Hollow Boy (Lockwood & Co. #3) – Review

The Hollow Boy

Lockwood & Co. (#2)
 
by Jonathan Stroud
 
Disney-Hyperion, 2014
 
400 Pages
 
Middle Grade (8-12 and up)
 

 
The Lockwood & Co. team are now carrying the nameless Type-3 skull around as a member of the team. He’s a sarcastic jerk who undermines them at every chance, but is genuinely helpful at alerting Lucy to sneaky supernatural trouble. (At least so long as he is afraid of Lucy burying him in a hole with no human interaction for the rest of eternity.)
 
The action begins at Lavender Hall where the trio take on a changer and a full cluster of ghosts that have been murdered by the seemingly innocent old proprietors of the quaint Bed & Breakfast. The couple attempts to eliminate the investigators in the same way they offed their other victims: by locking them in the attic to be ghost-touched at midnight. After Lockwood gets set on fire, George falls off a ladder and Lucy loses her epee before the ghost is finally contained.
 
The team members have begun splitting up to handle more cases, spreading themselves thin what with the myriad common Whitechapel stuff no one else has time to deal with since “the Chelsea outbreak” began. But more thrills for us! Yes, things are really stirring up down in Chelsea. Every agency in the city is getting involved. All except Lockwood & Co. that is, thanks to Inspector Barnes.
 
Lucy starts to explore her talents and solves a few visitations by communing with the dead; hidden letters of confession, money stashed away by a miser; she is successful at first and doesn’t feel any danger. Too bad.
 

She’s wearing a lacy gray gown, and a sort of ragged veil over her face. Some kind of letter in one hand, spotted with something dark. Don’t know what that’s about– might be blood or tears. She’s clutching it to her chest with her long, shriveled fingers… Listen, I’m laying out the chains.

 
So what with all the new business, what’s a agency to do? Lockwood decides to hire a new employee– not an agent, but an 18 year old housekeeper and administrative assistant named Holly who straightens up and screens job offers. Lucy can’t get over her suspicion of her, she’s so prim and confident, and has really caught Lockwood’s eye. Or is it only jealousy, rivalry, as the skull taunts? That jerk even mentions how Lockwood is always on about her extra weight.
 
Lucy starts taking almost negligent risks to test her talents, placing herself in danger. Lockwood ends up injured because of her bravado and Holly Munro has to save her. In fact, Lucy breaks Lockwood’s trust and enters his sister’s room where she learns more about the horrible night it all happened. She doesn’t meet her ghost, but the sensitivity of her touch shows us enough to tease with a deeper mystery.
 
The team is hired to investigate Miss Fiona Wintergarden’s home in ritzy Hanover Square, where bloody footprints have been appearing in the kitchens going toward and ascending the ornate central stairs while apparitions chase one another.
 
Due to the kerfuffle in Chelsea, DEPRAC and the two major agencies decide to hold a parade to take back the streets. Because of their success with Miss Wintergarden, Lockwood and Company, including Holly, get to ride on the lead float with Miss Penelope Fittes and Mr. Steve Rotwell himself. Then the float is attacked with ghost bombs!
 
The protective agents come to the aid of Miss Fittes, bringing them more under her good graces, but also leading them into a confrontation with Sir Rupert Gale, a “good friend of the Fittes Agency”. They also learn from Flo that Julius Winkman, the artifact fence from The Whispering Skull, has it in for Lucy, who was instrumental in putting him away. Word on the street is that he’ll be seeing revenge.
 
After Quill Kipps, frustrated with the lack of progress shown by DEPRAC in Chelsea, shares the stacks of information from the meetings the Lockwood agency was not invited to attend, George believes he has solved the problem. But Barnes won’t listen. Luckily Kipps will.
 
The two teams join forces to spend a night in a store that has strangely been untouched by the hauntings. Lucy & Holly’s differences come to a head, and leads to a chaotic whirlwind. A shade cluster is revealed led by an emotionally fueled poltergeist and a fetch amid some really scary images. Then Lucy must face off against The Hollow Boy alone!
 

I watched that notch of darkness.
I watched as something moved into it.
It came… a human figure crawling on all fours. Scarcely blacker than the blackness all around, it dragged itself along on knees and elbows with a series of slow, slow jerking movements.

 
Though the entire Chelsea problem is resolved, thanks to Lockwood & Kipps’ efforts, many mysteries are left unsolved. I’ve got to know more about Lockwood’s sister Jessica, (not to mention his parents,) and what the story is with Sir Gale! The mystery of the Orpheus Society deepens. Then there are fears that Lockwood may be getting a little too chummy with Fittes, threatening to change the agency into one of her toys. There promises to be another confrontation with Winkman and the London criminal element as well. And as if we weren’t already drooling for more, Lucy makes a startling announcement at the end of the book that left my jaw on the floor.