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Gods of Manhattan #2
Spirits in the Park
A month has passed since Mannahatta - the spirit city that coexists alongside Manhattan - was revealed to Rory, when an earthquake rocks New York. The island itself is attempting to shake off the Trap around Central Park, and only Rory has the power to open it before even greater catastrophe strikes. But centuries-old wounds must be healed before Rory turns the key. With New York's most notorious figures - including Captain Kidd and Bill the Butcher - at his side and on his trail, Rory discovers that the answer to peace lies with the one man he never wants to see again: his father.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
27 people are currently reading
429 people want to read
About the author
Scott Mebus
9 books44 followersScott Mebus is American novelist, composer and playwright
He has written two adult novels, Booty Nomad and The Big Happy, as well asthe children's urban fantasy series "Gods of Manhattan".
He has written two adult novels, Booty Nomad and The Big Happy, as well asthe children's urban fantasy series "Gods of Manhattan".
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 16, 2010
An enjoyable sequel to Gods of Manhattan though it does suffer somewhat from middle book syndrome. It's a fast, action-packed read and I was caught up enough that it wasn't until the middle of the book that I realized I didn't know what the point of all this running around is. It's a bit tricky to keep track of the different characters and the mythology of the book is growing more tangled. Also, you have to have read the first book to understand this one. Overall, I would still recommend it to anyone who loves New York City and to kids looking for adventure fantasy.
April 16, 2018
Rory and Bridget are back, and so are the bad guys! It's only been a month, but Fritz m'Garoth and his crew have already foiled multiple attempts on Rory's life. It's been 103 degrees in Manhattan all summer, and next thing you know, there's an earthquake--all because the Munsee Indians are still held captive in Central Park by William Kieft's Trap.
When Rory enters the Park hoping to run into the cute Indian girl Soka, he uncovers an old wampum necklace that holds the memories of Olathe, an Indian girl who was an eyewitness to Kieft's burying something in the Great Hill at the Park right before springing the tap, and whose husband, Buckongahelas, was killed by Kieft's minion Harry Meester.
Nicholas and Alexa of the Rattle Watch are told by a mysterious passing drunk that the person who knows all about the rift between A. Hamilton and his former allies the Munsees is Harry Meester. Who? The Rattle Watch starts asking around ,and gets immediate results...but not of the kind they want.
Accidentally lured into the clutches of an group of sailors who want to press gang him, Rory learns about the power of his spiritmdog, Tucket, who grows to the size of a bear to defend him from the men. He also meets explorers Giovanni de Verranza and god of subways Alfred Ely Beach, and Verranza insists Rory is one of the Tew Boys, notorious pirates who once sailed on a ship with him. Okay, maybe not Rory...but maybe his brother--or dad?
Kieft and banking god Tobias have hired famous murderer William Poole to kidnap Rory, and Typhoid Mary to spread her disease to unsuspecting gods, like Walt Whitman, who eat surprise treats she delivers. Rory and Bridget are at a meeting of the Rattle Watch at Dyckman's farmhouse in upper Manhattan when Hessian soldiers attack, Nocholas and Lincoln are wounded, and Rory is nabbed by Bill the Butcher, who's going to take him to Kieft. It's only because Bridget shows back up with her paper-mâché alter ego that the siblings get away...and agree with Alexa that it's time they go into hiding. She brings them to the Stuyvesant farm just in time for them to overhear Mayor Hamilton and his vampire lawyers cronies threaten Nicholas and the others that if they don't lay off the questions about Harry Meester, they'll get sued.
A powwow with Hex (aka Aaron Burr) in the Stuyvesant barn lets Rory know that (1) Harry Meester, along with Hex, were the two minions who worked to put together and spring Kieft's trap for the Munsees, and (2) that Harry Meester is also Rory's long-lost father.
R&B are taken to Irving Place to hide out with Washington Irving. Upon hearing Olathe's story, he assembles Langston Hughes, Billie Holliday, and George Gershwin to create The Ballad Of Buck And Olathe, which helps ease the feeling against the Munsees. Alexa remembers getting a social invitation from Harry Meester 150 or so years ago, so she goes to see some mutual friends who also might know him. They're at a party at the Waldorf-Astoria (now the Empire State Building) and, after being turned away from the party by the goddess of Society, Simon's relation Mrs. Astor, they find the friends in a hotel room playing cards. They do find out that Harry Meester used to hang out with Abigail Hamilton, the mayor's daughter--also known as Olathe.
Soka sends Rory a message to meet her in the Park, and Bridget attends in her paper-mâché body--only to be grabbed by a renegade Munsee with snake tattoos who speaks a curse that makes her paper body start to fall apart. She's rescued just in time by Soka, who uses her own magic, and some chestnut wood obtained locally, to fix the problem...but NOW, because of the wood, Bridget is trapped in the Park too. Rory desperately leaves her there with a reluctant Tucket, the first spirit dog the Munsee have seen in 150 years. Creepy Askook, the snake-tattooed Munsee who cursed her, has a secret deal with Kieft, wherein he works undercover as Kieft's minion, and Kieft sends him magic power through a small hole in the Trap. When the Village elders are considering banishing Soka for helping a "demon", the two girls make a run for Seneca Village, a place where other spirits, who were in the park when the trap closed, live. Here they meet Finn Lee and his grandfather, who guided Olathe up the Great Hill 150 years ago, but then lost her in a freak blizzard. When the sachem Penhawitz came looking for her tai lat year, granddad guided him too, but was attacked by a giant squirrel. This time, Finn Lee will be doing the guiding.
Caesar Prince was another of those who engineered the trap in Central Park, and as he sees it getting ready to be breached,, he knows he'll be blamed. So he proposes a deal with Kieft, offering to bring Stuyvesant to his house for a meal, where he'll be given food prepared by Typhoid Mary. Stuyvesant gets sick, and Kieft hires some of the Bowery Boys (who have been running riot dressed as Indians, getting the Anglos all riled up) to finish creating panic by killing Nicholas Stuyvesant. Surprisingly, one of Kieft's lackeys, Mayor Jimmy Walker (god of Looking the Other Way) is tired of Kieft's ramping up for way, which Walker considers to be bad for business and also no fin. So he helps Nicholas and Lincoln escape, even as the Stuyvesant farmhouse burns behind them.
In the meantime, Hans the battle roach has tacked down a sailor who once knew Harry Meester, and he tells Rory, Alexa and Simon how the sailer always stopped at Swinbirne Island convent as he was sailing out of town. They go there to find his contact--the mother abbess, who knew him as Morgan Green-- and she tells them that he sailed past on the ghost ship Half Moon not three days ago. They know they have to find him--but before they can leave, they at attacked by Bill the Butcher at the convent, and the abbess herself takes a knife meant for Rory. The crazed killer chases the, all the way onto their boat, and they escape oly by cutting the lines...which then leaves them drifting at the mercy of the tides. Probably not by chance, they are picked up by Captain Kidd, who sails them out into the mist before requiring Rory to make a deal with him: in return for Kidd's help finding the Half Moon, at some future time Rory will have to accompany Kidd on a sea voyage to an undisclosed location. With no other real options, Rory agrees. However, a huge storm comes up, and in it, they find Wampage,adrift in his canoe after having found the last ancient god of his people and collected his Tories in a single blue wampum bead. Wampage uses the stories lodged in the bead as a backup source of wind to drive the ship back to a safe harbor. (In the meantime, Simon has been acting weird, and it's clear that he has one of the lockets of a god who was murdered in the last book--which, if he puts it on, will turn him into the god of Fine China. He saves Rory and Fritz from death at the mast, and his sudden burst of strength and good spirits would be suspicious of anyone were paying attention at that moment.)
In the park, after a hair-raising encounter with Askook's pack of giant coyotes, the girls decide to stay the night at McGown's Tavern, which does not make Finn Lee happy. In the tavern, they meet three of Finn's former girlfriends, which eases Bridget's worries about Soka liking Finn better than Rory. War of 1812 troops help,the, escape their pursues at the tavern, and they scale the Great Hill in the face of a blizzard. After an epic battle where Tucket defeats a monstrous bear, they find the cave--devoid of any treasure, but still with Abigail's buried half piece of wampum that will take them Ina straight line to its other half...hopefully still resting with Abigail herself.
After the storm, up through the mist appears...the Half Moon! And not only is Harry Meester aboard, but so is Buckongahelas (aka Buck) the "everyone thought you were dead" husband of Olathe/Abigail. Turns out that Harry was in fact a trouble-making minion of Kieft's, but that when ordered to kill his friend Buck, he faked it with a non-lethal shot to the back just as the Trap sprang closed, separating the two of them from the Munsee inside. Harry and Buck have been sailing with pirate crews ever since. Harry has recognized Rory by this point and feels really bad about having bailed on the family, but he'd been discovered by a battle roach and thought that meant the Mayor was on to him and might harm his family--thus giving him no choice but to leave. Rory is pretty disappointed with his dad's caliber, but it is what it is.
Soka, Bridget and Finn follow the wampum bead to the Bethesda Fountain in the Park, and discover that Abigail/Olathe is trapped within the bronze angel statue there. And who should step out of the trees next but Pierre Duchamp, Finn's grandfather, whom it turns out had been chasing the Indian girl as she spoke the words that turned her into bronze. He also captured Penhawitz last year when the old man had come looking for Olathe's tail, and has him stashed in a little room under a bridge. Pierre is forcing Soka to tell about the treasure in the cave when someone grabs Bridget from behind and carries her off. Surprise! It's Toy, making his first appearance in Book 2. Turns out Toy has been following her for a long time (maybe he has a crush on the only other paper-mâché being in town!) and helping as best he could--like by dropping a rock on a coyote's head in battle, allowing them to get away. He's accompanied by Sgt. Kiffer, who tells the story, and a rat who gets sent for reinforcements.
Turns out that Askook was the one who removed all Kieft's things from the cave long ago, and also the one who fed Pierre stories about the treasure until the old man went crazy for it. Askook also saw Abigail being turned into the Angel all those years ago...but now the Trap is getting ready to come down, and the crazy Injun is getting ready to dispatch Tackapausha too.
Nicholas and Lincoln deliver Abigail's wampum beads to Mayor Hamilton, who now learns the real story of what happened to his daughter, rather than the fabricated one of Kieft's devising.
When Rory enters the Park hoping to run into the cute Indian girl Soka, he uncovers an old wampum necklace that holds the memories of Olathe, an Indian girl who was an eyewitness to Kieft's burying something in the Great Hill at the Park right before springing the tap, and whose husband, Buckongahelas, was killed by Kieft's minion Harry Meester.
Nicholas and Alexa of the Rattle Watch are told by a mysterious passing drunk that the person who knows all about the rift between A. Hamilton and his former allies the Munsees is Harry Meester. Who? The Rattle Watch starts asking around ,and gets immediate results...but not of the kind they want.
Accidentally lured into the clutches of an group of sailors who want to press gang him, Rory learns about the power of his spiritmdog, Tucket, who grows to the size of a bear to defend him from the men. He also meets explorers Giovanni de Verranza and god of subways Alfred Ely Beach, and Verranza insists Rory is one of the Tew Boys, notorious pirates who once sailed on a ship with him. Okay, maybe not Rory...but maybe his brother--or dad?
Kieft and banking god Tobias have hired famous murderer William Poole to kidnap Rory, and Typhoid Mary to spread her disease to unsuspecting gods, like Walt Whitman, who eat surprise treats she delivers. Rory and Bridget are at a meeting of the Rattle Watch at Dyckman's farmhouse in upper Manhattan when Hessian soldiers attack, Nocholas and Lincoln are wounded, and Rory is nabbed by Bill the Butcher, who's going to take him to Kieft. It's only because Bridget shows back up with her paper-mâché alter ego that the siblings get away...and agree with Alexa that it's time they go into hiding. She brings them to the Stuyvesant farm just in time for them to overhear Mayor Hamilton and his vampire lawyers cronies threaten Nicholas and the others that if they don't lay off the questions about Harry Meester, they'll get sued.
A powwow with Hex (aka Aaron Burr) in the Stuyvesant barn lets Rory know that (1) Harry Meester, along with Hex, were the two minions who worked to put together and spring Kieft's trap for the Munsees, and (2) that Harry Meester is also Rory's long-lost father.
R&B are taken to Irving Place to hide out with Washington Irving. Upon hearing Olathe's story, he assembles Langston Hughes, Billie Holliday, and George Gershwin to create The Ballad Of Buck And Olathe, which helps ease the feeling against the Munsees. Alexa remembers getting a social invitation from Harry Meester 150 or so years ago, so she goes to see some mutual friends who also might know him. They're at a party at the Waldorf-Astoria (now the Empire State Building) and, after being turned away from the party by the goddess of Society, Simon's relation Mrs. Astor, they find the friends in a hotel room playing cards. They do find out that Harry Meester used to hang out with Abigail Hamilton, the mayor's daughter--also known as Olathe.
Soka sends Rory a message to meet her in the Park, and Bridget attends in her paper-mâché body--only to be grabbed by a renegade Munsee with snake tattoos who speaks a curse that makes her paper body start to fall apart. She's rescued just in time by Soka, who uses her own magic, and some chestnut wood obtained locally, to fix the problem...but NOW, because of the wood, Bridget is trapped in the Park too. Rory desperately leaves her there with a reluctant Tucket, the first spirit dog the Munsee have seen in 150 years. Creepy Askook, the snake-tattooed Munsee who cursed her, has a secret deal with Kieft, wherein he works undercover as Kieft's minion, and Kieft sends him magic power through a small hole in the Trap. When the Village elders are considering banishing Soka for helping a "demon", the two girls make a run for Seneca Village, a place where other spirits, who were in the park when the trap closed, live. Here they meet Finn Lee and his grandfather, who guided Olathe up the Great Hill 150 years ago, but then lost her in a freak blizzard. When the sachem Penhawitz came looking for her tai lat year, granddad guided him too, but was attacked by a giant squirrel. This time, Finn Lee will be doing the guiding.
Caesar Prince was another of those who engineered the trap in Central Park, and as he sees it getting ready to be breached,, he knows he'll be blamed. So he proposes a deal with Kieft, offering to bring Stuyvesant to his house for a meal, where he'll be given food prepared by Typhoid Mary. Stuyvesant gets sick, and Kieft hires some of the Bowery Boys (who have been running riot dressed as Indians, getting the Anglos all riled up) to finish creating panic by killing Nicholas Stuyvesant. Surprisingly, one of Kieft's lackeys, Mayor Jimmy Walker (god of Looking the Other Way) is tired of Kieft's ramping up for way, which Walker considers to be bad for business and also no fin. So he helps Nicholas and Lincoln escape, even as the Stuyvesant farmhouse burns behind them.
In the meantime, Hans the battle roach has tacked down a sailor who once knew Harry Meester, and he tells Rory, Alexa and Simon how the sailer always stopped at Swinbirne Island convent as he was sailing out of town. They go there to find his contact--the mother abbess, who knew him as Morgan Green-- and she tells them that he sailed past on the ghost ship Half Moon not three days ago. They know they have to find him--but before they can leave, they at attacked by Bill the Butcher at the convent, and the abbess herself takes a knife meant for Rory. The crazed killer chases the, all the way onto their boat, and they escape oly by cutting the lines...which then leaves them drifting at the mercy of the tides. Probably not by chance, they are picked up by Captain Kidd, who sails them out into the mist before requiring Rory to make a deal with him: in return for Kidd's help finding the Half Moon, at some future time Rory will have to accompany Kidd on a sea voyage to an undisclosed location. With no other real options, Rory agrees. However, a huge storm comes up, and in it, they find Wampage,adrift in his canoe after having found the last ancient god of his people and collected his Tories in a single blue wampum bead. Wampage uses the stories lodged in the bead as a backup source of wind to drive the ship back to a safe harbor. (In the meantime, Simon has been acting weird, and it's clear that he has one of the lockets of a god who was murdered in the last book--which, if he puts it on, will turn him into the god of Fine China. He saves Rory and Fritz from death at the mast, and his sudden burst of strength and good spirits would be suspicious of anyone were paying attention at that moment.)
In the park, after a hair-raising encounter with Askook's pack of giant coyotes, the girls decide to stay the night at McGown's Tavern, which does not make Finn Lee happy. In the tavern, they meet three of Finn's former girlfriends, which eases Bridget's worries about Soka liking Finn better than Rory. War of 1812 troops help,the, escape their pursues at the tavern, and they scale the Great Hill in the face of a blizzard. After an epic battle where Tucket defeats a monstrous bear, they find the cave--devoid of any treasure, but still with Abigail's buried half piece of wampum that will take them Ina straight line to its other half...hopefully still resting with Abigail herself.
After the storm, up through the mist appears...the Half Moon! And not only is Harry Meester aboard, but so is Buckongahelas (aka Buck) the "everyone thought you were dead" husband of Olathe/Abigail. Turns out that Harry was in fact a trouble-making minion of Kieft's, but that when ordered to kill his friend Buck, he faked it with a non-lethal shot to the back just as the Trap sprang closed, separating the two of them from the Munsee inside. Harry and Buck have been sailing with pirate crews ever since. Harry has recognized Rory by this point and feels really bad about having bailed on the family, but he'd been discovered by a battle roach and thought that meant the Mayor was on to him and might harm his family--thus giving him no choice but to leave. Rory is pretty disappointed with his dad's caliber, but it is what it is.
Soka, Bridget and Finn follow the wampum bead to the Bethesda Fountain in the Park, and discover that Abigail/Olathe is trapped within the bronze angel statue there. And who should step out of the trees next but Pierre Duchamp, Finn's grandfather, whom it turns out had been chasing the Indian girl as she spoke the words that turned her into bronze. He also captured Penhawitz last year when the old man had come looking for Olathe's tail, and has him stashed in a little room under a bridge. Pierre is forcing Soka to tell about the treasure in the cave when someone grabs Bridget from behind and carries her off. Surprise! It's Toy, making his first appearance in Book 2. Turns out Toy has been following her for a long time (maybe he has a crush on the only other paper-mâché being in town!) and helping as best he could--like by dropping a rock on a coyote's head in battle, allowing them to get away. He's accompanied by Sgt. Kiffer, who tells the story, and a rat who gets sent for reinforcements.
Turns out that Askook was the one who removed all Kieft's things from the cave long ago, and also the one who fed Pierre stories about the treasure until the old man went crazy for it. Askook also saw Abigail being turned into the Angel all those years ago...but now the Trap is getting ready to come down, and the crazy Injun is getting ready to dispatch Tackapausha too.
Nicholas and Lincoln deliver Abigail's wampum beads to Mayor Hamilton, who now learns the real story of what happened to his daughter, rather than the fabricated one of Kieft's devising.
October 14, 2024
A fun fantasy novel set in Manhattan, using a blend of modern day, historical figures, and Native American mythology. In the same vein as Percy Jackson, this tale offers a mix of adventure, comedy, and drama. Some very compelling characters.
June 6, 2012
Mebus, S. (2009). Gods of Manhattan: Spirits in the Park. New York: Dutton Children's Books.
372 pages.
Appetizer: Set one month after the events of Gods of Manhattan, the followers of the scheming Kieft are getting closer and closer to discovering Rory and his family. Some power hungry gods and spirits are spreading propaganda about the Munsee Indian spirits trapped in Central Park. Rory's sister, Bridget, is still using her super-strong paper-mache body to save lives in secret. And (certainly not least) Manhattan has been struck by an earthquake as the trap restricting the Munsees for far too long upsets the balance on the island.
To make matters worse, Kieft's supporters have set loose Bill the Butcher and Typhoid Mary (excuse me, she likes to just be called Mary) to help sidetrack Rory and his friends from stopping them. A band of gangsters is also posing as Munsees to try to make the spirits fear the release of the Native Americans (which draws attention to the powers of fear, propaganda and story to influence people). The heroes of the story are left wondering if reconciliation is possible.
As I started reading Spirits in the Park, it felt like it took a while for the actual quest/plot/goal of the story to emerge. But by mid-book, the siblings were separated, with Rory on the search for answers from his father and with Bridget stuck in Central Park looking for information about the secret Kieft has hidden there.
Oh, and Central Park? It turns out in the spirit realm it's this expansive Middle-Earth like land with a dangerous mountain that Bridget must journey to. When I realized that, my reaction was pretty much Huh? I wished that had been set up a little more.
While Spirits in the Park still incorporates small touches of humor and protagonists that, while they appear to be children, act and think like adults, it also digs deeper into the mythic realm of Mannahatta and explores the tensions between the colonist spirits and those of the Native Americans, I found myself preferring the plot of the first book. I wanted this book to come back to the real New York City a little more. But that's just me.
Also, I said this with the last book, Gods of Manhattan, but it should be repeated. Bridget is awesome. I love her. She rocks.
That is all. (Until I read and review the third book in this series, The Sorcerer's Secret.
Dinner Conversation:
"The city was hot, too hot, and had been for weeks now. 101, 102, 103: the city was running a fever and no one seemed to know when it would break. The asphalt sizzled under the burning sun, causing the thick, heavy air to shimmer above the sidewalks as if all of Manhattan were one huge mirage" (p. 3).
"Rory Hennessy stepped across the threshold into Central Park, half hoping that this time he would feel something as he passed through the barrier that kept the gods and spirits of Mannahatta out, and the Munsee Indians in. He sighed. Nothing. He'd been sneaking away to the park almost every other day for the past month, but he never felt so much as a tingle as he crossed over. For something so monumental, so overwhelmingly evil, he should at least get a zap or a shock or a tickle or something. It just didn't seem right to feel nothing at all" (p. 9).
"And that was when the ground began to shake.
Rory fell backward, wrenching out of the grip of both Munsees as he fell to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two siblings stumble as well, reaching for the elm to steady themselves as the ground vibrated like the floor of a fun house. Screams floated by from elsewhere in the park as the world continued to more. A crack and a crash sounded behind him, but Rory didn't turn to look He gritted his teeth and waited for the shaking to pass" (p. 24).
"Today's earthquake will not be the last natural disaster to assail us. The island tries to throw off its shackles, and each attempt will be more violent than the last, until at last everything will lie in rubble at our feet" (p. 54).
372 pages.
Appetizer: Set one month after the events of Gods of Manhattan, the followers of the scheming Kieft are getting closer and closer to discovering Rory and his family. Some power hungry gods and spirits are spreading propaganda about the Munsee Indian spirits trapped in Central Park. Rory's sister, Bridget, is still using her super-strong paper-mache body to save lives in secret. And (certainly not least) Manhattan has been struck by an earthquake as the trap restricting the Munsees for far too long upsets the balance on the island.
To make matters worse, Kieft's supporters have set loose Bill the Butcher and Typhoid Mary (excuse me, she likes to just be called Mary) to help sidetrack Rory and his friends from stopping them. A band of gangsters is also posing as Munsees to try to make the spirits fear the release of the Native Americans (which draws attention to the powers of fear, propaganda and story to influence people). The heroes of the story are left wondering if reconciliation is possible.
As I started reading Spirits in the Park, it felt like it took a while for the actual quest/plot/goal of the story to emerge. But by mid-book, the siblings were separated, with Rory on the search for answers from his father and with Bridget stuck in Central Park looking for information about the secret Kieft has hidden there.
Oh, and Central Park? It turns out in the spirit realm it's this expansive Middle-Earth like land with a dangerous mountain that Bridget must journey to. When I realized that, my reaction was pretty much Huh? I wished that had been set up a little more.
While Spirits in the Park still incorporates small touches of humor and protagonists that, while they appear to be children, act and think like adults, it also digs deeper into the mythic realm of Mannahatta and explores the tensions between the colonist spirits and those of the Native Americans, I found myself preferring the plot of the first book. I wanted this book to come back to the real New York City a little more. But that's just me.
Also, I said this with the last book, Gods of Manhattan, but it should be repeated. Bridget is awesome. I love her. She rocks.
That is all. (Until I read and review the third book in this series, The Sorcerer's Secret.
Dinner Conversation:
"The city was hot, too hot, and had been for weeks now. 101, 102, 103: the city was running a fever and no one seemed to know when it would break. The asphalt sizzled under the burning sun, causing the thick, heavy air to shimmer above the sidewalks as if all of Manhattan were one huge mirage" (p. 3).
"Rory Hennessy stepped across the threshold into Central Park, half hoping that this time he would feel something as he passed through the barrier that kept the gods and spirits of Mannahatta out, and the Munsee Indians in. He sighed. Nothing. He'd been sneaking away to the park almost every other day for the past month, but he never felt so much as a tingle as he crossed over. For something so monumental, so overwhelmingly evil, he should at least get a zap or a shock or a tickle or something. It just didn't seem right to feel nothing at all" (p. 9).
"And that was when the ground began to shake.
Rory fell backward, wrenching out of the grip of both Munsees as he fell to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two siblings stumble as well, reaching for the elm to steady themselves as the ground vibrated like the floor of a fun house. Screams floated by from elsewhere in the park as the world continued to more. A crack and a crash sounded behind him, but Rory didn't turn to look He gritted his teeth and waited for the shaking to pass" (p. 24).
"Today's earthquake will not be the last natural disaster to assail us. The island tries to throw off its shackles, and each attempt will be more violent than the last, until at last everything will lie in rubble at our feet" (p. 54).
February 17, 2013
A great sequel! I really enjoyed it!
In 'Spirits In The Park' mystery starts right at the beginning when Rory sneaked into Central Park (where the Munsee Indians are trapped). Suspense keeps building up as the book progresses. What shocked me the most was the truth about Rory and Bridget's father! There are still a lot of unanswered question about him so I hope it gets cleared up in the next book! We also get to know more about the past and the reason to why the Munsees were put into the Trap. The plot is filled with suspense and twists that would keep you reading on and on... And the ending! That was so creepy...
As for the characters, Rory and Bridget are awesome as always! Bridget's hilarious and kiss-ass as always! Rory's cool too! I can understand his bitterness towards his father... :( And the deal he made with Captain Kidd... As for romance, there is something going on between Rory and Soku which I thought was cute! Team Rory all the way :P
I really like Spirits In The Park, I think it is better than the first book! So I look forward to read the last book!
In 'Spirits In The Park' mystery starts right at the beginning when Rory sneaked into Central Park (where the Munsee Indians are trapped). Suspense keeps building up as the book progresses. What shocked me the most was the truth about Rory and Bridget's father! There are still a lot of unanswered question about him so I hope it gets cleared up in the next book! We also get to know more about the past and the reason to why the Munsees were put into the Trap. The plot is filled with suspense and twists that would keep you reading on and on... And the ending! That was so creepy...
As for the characters, Rory and Bridget are awesome as always! Bridget's hilarious and kiss-ass as always! Rory's cool too! I can understand his bitterness towards his father... :( And the deal he made with Captain Kidd... As for romance, there is something going on between Rory and Soku which I thought was cute! Team Rory all the way :P
I really like Spirits In The Park, I think it is better than the first book! So I look forward to read the last book!
January 18, 2010
Spirits in the park is about a boy named Rory Hennessy. Rory is just an average New York kid except for the fact that he can see a hidden world that is right ontop of Manhattan. This world is caled Manhatta, and is home to all the spirits and gods of Manhattan. Many years ago, the Native american tribe that lived on manhatta was locked away into central park by something called the "Trap". It is up to Rory and his sister Brigitte to bring down the Trap before Manhatta, with Manhattan shakes itself to pieces.
My connection in this book would be to Rory. Rory has not seen his father for a long time, i may live with my adoptive father, but i dont know who my real father is. I probably wont ever.
I give this book five stars. I really like how the author uses imagery in this book. Everything is very descriptive. The author has very good detail skills.
My connection in this book would be to Rory. Rory has not seen his father for a long time, i may live with my adoptive father, but i dont know who my real father is. I probably wont ever.
I give this book five stars. I really like how the author uses imagery in this book. Everything is very descriptive. The author has very good detail skills.
July 16, 2009
The second book book in this series is not quite up to par with the first one, but still pretty enjoyable. The premise - that historic New Yorkers are gods/protectors of the modern day Big Apple (i.e., there is a God of Good China, a God of Pickpockets, Walt Whitman is the God of Optimism, etc.) - is still one of the most clever and enjoyable ideas in a long time. The introduction of some new characters (including Typhoid Mary, Bill the Butcher, and Jimmy Walker) adds interest, but this one didn't leave me with much other than excitement for the third (and final?) installment.
May 13, 2013
Rory's adventures in Mannahatta continue as he and the rattle watch set out to find the mysterious Harry Meester. Meester seems to be the key to finding the answers to everything. The revelations about Meester keep mounting until Rory discovers that Meester is the one person he never thought he would see again. His Father.
The action is as plentiful as the secrets in this second book in the Gods of Manhattan series.
The action is as plentiful as the secrets in this second book in the Gods of Manhattan series.
September 17, 2009
The story of Rory H. trying to release a trap from Central Park that is trapping Indians inside without a bloody war against the gods. The only way to do that, is to find the mayor of the gods, Alexander Hamilton, daughter, which is trapped in a statue. Also, Rory and Bridget try to find their long lost father in this suspenseful book
February 2, 2011
I love this series!
The first book (Gods of Manhattan) was great - filled with interesting characters, unexpected adventures, and mind-blowing twists. Luckily, the second one has much of the same.
The Trap around Central Park is coming down and it's up to Rory, Bridget, the Rattle Watch, and the Battle Roaches to stop a war.
Read this book!
The first book (Gods of Manhattan) was great - filled with interesting characters, unexpected adventures, and mind-blowing twists. Luckily, the second one has much of the same.
The Trap around Central Park is coming down and it's up to Rory, Bridget, the Rattle Watch, and the Battle Roaches to stop a war.
Read this book!
March 11, 2013
I know I have said this before but the authors writing for young adults are really good. I just finished book two and lucky for me I have book three ready and waiting. I will be donating these last two books to my local library so that others may read the continued series. I enjoyed this book even more than the first. I will be reading more from Scott Mebus in the future. Keep on writing!
Read
October 25, 2015White MC.
From SLJ "In this sequel to Gods of Manhattan (Dutton, 2008), 13-year-old Rory, his sister, and the spirits of Manhattan lock wits over Central Park, where the spirits of the Munsee Indian tribe have been trapped for the last century." —Cara von Wrangel Kinsey, formerly at New York Public Library
From SLJ "In this sequel to Gods of Manhattan (Dutton, 2008), 13-year-old Rory, his sister, and the spirits of Manhattan lock wits over Central Park, where the spirits of the Munsee Indian tribe have been trapped for the last century." —Cara von Wrangel Kinsey, formerly at New York Public Library
March 6, 2016
I loved it, the mystery,the adventure, the action,and I LOVE HOW BRIDGET JUST ACTS. Well, I also love how everybody acts [except Kieft, I can't wait to see him in pain.] I really loved this book, i'm looking forward to the third book. I'm also looking forward for the lil' cuties romance [Soka and Rory]
November 19, 2009
2.5 stars.
January 13, 2010
The series is ok, again, not something I would have the kids reading.
November 11, 2010
This is the Second book to Gods Of Manhattan. SO far its a Really good book :)
November 14, 2010
Malibu Death Barbie!
Yes I said Malibu Death Barbie.
Bridget really comes into her own in this fun and exciting sequel to Gods of Manhattan
Yes I said Malibu Death Barbie.
Bridget really comes into her own in this fun and exciting sequel to Gods of Manhattan
June 22, 2011
This book along with Gods of Manhattan would be great if you are studying New York State history.
Want to read
July 11, 2011??????????????????????
September 12, 2016
2.5 stars. Slow.
September 24, 2012
not my favorite series, but the plot was interesting enough to keep me going. Seemed slow in a lot of parts, however.
February 4, 2013
Really enjoying this series- fun characters who have different ideas and desires, historical figures, love, revenge, etc. Can't wait to finish the trilogy!
Read
October 4, 2013ehh
December 11, 2013
It was an interesting book that you just couldn't put down.
February 13, 2010
The second in the series, a good pre-teen adventure book, with a twist of history and urbanism.
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