The Last Bogler

September 15, 2015
Weary "Go-Devil Man" Alfred Bunce and his uncertain apprentice, Ned, face a seemingly overwhelming plague of child-eating bogles in this busy trilogy closer. In what amounts to a wrap-up volume livened by gross bits, Jinks sends her bogle hunters-with help from the ad hoc Committee for the Regulation of Subterranean Anomalies-into Victorian London's dark nooks and noisome sewers after a series of shadowy menaces. She also sets ex-apprentices Birdie and Jem on to careers in the theater, trots in a country witch to explain how to mass-produce bogle-killing magical spears, consigns vicious butcher/crime lord Salty Jack to a suitably brutal fate, and ties off various other loose ends. Though en masse the darksome creatures seem less hideously menacing than the rare and terrifying haunts of previous volumes, here their toothy, tentacled bodies do slither chillingly enough into view and explode with satisfying violence, "like a gigantic pimple," when speared. (One particularly memorable battle takes place in a privy.) Set pieces notwithstanding, though, the climax turns to more of an anticlimax as the growing crisis is averted via an authorial rationale that even younger readers may find hard to buy. An epilogue leaves the majors married or nearly married and Bunce in happy retirement. Better in its parts than its whole-but even second-drawer Jinks tops the general run. (map, glossary of slang) (Historical fantasy. 10-13)

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October 1, 2015

Gr 4-6-Having discovered the cause of the infestation in A Plague of Bogles (HMH, 2015), the newly formed Committee for the Regulation of Subterranean Anomalies has plenty of work as they work to rid London of the monsters that lurk in dark places and eat children. Alfred Bunce, the seasoned bogler, and his apprentices are instrumental to the cause, but both Birdie McAdam's and Jem Barbary's futures seem to be heading in other directions, and now Ned Roach is the only apprentice left. Though observant and clever, Ned lacks confidence. Alfred thinks the boy is a natural, and while Ned doesn't really want a future as a bogler, he feels indebted to the older man for giving him a home. While shadows from the past pose additional dangers, the very future of bogling is uncertain. The final book of the trilogy contains everything that made the first two so appealing: finely drawn characters and engaging action sequences all set in the richly described Victorian setting. With superb pacing, the story propels readers right along with Ned, but at its heart is Alfred Bunce, the gruff, stalwart bogler who seeks to put an end to bogles even if that means he will be out of a job. VERDICT A highly satisfying conclusion to this wonderfully crafted fantasy series.-Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2015
Grades 4-6 Working as an apprentice to Alfred the bogler was always a risky business, acting as bait for child-eating monsters lurking in and below buildings in Victorian London. Now that a government agency has hired Alfred to rid London of its bogles, Ned finds himself in a particularly dangerous position. Unwanted publicity brings unexpected consequences, and events begin to spiral out of control. Meanwhile, the grand scheme to flush the bogles from the sewers seems likely to backfire. Ned, who will do anything for Alfred (though in his heart he does not aspire to be a bogler), is a well-drawn, sympathetic character. Birdie and Jem, the young protagonists from the earlier two books have minor roles here as well. Jinks offers an exciting, large-scale bogle-hunting scene, provides a bittersweet ending to the series, and lets readers know why boglers are no longer needed today. Fans of this richly atmospheric adventure trilogy, which began with the riveting How to Catch a Bogle (2013), won't want to miss the final volume.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2016
Ned Roach, former rag-and-bone boy, beggar, mudlark, and costermonger, feels lucky to be taken on as Alfred Bunce's new apprenticeespecially now that bogling is respectable, part of the Department of Public Works' Committee for the Regulation of Subterranean Anomalies. For each new case Ned must put his life at risk, luring one of the child-eating bogles with song so Alfred can dispatch itand that's only one of the dangers, for Alfred has drawn the attention of London's criminal underworld. Ned finds his curious mind distracted by such devices as the hydraulic lifts and ratcheting socket wrenches coming into play as 1870s London becomes mechanized; when it appears that the age of bogles is over at last, he has a promising future in store. Fans of How to Catch a Bogle (rev. 9/13) and A Plague of Bogles (rev. 1/15) will appreciate Jinks's accessible prose, colorful with Victorian slang (glossary included); her inventive, briskly paced plot; and the gloom and charm of this trilogy-ender's quasi-Victorian setting. deirdre f. baker

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)