William Bell (1) (1945–)

At once intriguing, horrifying and fascinating, William Bell’s follow up to Stones has had me engrossed. Garnet Havelock has finished his apprenticeship and he is keen to begin work as a cabinetmaker. A chance conversation in a coffee shop leads to an offer he can’t resist. He signs a contract with mysterious Valentina Stoppini: he will be allowed to set up his workshop in a coachhouse on the Corbizzi property. In exchange, he promises to repair and catalogue the mansion library. Garnet show more and his girlfriend, Raphaella, are soon at work in the library but they are not alone, and cannot shake the feeling that danger lurks in the ominous room.

“Every house has its own night noises, and the older the building the more it seems to creak and groan, like an old dog getting comfortable in his basket. The Corbizzi mansion was no different. And if you had a big enough imagination, every squeak and crack had a sinister cause – a malevolent intruder creeping slowing up the stairs, an evil spirit bent on revenge pushing open a door. What is there about the dark that awakens primitive images and drags them to the surface of your mind?”

This is a captivating story that teens will thoroughly enjoy. show less

Garnet Havelock and his girlfriend/soulmate Raphaella Skye investigate the appearance of the spectre of a Dominican monk at the nearby mansion of a recently deceased professor. At the time of his death, the professor had been doing research on the fanaticism of this monk and his torture, execution, and burning by the Italian Inquisition. A second plot concerns Garnet's discovery of a GPS and cell phone at what seems to be a militia training camp in the woods near Orillia, Ontario. Garnet is show more a pivotal figure in the resolution of the mysteries surrounding both strange occurrences.

Bell's parallel plots are fast moving, his characterization is sound, and the love between his two main characters is affecting. His articulation of the theme, however, is rather heavy handed. We're fairly regularly bopped over the head with the notion that democracy suffers and intolerance thrives when small, exclusive groups of men press for adherence to a single religious truth and for the establishment of a theocracy. This was the case during the (Catholic Church's) Inquisition and it's the case now when Islamist adherents use terror and torture to make others toe their lines. Generally, the book is well done. Certainly, it's highly respectful of young readers' intelligence, based as it is on historical figures from the time of the Inquisition. An added note: Bell's book works well without the (sometimes troublesome) language and graphic sexual scenes that are often seen in young adult texts. However, some of his ideas may still ruffle the feathers of fundamentalist readers...so the book is subversive in its own neat way--challenging younger readers with its more liberal ideas about religion, sexuality, feminism, and marriage/family life. show less

Working in a bookstore definitely has its advantages. I often discover new and interesting books in unexpected ways.

I'd never heard of this novel, despite it being around forever, however working at the bookstore, I guess someone either brought it up to cash and decided not to buy it, or returned it, one of the two. Either way, that's how I found myself holding the novel, seeing that it belonged in the teen section, but of course, on the way, I read the back.

The book never made it back to show more the shelf. It will live out its days on my home bookshelves instead.

For a YA—and rather bloodless—horror novel, I found this one was quite enjoyable.

It's got a lot going for it, from solid writing, interesting characters, an interesting setting (that I know fairly well), and a heartwarming, if somewhat predictable plot.

What Bell does best is bring the reader back to those summers of our youth, before we necessarily had to have a summer job, so we had a solid three months to do whatever we wanted. He captures all of it, and he does it well.

This novel, to me very much reminded me of Tim McGregor's WASPS IN THE ICE CREAM in tone and feel and nostalgia.

Pleasantly surprised by this one. show less

For a book that is intended for someone younger than me I didn't expect it to be so raw and hard hitting. My younger brother's grade nine class is reading it and he liked it so much I had to check it out. It is a serious book and inspired a real political conversation out of a 14 year old boy who is not a huge fan of books or very political aware.