Shutter

by Courtney Alameda Narrated by Pamela Lorence

Overview

Micheline Helsing is a tetrachromat-a girl who sees the auras of the undead in a prismatic spectrum. As one of the last descendants of the Van Helsing lineage, she has trained since childhood to destroy monsters both corporeal and spiritual. The corporeal undead go down by the bullet, the spiritual undead by the lens. With an analog SLR camera as her best weapon, Micheline exorcises ghosts by capturing their spiritual energy on film. She's aided by her crew: Oliver, a technowhiz and the boy who developed her camera's technology; Jude, who can predict death; and Ryder, the boy Micheline has known and loved forever.

When a routine ghost hunt goes awry, Micheline and the boys are infected with a curse known as a soulchain. As the ghostly chains spread through their bodies, Micheline learns that, if she doesn't exorcise her entity in seven days or less, she and her friends will die. Now pursued as a renegade agent by her monster-hunting father, Leonard Helsing, she must track and destroy an entity more powerful than anything she's faced before-or die trying.

Lock, stock, and lens, she's in for one hell of a week.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This debut novel features a dark, compelling story and more than enough gore to please the most demanding horror reader.” —VOYA

“A paranormal ghost-hunting story that is a standout in the genre . . . Frightening from the first page, this is sure to please horror fans, particularly those familiar with ghost and vampire legends.” —School Library Journal

“Alameda keeps the fear dripping from the walls as she plunges headlong into this full-scale thriller . . . A page-turner for thriller fans.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Alameda succeeds at creating hideous creatures that are the stuff of nightmare. The rapid pacing, advanced technology, and limitless weapons just add appeal for readers seeking a supernatural thriller.” —Booklist

“Alameda’s worldbuilding is strong—this alternate version of San Francisco is dangerous and unpredictable— and her characters evoke shows like Buffy and Supernatural.” —Publishers Weekly

Kirkus Reviews

2014-11-04
Horror grips San Francisco when a murderous ghost eludes the Helsing Corps, a famed band of monster hunters.The last descendant of the Van Helsing of Dracula fame, Micheline disobeys her father when she runs alone into a haunted hospital, convinced she can exorcise the violent ghost that's taken over the pediatric ward. Instead, the ghost overpowers her, inflicting her and the three young colleagues who follow with deadly soulchains that will kill them all in seven days. Worse, the ghost knows Micheline's name. Escaping after her dad confines her to her room, she gathers her team and embarks on a mission to trap the ghost—a particularly strong one—by capturing it on film. Racing against time and the progression of the soulchains, Micheline and three other Helsing reapers desperately devise new methods to combat the ghost, even as other monsters get in their way. When Luca, a denizen of the plane between life and death called the Obscura, appears to Micheline with dubious advice on how to proceed, she has even more decisions to make. Alameda keeps the fear dripping from the walls as she plunges headlong into this full-scale thriller. She invents threatening and gruesome monsters, packs her heroes into seemingly inescapable plights, and adds mystery with the introduction of Luca and the identity of the terrifying ghost. There's even a bit of forbidden romance. A page-turner for thriller fans. (Horror. 13-18)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169606522
Publisher:	Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Publication date:	07/05/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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