Review: Figure "Smoothly Contrapuntal, Often Amusing, And adroitly Constructed And Paced"

Book review: The Figure in the Shadows

A sequel to The House With a Clock in Its Walls has the same cast: orphaned Lewis; Uncle Jonathan and his neighbor Mrs. Zimmermann, both benevolent sorcerers; and Lewis's friend Rose Rita, who has all the nerve Lewis wishes he had. Lewis hopes the old coin in the trunk is an amulet .... It is magical, and it is evil; using it, Lewis evokes the shadowed figure of a ghost and puts himself in great danger. Again here ... Bellairs combines effectively an aura of brooding suspense and ... down to earth [characterization]. Smoothly contrapuntal, often amusing, and adroitly constructed and paced.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books