Something dark has awoken on the remote island of Lume

Jess is not pleased when her parents drag her off to live on the weird little island of Lume. But then she encounters an eerie presence in an abandoned cottage, and her anger turns to fear when it begins to lead her through a series of creepy riddles. As she slowly unravels the mysteries of Lume, she finds the writings of Sebastian, a boy who lived one hundred years ago and whose life contains unsettling reflections of her own. To her horror, the dangers he unearthed in 1894 now begin to threaten Jess and her family . . . and if Jess does not unlock the riddles in time, she may lose her mother forever.

Amazon.com Review
A modern teen battles ancient evil aided by an invisible guide and an old diary in British author Christine Morton-Shaw’s The Riddles of Epsilon. While exploring the property around her mother’s ancestral home, fourteen-year-old Jessica finds a falling down cottage. Within resides Epsilon, a being that could be wraith, angel or demon. Through ghostly IM exchanges on her computer, Epsilon leads Jessica to an 1894 diary written by a boy named Sebastian Wren. Jessica is disturbed to discover that Sebastian’s actions seem to mirror her own, right down to sharing the same dream. Even more upsetting is the fact that Jessica’s mother seems to be slipping away mentally, just like Sebastian’s mother did many years ago. Epsilon tells Jessica that the only way to free her mother’s mind is to find a cursed relic that Sebastian failed to uncover. But can Jessica trust Epsilon? And if not, is she strong enough to break the age-old family curse on her own?

Morton-Shaw’s use of light and dark symbolism is eerily effective, and teen readers will be reminded of The Watcher in the Woods by Florence Engle Randall, or more recently, the spooky Midnighters series by Scott Westerfeld. While the writing doesn’t always hit the mark (Jessica’s characterization is slap-dash and stereotypical; primordial Epsilon often slips into modern slang), the mood of the book is nevertheless deeply creepy, and readers under twelve may find themselves sleeping with the lights on. (Ages 12 and up) --Jennifer Hubert