Alameda, Courtney. Shutter. New York, Feiwel and Friends, 2015. 978-1250044679.

Summary

Micheline is a Van Helsing, yes, THAT type of Van Helsing. In fact, she and her Dad are the last of the Van Helsing line, and with the descendents of other famous supernatural fighters — like the Stokers, they run the Van Helsing Corps. They deal with everything that goes bump in the night. So when Micheline is called out to deal with a supernatural creature that has started killing people at a local hospital she isn’t surprised… until she realizes that it was a trap specifically set for her. Now it’s a race against time to destroy the creature before the ghost chains that now encircle her and her team kills them all.

Impressions

This is an extremely fast paced book, it starts off immediately with the ghost murdering people, and I don’t mean, oh there are dead people. No, there are body parts and blood spread across the floor. This is a true horror book, as in don’t read this at night if you want to sleep peacefully. Micheline is a strong female character with a strong supporting cast of boys who have no problem taking orders from a girl. Even her budding relationship with Ryder doesn’t prevent him from taking orders from her as team leader. After the supernatural being curses Micheline and her team she refuses to give up and continues to fight to save her and her team’s lives, defying her father to do so, and she takes the concept of not leaving any member of her team behind very seriously. Adding to the interest in Shutter, the Van Helsing Corps doesn’t just go out fighting monsters willy-nilly- there is science behind it! Not being a scientist I have no idea how accurate it is, but the fact that Alameda added the scientific element to Shutter instead of just having it all be brute force and magic adds an amazing level of believability to the story. Shutter is all around a wonderful book, and definitely one of the best YA horror books I have ever read.

Further Information

Shutter is written for a teen audience, easily accessible for grades 7 and up- but be warned it is creepy! If you love shows like the Walking Dead or Supernatural you’ll most likely love this book. This will be a great book on a Halloween/Horror display in the fall. If you liked Shutter by Courtney Alameda also check out Extremities: Stories of Death, Murder and Revenge by David Lubar, The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. 1) by Jonathan Stroud, and The Cure for Dreaming by Cat Winters.

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