The destroyer of worlds A return to Lovecraft country

Ruff's sequel to 2016's Lovecraft Country delivers another virtuoso blend of horror, action, and humor. It's now 1957 and Ruff's African American protagonists are still trying to survive and build meaningful lives in a racist country, a challenge complicated by their discovery of the existence of other worlds and people with magic powers. Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, must flee for their lives once again after a risky trip to North Carolina, to trace the escape route taken by an enslaved ancestor, turns deadly. Meanwhile, to rid himself of cancer, Montrose's half brother, George, contemplates making a deal with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, the former head of the Chicago branch of the Order of the Ancient Dawn, a white sorcerer's cabal. Ruff makes the most of his inventive concept and his care in crafting memorable characters means that the fates of even minor cast members make an impact. Fans will find this a worthy sequel. Agent: Melanie Jackson, Melanie Jackson Agency. (Feb.)

It is the summer of 1957, three years after the events of Ruff's novel Lovecraft Country, and the characters are still having Lovecraftian adventures tied to their family history and escalating racial tensions in America, but now they also have to grapple with the knowledge and consequences from their previous confrontations with Winthrop and Braithwhite. Readers can expect the same genre-blending, dark humor, and creepy atmosphere from the first book, but this time Ruff presents each character and their compelling journey in alternating chapters. As the narratives overlap and come together, readers will be held captive until the thrilling conclusion. This series excels in how it continues to draw parallels between its pulpy plot and the entire civil rights movement. The cosmic dilemmas make for a great read, but the unease is amplified by readers' knowledge that these Black characters are about to be thrust into a very real fight for freedom. VERDICT The popularity of the Lovecraft Country TV show means that even more readers will be eager for the return of Ruff (88 Names; The Mirage). A great suggestion for fans of novels hat grapple with the racism in stalwart horror tropes, such as Ring Shout by P. Djéli Clark and Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Be warned: This is a follow-up to Lovecraft Country, the 2016 novel, not the HBO adaptation, so what you saw on TV won't help much here. But there's still outrageous trickery, sharp period detail, and chilling perils. The year 1957 finds Chicago's roving Turner and Dandridge families once again pursued by and in pursuit of mystic forces, some of which mean to do them serious harm. Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, are in Virginia looking for evidence of their Black slave ancestors when they're suddenly under attack by a White antagonist they'd previously faced several hundred miles north in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, Hippolyta Berry, Atticus' aunt and the most scientifically minded family member, is way out west in Las Vegas with her 15-year-old son, Horace, and good friend Letitia Dandridge, ostensibly to gather research for her husband George's The Safe Negro Travel Guide while also meeting with a sinister pawnbroker who carries the keys to a device able to transport people from Earth to any far-flung place in the galaxy. Meanwhile, George Berry, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, makes a Faustian bargain with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, the brilliant, malevolent scientist from Lovecraft Country who promises to provide George with a cure if George can find a cadaver for Winthrop to--what is the word?--reanimate. And then there's Ruby Dandridge, Letitia's sister, still leading a double life as a redheaded White woman named Hillary Hyde, whose supply of potions enabling her transformation is running dangerously low. And those are just some of the complications of what now seems an ongoing series of phantasmagoric adventures of these intrepid warriors fighting a two-front battle in mid-20th century America against White supremacy and dark magic. Where its predecessor was constructed of separate stories focusing on different family members, this book operates with more interwoven narratives that Ruff manages to yoke together into one ripping yarn with shocks and surprises at every turn. This sequel may lack some of the demented grandeur that the TV series cheekily borrowed from its namesake, but it's still lots of fun--and, at times, historically enlightening. The best news this book delivers is that we'll likely be seeing more from its vivid cast. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.