Charlie Bone and the Shadow of Badlock (Children of the Red King) Book

Charlie Bone and the Shadow of Badlock is the seventh book in the excellent Charlie Bone series by Jenny Nimmo.

In this story the evil enchanter Count Harken who Charlie has met and defeated before is back. The Count is working with the Bloor family to try and stop Billy Raven from discovering an important family secret. However the Count also has his own plan as well as the power to reach across space and time from Badlock to try and get revenge against Charlie and his friends. Fortunately, Charlie can use his power to travel to Badlock and there he meets his ancester Otus Yewbeam who is being held prisoner by the Count. Charlie and his friends need all their powers as well as some serious luck in their fight against the enchanter!

It seemed that the evil and mighty Count Harken was defeated a bit easily last time and so it is no surprise that he is back again and after revenge. The world of Badlock that Jenny Nimmo has created is excellent as it is both an awful place yet also a place where the Count can make anything happen so that he can entice prisoners like Billy Raven to want to stay there. Perhaps the ending of this particular book is a bit strange since it has to act as a beginning for Charlie Bone and the Red Knight which is the final book in the series.