Hollow City

Set during the 1940 Blitz of London, this second book in the Miss Peregrine series is even better than the first. The first book, while fascinating, relied on the reader's sympathy for its nebbishy protagonist, Jacob Portman, who risks seeming like just another wannabe Holden Caulfield. For those of us who have never been teenage boys, that sympathy was a tad hard to maintain. But the second volume concerns the whole gang of peculiar children, plus other people whom they meet on the road. The first book was delightfully open-ended but somewhat uneven in pace, while the second clicks along briskly from danger to rescue to danger to escape to danger. Riggs always maintains a humane perspective, and doesn't dwell too long on gore. His main problem is that every once in a while, he has to insert a big chunk of background information to keep his story going in the direction he chooses. Sometimes his choices seem arbitrary rather than organic.

The theme of “Hollow City” – resistance against world domination by racist, soul-splitting bad guys – is not so new or fresh, but Riggs creates an interesting world peopled by sympathetic characters. I enjoyed this even thought its not my usual kind of read.