RAVEN'S GATE: Book One of THE GATEKEEPERS
Anthony Horowitz
Scholastic Press
(Horror/Fantasy)
ISBN: 0439679958
256 pages

• Read an Excerpt
• Author Interview -- August 2005

Powerful forces of good and evil collide in a battle that will determine the course of future civilization. While this classic scenario could be taken from the pages of any history book or even from today's headlines, instead it forms the spellbinding premise of bestselling author Anthony Horowitz's new Gatekeepers series. The legions of devoted fans of his Alex Rider teen spy novels will not be disappointed with RAVEN'S GATE, the series' first installment that introduces 14-year-old Matthew Freeman, a troubled but likable young boy with extraordinary powers.

Despite his history of truancy and petty crimes, Matt gets more than he bargained for after getting caught robbing a warehouse with an unsavory accomplice who stabs a security guard and then blames Matt when the police arrive. Faced with years in a detention center or foster placement in the rural countryside under a government rehabilitation scheme, Matt chooses the fostering program. After all, anything would be better than living with his sullen and miserable Aunt Gwenda, who had grudgingly raised him since his parents' death in a tragic auto accident six years earlier.

But when Matt meets his grim foster mom, Jayne Deverill, and gets a taste of life on her desolate farm in the remote Yorkshire countryside of England, he immediately regrets his decision. Not only is there something very creepy about Ms. Deverill and her weird hired hand Noah, but a trip to the nearest town of Lesser Malling confirms that there is something sinister about the entire village.

He tries to escape, but his efforts prove futile against the strange powers of the villagers, and anyone who tries to help him mysteriously ends up dead. After witnessing a bizarre witchcraft ritual in the woods and nearly dying in a quicksand bog, Matt is rescued by a young journalist and together the two unravel the awful truth about the inhabitants of Lesser Malling. With the aid of a secret society, the two learn of Matt's true destiny as one of five young gatekeepers vested with special powers to fight evil humans who want dark forces unleashed on the world via an ancient gate to another dimension.

In the novel's stunning conclusion, Matt must call on everything within himself to stop the witches of Lesser Malling from opening Raven's Gate and releasing its demonic powers. This spellbinding story successfully weaves ancient folklore into a modern-day scenario, making the events seem all the more vivid. Clever elements of magic and witchcraft combine with an extremely likeable young hero to make RAVEN'S GATE a thrilling start to this new series.

   --- Reviewed by Joni Rendon

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.