Halloween is right around the corner and Lockwood & Co. is the perfect spooky-fun middle-grade series by Jonathan Stroud! Thanks to my partnership with Disney-Hyperion, we received the Lockwood & Co. series (books 1-4) and have the opportunity to share and excerpt and a super fun giveaway with you… Read on!
With two teen sons, one in Middle School and one in High School, I’m always looking for great books to engage their interest. Rather than candy or other trinkets for the Halloween season, I often turn to gifting them more clever ideas and the Lockwood & Co series is truly a great fit. The book covers immediately appealed to both my sons, which is always a plus – whenever I can engage their interest towards books, it’s always a mom-win! We’ve haven’t finished the series yet, but everyone agrees, they are intriguing page-turners!
Not familiar with the series? We’ve got the full scoop on each book below. Be sure to also scroll down for an excerpt from the newest book, LOCKWOOD & CO., BOOK FOUR: THE CREEPING SHADOW, and an awesome giveaway, too:
ABOUT THE LOCKWOOD & CO. SERIES
A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren’t exactly friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see—and eradicate—these supernatural foes. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business.
Jonathan Stroud, author of the internationally best-selling Bartimaeus books, continues his hit series of supernatural thrillers about three teen members of a Psychic Detection Agency who are battling an epidemic of ghosts in London. The fourth book in the series, The Creeping Shadows, released September 13th.
LOCKWOOD & CO., BOOK ONE: THE SCREAMING STAIRCASE
By Jonathan Stroud ~ Release: September 17th, 2013
A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all nature of ghosts, haunts, spirits, and specters are appearing throughout the city, and they aren’t exactly friendly. Only young people have the psychic abilities required to see—and eradicate—these supernatural foes. Many different Psychic Detection Agencies have cropped up to handle the dangerous work, and they are in fierce competition for business.
In The Screaming Staircase, the plucky and talented Lucy Carlyle teams up with Anthony Lockwood, the charismatic leader of Lockwood & Co, a small agency that runs independent of any adult supervision. After an assignment leads to both a grisly discovery and a disastrous end, Lucy, Anthony, and their sarcastic colleague, George, are forced to take part in the perilous investigation of Combe Carey Hall, one of the most haunted houses in England. Will Lockwood & Co. survive the Hall’s legendary Screaming Staircase and Red Room to see another day?
Readers who enjoyed the action, suspense, and humor in Jonathan Stroud’s internationally best-selling Bartimaeus books will be delighted to find the same ingredients, combined with deliciously creepy scares, in his thrilling and chilling Lockwood & Co. series.
LOCKWOOD & CO., BOOK TWO: THE WHISPERING SKULL
By Jonathan Stroud ~ Release: September 16th, 2014
Rivals clash, friendships are tested, and sinister secrets are unsealed as Lockwood & Co. investigate a Victorian occultist in this second spine-chilling, ghost-filled adventure by internationally best-selling author Jonathan Stroud.
In the six months since Anthony, Lucy, and George survived a night in the most haunted house in England, Lockwood & Co. hasn’t made much progress. Quill Kipps and his team of Fittes agents keep swooping in on Lockwood’s investigations. Finally, in a fit of anger, Anthony challenges his rival to a contest: the next time the two agencies compete on a job, the losing side will have to admit defeat in the Times newspaper.
Things look up when a new client, Mr. Saunders, hires Lockwood & Co. to be present at the excavation of Edmund Bickerstaff, a Victorian doctor who reportedly tried to communicate with the dead. Saunders needs the coffin sealed with silver to prevent any supernatural trouble. All goes well—until George’s curiosity attracts a horrible phantom.
Back home at Portland Row, Lockwood accuses George of making too many careless mistakes. Lucy is distracted by urgent whispers coming from the skull in the ghost jar. Then the team is summoned to DEPRAC headquarters. Kipps is there too, much to Lockwood’s annoyance. Bickerstaff’s coffin was raided and a strange glass object buried with the corpse has vanished. Inspector Barnes believes the relic to be highly dangerous, and he wants it found.
The author of the blockbuster Bartimaeus series delivers another amusing, chilling, and ingeniously plotted entry in the critically acclaimed Lockwood & Co. series.
LOCKWOOD & CO., BOOK THREE: THE HOLLOW BOY
By Jonathan Stroud ~ Release: September 15th, 2015
Anthony’s dark secret is revealed, Lucy resents a new employee, and the ghost jar continues to mutter in the third book in the series that Kirkus called “rousing adventures for young tomb robbers.”
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 hyper-efficient 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.
LOCKWOOD & CO., BOOK FOUR: THE CREEPING SHADOW
By Jonathan Stroud ~ Release: September 13th, 2016
A terrible crime forces Lockwood to turn to Lucy for help, setting them on the trail of dark secrets at the heart of London society. Both professionally and personally, their investigation stirs up forces they may not be able to control. . . .
After leaving Lockwood & Co. at the end of The Hollow Boy, Lucy is a freelance operative, hiring herself out to agencies that value her ever-improving skills. One day she is pleasantly surprised by a visit from Lockwood, who tells her he needs a good Listener for a tough assignment. Penelope Fittes, the leader of the giant Fittes Agency wants them–and only them–to locate and remove the Source for the legendary Brixton Cannibal. They succeed in their very dangerous task, but tensions remain high between Lucy and the other agents. Even the skull in the jar talks to her like a jilted lover. What will it take to reunite the team? Black marketeers, an informant ghost, a Spirit Cape that transports the wearer, and mysteries involving Steve Rotwell and Penelope Fittes just may do the trick. But, in a shocking cliffhanger ending, the team learns that someone has been manipulating them all along. . . .
LOCKWOOD & CO., BOOK FOUR: THE CREEPING SHADOW EXCERPT:
[embeddoc url=”https://ruralmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/CreepingShadow_ch1.pdf” download=”all”]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR OF THE LOCKWOOD & CO. SERIES
Jonathan Stroud (www.jonathanstroud.com) is the author of three previous books in the Lockwood & Co. series as well as the New York Times best-selling Bartimaeus books, and the stand-alone titles Heroes of the Valley, The Leap, The Last Siege, and Buried Fire. He lives in England with his wife and three children.
For more information about the Lockwood & Co. series:
- Creep on over to LockwoodandCo.com
- Follow Disney-Hyperion on Twitter and Instagram
- Add DisneyBooks on Snapchat.
WIN A LOCKWOOD & CO. PRIZE PACK!
One (1) Rural Mom reader will win a Lockwood & Co. Prize Pack that includes:
- the Lockwood & Co. series. (4 books)
- a $100 Visa gift card for all your Halloween needs!
Giveaway open to US addresses only.
Prizing and samples provided by Disney-Hyperion.
ENTER via the Rafflecopter below:
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Well, harry potter, The Hobbit, books books like that.
My son is in middle school and he likes sci-fi books.
He likes to read Percy Jackson series
We love to read science-fiction and fantasy.
Mostly YA fantasy and horror
My sons read Star Wars and Minecraft books.
Name on rafflecopter: mami2jcn
My son and daughter love to read books about fantasy and stories with animals as the main characters.
Sci fi and thrillers.
My son likes to read Mythology books.
My sons love sci-fi type books
My daughter loves to read mysteries and ghost stories. Thank you!
All of my kids are out of school but they love scary books
He loves Harry Potter and Star Wars and the James Patterson middle school books.
My daughter liked to read science fiction when she was a middle schooler. Thanks for the giveaway!
My girls love mysteries and paranormal books.
My daughter loves to read science fiction. Thanks for the giveaway!
My nieces enjoy paranormal, fantasy and thrillers.
Mine love the fantasy type
YA fantasy books are my daughter favorite books to read.
Fantasy and funny books
My son likes all types of books, but ones about sports hold his interest!
My daughter likes to read history
Oh his favorites are the mysteries, but also some science fiction!
My middle schooler loves to read horror books. (Of course I only let him read mom approved horror books. They’re more like spooky books.) 😀
thanks!
They’re like to read fantasy and scary books.
My daughter enjoy paranormal, fantasy and thrillers.
They like to read mysteries.
They love to read adventure and mystery books
Thank You
The kids love to read mystery books.
Not quite middle school yet – but my granddaughter enjoys ghost stories.
paranormal, fantasy and thrillers.
It’s so hard to find books for my son that he enjoys reading. These look right up his alley because of the spooky subject matter!
No kids, but I know Harry Potter is fun for that age.
Thanks for the contest.
slehan at juno dot com
My 10 year old granddaughter loves to read the Goosebumps books.
When my children were Middle Schoolers they loved to read books like these or books about animals and Harry Potter too.
They love to read science-fiction and fantasy books.
They love to read mysteries but will read others when they find something that is interesting.
Anything with vampires
Right Now My Niece Is Loving The Goosebumps Books.
My daughter loves reading who did it stories. She like me likes books that have suspense and keep her guessing.
jweezie43[at]gmail[dot]com
She likes mystery and fantasy
MY BROTHER LOVES TO READ ANYTHING MIDDLE SCHOOL RELATED AND MYSTERIES.
They like mystery books as well as adventure books.
Laurie Emerson
My nephew loves to read anything to do with science and adventure! Thank you!