The Shadow in the North (Cover to Cover)

Rating:
Summary: A touch of James Bond, but otherwise great.
Review: I, personally, enjoyed the Shadow in the North even more than the Ruby in the Smoke. It is a continuization of the young victorian heroine Sally Lockhart (now 22), who certainly seems to attract shady business wherever she goes. Pullman's chracterizations are amazing, and his descriptions of everything make you feel like you're watching it as a movie.
However, I do feel like throwing something sharp and heavy at his head right now, like perhaps a big book about subliminal aggression towards love; as the end of this book and the end of the Amber Spyglass have similarly disturbing endings concerning romance. Also, the machine at the climax of the book is a bit far-fetched for the setting. It sounds like something out of a James Bond movie.
The plot is perfectly paced: Beggining with the sinking of a ship and ending with a diabolical plot to control lots of whatever (in the grand tradition of slimy, psychopathic villains) . The way all the characters are interconnected is clever and actually plausible. Of all the colorful characters, the best one is Jim, Sally Lockhart's cockney-type friend who spends his time reading and writing melodramas and working in the theatre. I never wanted to stop reading this book, and I will definentely get the Tiger in the Well. Strongly recommended, despite the far-fetched moments.
***Post script concerning sex in this book: For all you parent-type people who are worried about how appropriate this is for your Young Children, you can relax. It's nothing graphic, so it would probably be appropriate for anyone 5th grade or up. But my friend read it in the third grade and said it kind of freaked her out then.***

Rating:
Summary: A Trilogy of Mystery
Review: Sally Lockhart, a financial consultant, has just found out that one of her clients lost all the money she invested in a company that went bankrupt. In order to get her money back, Sally decides to investigate who was in charge of the company and why it went bankrupt.
At the same time, Sally's friends Fred and Jim are trying to figure out who is trying to kill a famous magician, Mackinnon. This magician can see images of something that happened by touching an object. He once saw a murder taking place using this talent, but he did not see the murderer of the victim. The person who is trying to kill Mackinnon was the murderer, and he thinks Mackinnon knows everything.
The man who Sally is looking for is the same man who is trying to kill Mackinnon, but they do not realize this until later.
As they are trying to solve these mysteries, Sally realizes that she is in love with Fred, as he had said many times. Jim falls in love with Mackinnon's wife, the daughter of a duke.
I liked this book because it had two mysteries going on at the same time, but in the end they met up and were really just one mystery. This book had mystery, suspense, romance, and tragedy all in one. Sally and Fred realize they love each other but something happens to keep them apart. This is the second book in a trilogy. I read the first one, A Ruby in the Smoke, which I loved, so I thought I would like this one. There is also a third book and another trilogy by the same author, The Golden Compass trilogy, which I also liked a lot. I thought The Shadow in the North was just as good, if not better, as these other books by Philip Pullman.

Rating:
Summary: Continuing mystery and suspense
Review: The Shadow in the North follows on from Philip Pullman's 'The Ruby in The Smoke'. Sally Lockhard is no longer 16, she's a young, fiercly independent woman with a mystery to solve.

As before, Pullman draws on his knowledge of Victorian London (and, almost certainly, his interest in photography). The Shadow in the North is one of Pullman's masterpieces of characterization. He has the phenominal ability to make his readers fall totally in love with his main characters - even to the point of infatuation and, at the end of SITN, you know Sally Lockhart as well as you would know your own daughter. You're proud of her. You even wish you could be like her.

Exquisitely written, The Shadow in the North is packed tight with diverse, often terrifying characters. The plot takes dark, unexpected twists. The story-telling is amazing. Pullman is one of the few authors who succeeds on both sides of the Atlantic. When you read his books, you know why. The Shadow in the North is entirely impossible to put down until you've turned the final page... then you want more.

Rating:
Summary: The Best of the Trilogy
Review: The Shadow in the North, the third book in the Sally Lockhart Trilogy, is the best in the series. The book is wonderfully written with and excellent, but complicated, plot.Six years later Sally Lockhart is a 21 year old financial consultant and Fredrick Garland and 20-something photographer and private detective become involved in a mystery or murder and fraud. Sally refuses to accept that her relationship with Fred is becoming something more then friendship.... You'll be smiling through your tears!!! Its a must read that you can't put down. You'll probably end up reading it a dozen times.The ending is sad , a happier ending may have been better, but its one more obsticle Sally must overcome in her life. The Shadow in the North is absouloutly the best in the series, not saying the others were bad they too were excellent. I recomend reading the books in order , their more enjoyable that way!! But no matter how you read them make sure you read The Shadow in the North!!

Rating:
Summary: best in the trilogy
Review: This is by far the best book in the Sally Lockhart trilogy. The first and third are very good but don't have the emotional intensity of this. The plot is well written and horrifying while being a lot easier to follow than The Tiger in the Well. The ending is heart-wrenching but without it the third wouldn't work and it is a tribute to Pullman's writing skills that this is only the second book that has ever made me cry. Although the plot is full of tension and makes you want to read on and on I feel that the main focus of this book is Sally's relationship with Fred and her battle to interpret her feelings for him. The character's are what makes a book and this is no exception. The goodies are vivd, funny and lovable and the baddies, although ultimately evil manage to throw in a few shocking twists.

I think it is essential to read the books in order. Reading the third before this would remove the horror of the ending and most of the plot since it is summarised in the Tiger in the Well. All in all one of the best books I've read. Thrilling and heart breaking.