For me the idea of Forbidden Spaces explored in Helen Grant's trilogy is just so fascinating. In Silent Saturday we had a group of young people who went into upmarket houses that had been left empty by their owners, in Demons of Ghent it was the rooftops of the city and in the final book, Urban Legends, it is delapidated buildings that are just about to be demolished. A group of young people meets in these edifices, taking photographs and telling terrifying stories – but is there a link to the story told and the fact that each time one of the group goes missing?
At the beginning of the book, this is not something that concerns Veerle, who after her terrible experiences in Ghent is now back in the village she grew up in. Having failed her final exams she is back at school and living in her dead mother's house.
She's now over 18 and technically an adult but when she receives an unexpected email from one of the organisers of the now disbanded group from Silent Saturday introduced to her by Kris Verstraten, she senses something is amiss. And it's not long before the gruesome death toll proves her right. She knows the identity of the killer – De Jager, the hunter – whose real name was Joren Sterckx who had supposedly died in prison. And she knows he is coming for her. She needs help but who can she turn to? Who can she trust? She can't just sit back and await her fate.
I found Urban Legends a compelling read but I must admit that there were times when I was metaphorically on the edge of my seat almost too scared to turn the page.
The narrative is well written and brilliantly paced as it switches between groups of characters – with one deadly link. As it says on the cover: "No one is safe".
Forbidden Spaces is a gripping trilogy aimed at the older teen reader – and adults.
PWT rating: ♥♥♥♥♥
Published by Corgi Books, Urban Legends: Forbidden Spaces Trilogy: Book Three (Forbidden Spaces Trilogy 3)