the restless undead. When Micheline Helsing, daughter of the American branch’s leader, takes her team to confront a murderous ghost, all four of them are infected by a terrible curse that will kill them in under a week if they can’t find a cure. Unfortunately, Micheline’s father would rather put them in quarantine instead of help them. The crew goes on the run, and as they battle undead monsters, elude the living, and confront the sins of the past, they learn that the solution to their fatal dilemma may lay closer to home than they expected. Alameda’s worldbuilding is strong—this alternate version of San Francisco is dangerous and unpredictable—and her characters evoke shows like Buffy and Supernatural. The story has plenty of room to grow, and readers will be left eager to see what Alameda has in store next. Ages 13–up. Agent: John M. Cusick, Greenhouse Literary Agency. (Feb.)

From the Publisher

This debut novel features a dark, compelling story and more than enough gore to please the most demanding horror reader.” —VOYA

“A paranormal ghost-hunting story that is a standout in the genre . . . Frightening from the first page, this is sure to please horror fans, particularly those familiar with ghost and vampire legends.” —School Library Journal

“Alameda keeps the fear dripping from the walls as she plunges headlong into this full-scale thriller . . . A page-turner for thriller fans.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Alameda succeeds at creating hideous creatures that are the stuff of nightmare. The rapid pacing, advanced technology, and limitless weapons just add appeal for readers seeking a supernatural thriller.” —Booklist

“Alameda’s worldbuilding is strong—this alternate version of San Francisco is dangerous and unpredictable— and her characters evoke shows like Buffy and Supernatural.” —Publishers Weekly

School Library Journal

11/01/2014
Gr 8 Up—A paranormal ghost-hunting story that is a standout in the genre. With the ability to see spiritual auras, Micheline and her tetrachromat crew are the fiercest cadets in the Helsing Corps, an organization with an illustrious history that specializes in dealing with the undead. However, when they aggressively enter a dangerous situation they are unable to control, each of them is infected with a soulchain that will turn deadly if they are unable to break it within seven days. Micheline is a strong character with sharp reflexes that allow her to trap the soul of an entity on film using her camera. Through detailed scientific processes that are richly explained, Alameda has created a unique world of ghosts, reapers, and exorcisms. The setting is vividly portrayed through detailed descriptions of the shadowy ghost world superimposed on the San Francisco cityscape. Though the plot is leisurely paced, allowing space for a forbidden love story, there is plenty of action. Frightening from the first page, this novel is sure to please horror fans, particularly those familiar with ghost and vampire legends.—Carrie Shaurette, Dwight-Englewood School, Englewood, NJ

Kirkus Reviews

2014-11-04
Horror grips San Francisco when a murderous ghost eludes the Helsing Corps, a famed band of monster hunters.The last descendant of the Van Helsing of Dracula fame, Micheline disobeys her father when she runs alone into a haunted hospital, convinced she can exorcise the violent ghost that's taken over the pediatric ward. Instead, the ghost overpowers her, inflicting her and the three young colleagues who follow with deadly soulchains that will kill them all in seven days. Worse, the ghost knows Micheline's name. Escaping after her dad confines her to her room, she gathers her team and embarks on a mission to trap the ghost—a particularly strong one—by capturing it on film. Racing against time and the progression of the soulchains, Micheline and three other Helsing reapers desperately devise new methods to combat the ghost, even as other monsters get in their way. When Luca, a denizen of the plane between life and death called the Obscura, appears to Micheline with dubious advice on how to proceed, she has even more decisions to make. Alameda keeps the fear dripping from the walls as she plunges headlong into this full-scale thriller. She invents threatening and gruesome monsters, packs her heroes into seemingly inescapable plights, and adds mystery with the introduction of Luca and the identity of the terrifying ghost. There's even a bit of forbidden romance. A page-turner for thriller fans. (Horror. 13-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169606522
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	07/05/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	991,909

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