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October 2005

The Haunting of Alaizabel Cray
by Chris Wooding

Amongst the dark streets of London dwells unimaginable terror…

The chill breath of the London night stirred and swirled in the gas-glow, curling with a serpentine malevolence through the islands of man-made light. The mists from the Thames were stealthy and this hour, hiding at the edges of the clutter of Whitechapel streets. It was relatively clear for November, and the usual murk had been tattered into eddies by a sharp northerly breeze that cut through to the bone without being warmed by the intervening flesh.

The city is turning evil, Alaizabel thought. You can feel it, too, can’t you?

This last was directed at Thaniel, who walked by her side with his arm in hers, stiffly playing the role of the husband escorting his wife through the deepest hours of the dark. He glanced around with a frequency that betrayed his nervous alertness. He was a little afraid, she knew that. But fear alone did not account for the whole of his manner. Like her, he could feel the rot at the heart of London, could feel the cancerous tendrils snaking through the veins of the metropolis.

Seventeen-year-old Thaniel is a wych-hunter. He and his best friend and mentor, Cathaline, track down the fearful creatures that lurk in the dark and musty alleys and byways of the Old Quarter of London. It is on one of the perilous expeditions that Thaniel encounters Alaizabel Cray … a person who is half-crazed, lovely and possibly possessed. Whatever terrifying entity has entered her soul has turned her into a strange and unearthly magnet – attracting evil and drawing horrors from every dark corner. Cathaline and Thaniel must discover its cause and defend humanity at all costs.

This synopsis was written by a San José Public Library librarian

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Read On! - More books by Chris Wooding
(Select any title to request it from the library's catalog)

• Broken Sky #1,  #2,  #3,  #4,  #5,  #6,  #7 
• Crashing
• Kerosene (eBook)

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