The Hollow Boy

Lockwood & Co., Book 3

By: Jonathan Stroud

Narrated by: Emily Bevan

As a massive outbreak of supernatural visitors baffles Scotland Yard and causes protests throughout London, Lockwood & Co. continue to demonstrate their effectiveness in exterminating spirits. Anthony Lockwood is dashing, George insightful, and Lucy dynamic, while the skull in the jar utters sardonic advice from the sidelines. There is a new spirit of openness in the team now that Lockwood has shared some of his childhood secrets, and Lucy is feeling more and more as if her true home is at Portland Row. It comes as a great shock, then, when Lockwood and George introduce her to an annoyingly perky and hyperefficient new assistant, Holly Munro.

Meanwhile, there are reports of many new hauntings, including a house where bloody footprints are appearing and a department store full of strange sounds and shadowy figures. But ghosts seem to be the least of Lockwood & Co.'s concerns when assassins attack during a carnival in the center of the city. Can the team get past their personal issues to save the day on all fronts, or will bad feelings attract yet more trouble?

Danger abounds, tensions escalate, and new loyalties form in this third delightfully terrifying adventure in the critically acclaimed Lockwood & Co. series.

©2015 Jonathan Stroud (P)2015 Listening Library

excellent writing and performance

great writing and story telling a must for any stroud fan look forward to hearing the next book as always.

Not a great narrator

I agree with most of the reviews- I don’t like the narrator for this one. She did a crappy job of creating voices for the characters- and the voice she does for the skull is incredibly annoying…wasn’t sure I could even finish it with her ANNOYING whining versions of the characters

Narrator is pretty awful. Listen at 1.1 speed and that helps.

Great books and characters. We are sorely missing the narrators from the first two books though. My family—from kids to adults—is trying to tough it out with the over-the-top, congested voices the narrator does for both George and Lockwood. And the voice for the Skull? Nails on a chalkboard.

Exceptional Storytelling!!

Great follow up piece with enough plot twists to keep the story interesting and characters that are endearing. The fear factor is on point and the world historically rich while wonderfully ghoulish.

Epic world building

Now we start to see what Lockwood and co are really made of. We also begin to see the true depth of the problem. We're at the top of the roller coaster now and it's about to get wild. I so appreciate the master story telling at play. There was a cat fight brewing the entire book and Jonathan Stroud did not disappoint.

Awesome!

Story kept my on the edge of my seat. Absolutely loved it and can't wait to see what the crew of Lockwood & Co get up to next.

Don't worry, the narration is fine

The real problem is that this is the third narrator in the three books of this series. It is disconcerting and disappointing that the characters' voices change from book to book. That said, this narrator is very professional, and she is just as good as the others. Let's just hope the narration can stay consistent from here out.

My favorite so far!

I loved this book and this narrator! I laughed out loud at George’s quips and I found this so enjoyable, I could not wait to get back to it. I was totally engrossed in the story and the mystery and just adore the characters.

Great book! Great Plot. Love this series!

I love this series. The plots are great and the writing is good. I enjoyed all of the books and while the new series isn’t everything it SHOULD be, it’s pretty good too.

Voices are weird

I’m not a fan of the fruity sounds that Ms. Began gives to Lucy or the deep dopey sound of Lockwood. The performance is too slowly read and then too jarringly animated. The story is great, though.