The Dark and Dangerous Gifts of Delores Mackenzie

The plot

Delores MacKenzie is a troubled teen. But not in the way you may think. Sure, she has few friends at school, but then, with what she brings, is it any wonder?

You see, Delores has necromantic abilities. Her whole family do. But for Delores, they are not in control. Wherever she goes, she attracts the spirits. She has since birth. When young, she used to have one as a friend, and they played together. But now things are getting out of control. The spirits, the Bòcan as they are called in Scottish Gaelic, are trying to drag her back to their realm.

The book opens dramatically as Delores races across a causeway from Crammed Island to the mainland (Scotland), where she has spent the afternoon. She is late, and the tide is lapping at her feet as she gains pace. Every stride brings the water higher. Things suddenly turn nasty when one Bòcan grabs at her and tries to pull her under the water. It is a struggle Delores wins. Just. Racing to her parent's cottage, Delores makes it through the door and seemingly to safety. However, the Bòcan follows her and tries to batter the door down. With the help of her sister, Delilah, they stave off the attack.

How long the enchanted marking, the troll cross outside the cottage, will last, the girls don't know. And with their parents vanished, gone in the night without explanation or trace, there is little chance Delores or Delilah can replenish the enchantment to make things better.

The only option, Delilah says, is for Delores to go and see the Uncles. These are mysterious teachers who help those with supernatural gifts control their talents, so they stay under the radar of the more earthly authorities. The Uncles are a removed part of The Council, the governing body of this other, twilight world. They have rules and guidelines about the paranormal and its control. Delores, unchecked, would break all those rules. Dire consequences will ensue if she refuses to seek the Uncle's help.

There is little Delores can do. Ultimately she knows, as much as she hates the idea of being controlled by the Uncles or her own otherworldy community, she has to go. Delilah had been, and now it was her turn.

The school, for want of another name, is actually the Tollbooth Bookshop in the darker, older parts of the city of Edinburgh. It is, at face value, a shop like any other. But here, customers buy a book, and it is suggested subliminally that they don't return. They also never get the book they choose.

With only her rucksack of clothes, bits and bobs and a book stolen from her former high school library as company, Delores heads into a very unexpected adventure. An adventure where the undead make it far more deadly.

The teachers, the Uncles as they are called, are older than is natural. They hark back to the gothic vampiresque shapeshifters of the old movies. Delores is untrusting and scared of being sent to a prison for those with uncontrollable dangerous talents like hers. It is worse when a fellow student is, pardon the pun, hell-bent on making her life, well, hell! It leaves Delores struggling to come to terms with what she must do.

When a bòcan starts to plague Delores, starts to break into this world and recover its once mortal form, Delores and everyone in the school are in grave danger.

So, what did we think?

There is so much to enjoy in this story. The action starts on a high and then races to shore, adrenalin pumping. Mellowing for the following few chapters as Delores and we find our feet, we enter a world of characters/situations that would not be out of place in a junior Rivers of London novel.

Yes, at first glance, some may say there are hints of magical schools or reflections of one of many Netflix series. But this is not my overriding feeling. It stands, or maybe I should say floats, on its own merit. I wouldn't have enjoyed it half as much if this had been just another JKRowling-type adventure. It isn't. What it is, is a delightfully dark fantasy/horror/gothic race against otherworldly menaces. Being set in modern times but neatly nestling in the dark menacing corners of old town Edinburgh and a graveyard gives it a palpable chill. It ably brings together everything I liked about the older TV and movie horror shows, without any of the kitch.

So . . . .
Crunch time.

Absolutely do buy this. A highly enjoyable and refreshingly different, horrorsome, must-read fireside or bedtime tale. Age group 11+ is accurate, and it is a great adult read too.

Like her parents before her, and sister, Delores Mackenzie has always been able to talk with the dead. They were her childhood companions when other children, finding her odd, didn't want to play with her.
But her psychic abilities are getting stronger and the dead wants more and more from her so Dolores' sister sends her to live with the mysterious Uncles in Edinburgh, to learn to control her gifts. There she meets other people who like her have some particular abilities - some are alive, some not! And not all of the manifestations are friendly either. One enigmatic and dangerous apparition in particular wants no less than new life from the living themselves. Can Delores use her newly-learnt control and skills to save her friends?

The Dark and Dangerous Gifts of Delores McKenzie is a must-read for any young fans of paranormal and horror. It's filled with mystery and hair-raising menace and the relationships between Dolores and her new friends are incredibly well depicted, rich and complex. What happens between Dolores and Prudence in particular makes the reader sway between outrage, pity, frustration, until a most beautiful and selfless friendship blossoms under their eyes. Fantastic!

This book already feels like a timeless classic, with each character instantly feeling like an old friend. As a kid I always latched onto imaginative details and there are so many gorgeous ones in this book…from the grumpy demonic gargoyle doorstop, to the little bowls of bespoke snacks. (PLEASE can I borrow Cook?!)

It’s dark and creepy, but never pushes things to nightmare level, so it’s perfectly pitched to a kid audience eager for something scary. Plus, the darkness is balanced by sweet characters and relatable pre-teen concerns. The cover is so gorgeous, so I was delighted when the book lived up to it in every way!