The Shibboleth (Twelve-Fingered Boy Trilogy Series #2)

by John Hornor Jacobs

Overview

"There are certain shibboleths to our condition."

At the end of the first book of The Twelve-Fingered Boy Trilogy, Jack and Shreve are incarcerado―physically locked up. Shreve's back in the custody of the state of Arkansas, and Jack's somewhere in the clutches of Mr. Quincrux―both problems Shreve aims to rectify.

Cages might hold Shreve's body, but the power that's been growing since his encounter with Quincrux has reached a pinnacle. Nothing can prevent his mind from scaling the etheric heights. Freed from his body, Shreve discovers the magnitude of the evil that's stirring in the east. The wave of insomnia that's paralyzed the nation is only the beginning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467739979
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/01/2014
Series:	Twelve-Fingered Boy Trilogy Series , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	408
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

John Hornor Jacobs is the author of several critically acclaimed novels, including The Twelve-Fingered Boy 

and The Shibboleth. He lives in Arkansas with his family. 

Editorial Reviews

"Fifteen-year-old Shreve Cannon has the ability to read people's minds and absorb their memories. It is a dangerous power, one that pushes him to the brink of insanity. In the second installment of the Twelve-Fingered Boy trilogy, Shreve is back in the custody of the state of Arkansas, this time in a mental institution for juvenile delinquents. His friend Jack, the twelve-fingered boy, is held captive by Mr. Quincrux, the strange man who possesses the same telepathic ability as Shreve. Shreve sees Quincrux as a murderer and a demon who gets into people’s minds and manipulates their thoughts and memories for evil purposes. Shreve is summoned by Quincrux to join him and Jack on the east coast and put a stop to the contagious wave of insomnia spreading across the country. Quincrux fears the slumbering beast that resides in Maryland, a group of 'impenetrables' who have unknown powers. Quincrux needs Shreve's abilities to harness this unknown power for his own benefit.

"This is a book like no other. Shreve, a teenage delinquent who is a thief and a dealer of contraband candy, has an enormous power for which he struggles to find a place. His telepathy eventually causes him to join the Society of Extranaturals, and his journey is all mental, an exploration of the human psyche that turns his entire world upside down. This novel is a superb telling of what it means to be different, existing physically and mentally on the outskirts of society. Jacobs is a master of the supernatural story, leading readers along dark and winding paths containing secrets, evil, and unimaginable power. Told from a male point of view, The Shibboleth will appeal mostly to boys and any reader who loves dark tales of action, adventure, and the supernatural. 5Q 4P J S." —starred, VOYA

From the Publisher

2013-12-11
Sometimes you just gotta break out of juvie to rescue a friend and save the world. Book 2 of the Twelve-Fingered Boy Trilogy finds the two boy heroes--Jack and Shreve--trapped and confined. Branded a "candy" dealer for doling out drugs, Shreve is incarcerated in a juvenile detention center at first, but after he frightens a nurse there, he's sent to a mental hospital, where he's drugged for schizophrenia. What his keepers don't know is that he's not schizophrenic at all. Instead, he's a shibboleth, a being that can read minds and possess the bodies of others. Readers, on the other hand, know that he needs to escape (there are lots of escapes in this sequel) the center and find his BFF Jack, who's stuck with a guy named Quincrux, who could be the most evil shibboleth out there. Jacobs' sequel reads as a series of elongated plot twists that need to move his lead character from one place to the next, usually some kind of prison: Entrapment is key. Shreve's inner dialogue and snappy one-liners ring both true and trenchant: "In and down I go, into Schneider's brainmeat, into his unconscious, like some psychic cliff diver in a Speedo." There is plenty more like this, and it'll no doubt be the main motivation for readers of this decent sequel. Not necessarily groundbreaking but fun. (Paranormal adventure. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews