Review by Booklist Review
Call him Ishmael Jones. That's the name he took, back in the 1960s, when he crashed to Earth in his spaceship. He was an alien then; now he's (sort of) human, working for a top-secret British government organization, investigating weird occurrences. In the tenth installment of this entertaining series, Ishmael has recently learned that there was another survivor of that spaceship crash, and this individual might be able to help him recover his lost memories. And so Ishmael returns to the village of Norton Hedley, which is known for its long history of paranormal sightings--ghosts, monsters, and other, well, weird things. All his life Ishmael has believed he crash-landed there by accident. But did he? Or did something draw him there, a kind of magnet pulling him in from outer space? And is the other survivor friend or foe? This genre-bending mix of fantasy and thriller is essential reading for series fans and for those who enjoy their fiction a little on the weird side.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
British author Green starts to provide some answers about his unusual sleuth in his intriguing 10th mystery featuring alien-in-disguise Ishmael Jones (after 2020's The House on Widows Hill). Jones, apparently the sole survivor of an extraterrestrial spaceship that crashed in the English countryside in 1963, was transformed by the craft's artificial intelligence into human form, became a successful operative for secret underground organizations, and acquired a romantic partner, Penny Belcourt. Fifty years after his arrival on Earth, Jones learns that another of his kind survived the crash, and journeys with Penny to Norton Hedley, the town nearest the crash site, in search of more information. Instead, Jones finds odd locals, unexplained disappearances (some of which predate the aliens' arrival), reports of claw marks from unidentified creatures, and a ghostly manor that burned down centuries earlier. Jones hopes that a Norton Hedley resident, an expert on UFOs and folklore, can help, but instead he ends up a prime suspect in multiple murders. Green offers enough to please series fans and hook newcomers, while posing new mysteries. X-Files devotees will be satisfied. Agent: Joshua Bilmes, JABberwocky. (Oct.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
An Earth-acculturated alien's fragmentary memories encourage him to learn more about where he came from. In all his years as an alien on Earth, Ishmael Jones has never come as close to discovering the truth of his origins as in his most recent case, when he was visited by recollections of his early years. Could it be that Ishmael wasn't alone when his spaceship crashed to Earth? Drawing on his dreams, visions, and superior alien senses, Ishmael has done what he can to piece together his background, but his real hope lies in his long-term association with the Organization, a vaguely purposed group for whom he's been solving a variety of supernatural mysteries over the years. The Organization has information on Ishmael's past that leads him and Penny Belcourt, his partner in life and work, to hop a train from London to little Norton Hedley. Once there, Ishmael and Penny seek out virtually unknown author Vincent Smith, whose low-profile lifestyle seems incongruent with their intel that he may have been Ishmael's traveling companion. But, in a shock that seems unsurprising even to Ishmael and Penny, Vincent suddenly dies the day before their arrival. Instead of connecting with Vincent, Ishmael and Penny are welcomed by Lucy Parker, an employee of Black Heir, perhaps the only organization whose purpose is more amorphous than that of the Organization, and definitely more nefarious. Ishmael and Penny must shake their new friend, who they suspect is more a tail than anything else, and discover the truth about Vincent if they have any chance of learning about Ishmael's origin. Book 10 of Green's series boldly fleshes out the hero's origin story to fine effect. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
