By Robert Beatty
This entertaining tale will leave you guessing. Meet a young Serafina, hidden in the basement of the Biltmore Estate. Her Pa is the chief mechanic and repairs all of the machines at the house. They live secretly in the basement, and Serafina makes a point of not being seen. At night she wanders the halls of the mansion, finding, capturing and ridding the house of rats. She is unnaturally fast and adept at seeing these horrible rodents. One night during her inspection she hears and sees something that frightens her, a figure in a black coat.
The next day it is discovered that the children from Biltmore and the surrounding area are disappearing, Serafina knows that the mysterious figure in the cloak is the culprit. The problem is that Serafina needs to remain a secret so how can she let the residents know that they are in danger. Finally, she approaches the young master, Braeden Vanderbilt. The two children form a bond and endeavor to figure out who the person is in the black cloak. As more children disappear and after a harrowing night in the dark forest, Serafina knows that she has no other solution but to become the bait in a trap and to lead towards a sure battle with a mountain lion.
Will Serafina's plan work, will she be able to draw the evil away from Biltmore Manor and away from Braeden? By the end of the story Serafina discovers her dubious beginnings, makes a frightening trek through a dangerous forest, meets her mother and fights her own demons, but will she to retain her friendship with Braeden and will she be accepted by everyone at Biltmore?
This is a very interesting story. Interesting in that it combines two genres of literature. It has aspects of a historical fiction, while it dwells into the supernatural world. I feel that this book would be great in fourth grade and up to seventh or eighth grade. This book was a definite page turner and I am giving it a 4 out of 5 stars.
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