Shadowland (Mediator #1): 02/19/10

Oh the nom de plume... tool of authors everywhere. Source of endless frustration to the librarian and book reviewer. To add to the mess, authors as they get popular with one name or perhaps start writing under their actual name, sometimes have their old books released but without the nom de plume. In the case of Meg Cabot, she started having all her books published by one publisher instead of three and opted to use her own name.

Back when The Mediator series was first published, the author of Shadowland was Jenny Carroll. I vaguely remember reading on her blog but I read that fact long before I started reading her books. Since I've already reviewed one Mediator book under the Meg Cabot name I will stick to reviewing them that way.

Shadowland begins The Mediator series. Suze is newly moved California to be part of a blended family now that her mother has remarried. Suze has a new step-father and step-brothers. She also has an unwanted but hot ghost haunting her room.

At her new school there's a vengeful ghost out for blood unless Suze can help her on her way to the afterlife. The book is somewhere between The Ghost Whisperer and Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a little dash of The Sixth Sense. Suze explains her long history of seeing ghosts including her own father's shortly after his untimely death. I liked these dark glimpses into Suze's past and wished Shadowlands had more of them.

Where the book falls short for me is Suze's characterization. Although she seems more like a teenager in Shadowlands than she did to me in Haunted her voice still seems to miss the mark.

Read an excerpt here.

The Mediator Series includes:

• Shadowland
  
• Ninth Key
  
• Reunion
  
• Darkest Hour
  
• Haunted
  
• Twilight

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