Customer Reviews

The Hunt for the Seventh

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Jim has moved to Minerva Hall with his father and sister. His mother has recently died, and in order to overcome the family's grief, his father has accepted a position as Head Gardener. But from the first day, life at Minerva Hall is far from normal.

While touring the grounds, Jim hears a voice whisper in his ear, "Find the Seventh." No one else has heard the ghostly voice, but Jim believes it. He is convinced someone has died there. But he can't tell his dad or his sister. He knows no one else will believe him.

This begins Jim's need to uncover the secrets of Minerva Hall. One evening he notices a shadow off by the maze. He ventures into the maze and soon discovers a boy sitting in the middle. The boy talks almost in riddles, confusing Jim even more. Because the boy likes to talk in numbers but refuses to give his name, Jim immediately dubs him Einstein. But just as quickly as he discovers Einstein, the boy is gone.

Curiosity gets the better of Jim, and soon he is discovering unused portions of the hall. He sneaks into the old Schoolroom and magically, six names appear on one of the blackboards. All six names are Minervas, with a date and some sort of epitaph.

Jim becomes enmeshed in the clues, following the Hall's statues and the dates of death from one to the next; Jim is on a crash course with destiny. The prophecies that he's uncovered surrounding the lands around Minerva Hall are all leading up to the summer solstice. He believes he only has a few days to solve the mystery and hopefully prevent any more deaths.

THE HUNT FOR THE SEVENTH was a spine-chillingly good read. The scarier parts may be a bit too much for the younger reader, but there is nothing in the story that is truly gross or appalling to limit those that could read it. The story flowed at a nice pace, leading the reader through all of the clues that Jim discovered. The tension builds at the right speed, leading to a surprising conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and the discoveries that Jim made along the way.

Reviewed by: Jaglvr

This book is really awesome!!! If you like horror and mystery books you'll love this book. It's about a boy whose father got a job as a gardener at Minerva Hall. So he moved to Minerva hall with his son and daughter (the mother is already dead).
His son's name is Jim and his daughter's name is Sal. Then Jim meets a kid who he calls Einstein he talks in rhymes and these 6 ghosts. He sees how they all died. They tell him to "Find the Seventh".
The Owner (Lord Louis Minerva 3) sees Jim on video cameras sneaking around his secret halls and tombs so he bans Jim and says if he sneaks again he will fire his father.
Now Jim has to decide between his father's job and helping the ghosts that bother him continuously ...
Read the book to find out.
By: choclatechipperson

Thirteen-year-old Jim Brown just lost his mother. The first few months were incredibly difficult as he watched his younger sister Sal mourn and helplessly stood by while his father suffered severe depression. However, now the three of them are attempting to start over fresh. Mr. Brown gets a new job as head gardener at a fancy, historical English mansion called Minerva Estate. It includes room and board, and the family moves into the rooms allowed them at the backside of the mansion.

Jim and Sal look forward to exploring the vast gardens, including a shrub maze and the hundreds of statues, but cranky Mr. Minerva informs them right from the start that he detests children and that they are to be on their best behavior. To make things even weirder, Mr. Minerva reveals his security system, which includes cameras stationed all over the grounds, hooked up to monitors in his study. Mr. Minerva is always watching.

But even grumpy Mr. Minerva isn't who's concerning Jim the most. From day one, he feels like he's being watched, and by someone other than Mr. Minerva. Yet when he turns around, there's no one there. He can't help believing that someone has died on the property and that maybe her spirit lingers. Then he hears the whispers, the voice demanding that he "find the seventh." But the seventh what? Jim's nerves are on edge, but he can't confide in his dad or Sal, both still being too bruised from his mother's death. Then Jim sees a possible confidant, another boy on the property.

Jim follows the boy lurking about the grounds and confronts him. Right away, Jim realizes something is different about him and later finds out that he suffers from autism. Not knowing his name, Jim calls him Einstein because of his incredible skill with numbers. In his own special way, Einstein begins helping Jim uncover clues about the mystery at Minerva Estate. But as the time slips away closer to the summer solstice, events are building that may devastate the entire town. Will Jim solve the mystery in time?

Christine Morton-Shaw is the talented author of THE RIDDLES OF EPSILON. She now offers her second novel to the waiting world, and it will not disappoint. Morton-Shaw has a wonderful gift of building suspense that pulls the reader straight through the pages, from the end of one chapter directly into the next. She cleverly delves into the mysterious world of the spirits, mixing it with her colorful characters on the topside to weave a chillingly good tale. She also has a flair with sensory details, bringing her English country setting to life with vivid descriptions.

Filled with suspense, mystery, spine-tingling spirits, an ancient prophecy and a countdown to disaster, THE HUNT FOR THE SEVENTH will thrill one and all.

I LOVED THIS BOOK I WANT MORE!!!! I NEED TO KNOW MORE ABOUT JIM AND SAL AND THEIR FAMILY PLEASE!

The human elements really make this story. While there are only a few main characters each person seems to be fleshed out (or ghosted out) to give us a good sense of who they are and to hint at hidden complexities. The Manor estates are perhaps a character in themselves and I enjoyed flipping back to the map at the front of the book to follow along in the adventures.
The mysteries that are revealed bring to mind "The Da Vinci Code" and if not as historically earth shaking as those, are every bit as important to the little village of Seven Stone.
The main character must struggle between doing what he is supposed to do and doing what he knows is right, and he must do it predominately alone. In the end things finally work out in a way you'd have thought the villagers could have figured out on their own, but this is also a cautionary tale of how too much power leads to abuse.

Jim and Sal move with their father (still somewhat in shock after the death of his wife) to an isolated estate complete with topiary gardens, turreted manor, creepy woods and....let's just say other hauntings. I was surprised to see this recommended for 10 and up, as there are a couple of grisly deaths of children. I would recommend it for stout-hearted 6th graders on through 8th grade. (I may be a bit over-protective, I admit.)

The story is intricate and fascinating, and I adored the setting, the nearby village, the puzzles and the mystery. Jim is a funny narrator, and the author has created a detailed and engrossing landscape. This book seems perfect for readers who can tolerate a highly chilling ghost story with more than a hint of sadness, and have an interest in unraveling an intricate thread of mystery in a modern setting.