The Beast of Noor

Carey (The Double Life of Zoe Flynn) begins her atmospheric thriller with a doozy of a premise: 300 years ago, a man named Rory Sheen handed over his beloved dog to the Grim Reaper in order to spare his own life: ""Your master has betrayed you,"" he tells Rory's dog, ""And through his betrayal man's best friend becomes his worst enemy."" This story is repeated through the years, up to the present, when siblings Miles, 15, and 13-year-old Hanna Ferrell find the body of a girl in Shalem Wood who has been killed by an animal, the bones picked clean. Even though the townsfolk suspect the demon dog (the Shriker), they blame the Ferrells, for they are the descendants of Rory Sheen and thus treated as outsiders. An encounter with the Sylth Queen in the forest garners Miles the gift of shapeshifting-an ability also possessed by the Shriker-and he becomes obsessed with killing the beast, in hopes of ending the family curse. But when Miles assumes the form of a wolf, and experiences its hunger, the distinction between man and animal begins to dissolve. Readers might be conflicted about how the beast meets its end-the explanation may be too rosy for a story this dark-but the idea that kindness conquers all is ultimately a satisfying one. Ages 10-14.