The Haunting of Tram Car 015

December 1, 2018

In 1912 Cairo, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities takes on cases considered abnormal by the wider world but quotidian enough to the ministry. This latest case is something different. When Agent Hamed Nasr and new partner Agent Onsi Yousef arrive at what seems to be a possessed tram car, they discover more than they were expecting. While trying to solve the case with minimal resources, Hamed and Onsi encounter suffragists, a smuggling ring, and sentient automatons. As they close in on the truth, Hamed and Onsi realize that a tram car is the least of their worries: all of Cairo may be at stake from a danger that spans the magical and mundane, requiring all their skills to stop it. VERDICT This novella sequel to A Dead Djinn in Cairo keeps a tight hold through its well-crafted characters and absorbing alternate Egyptian landscape. Recommended for fans of the first book in this new series.--Kristi Chadwick, Massachusetts Lib. Syst., Northampton

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2019
Clark (The Black God's Drums, 2018) continues to astound readers with his creativity and exploration of different supernatural entities. While his first book delved into African orishas in 1871 New Orleans, The Haunting of Tram Car 015 introduces djinn, Asian spirits, and automatons. Forty years prior to the start of the book, a doorway opened to the other-realm, unleashing djinn and other entities into this world, helping to free Egypt from British influence and become a world power. Agent Hamer Nasd is an experienced member of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities, the government branch that gets called in when something supernatural misbehaves. The mystery of a haunted tram car thrusts Hamed and his new partner, Onsi Youssef, into the midst of Cairo's other religious beliefs as they seek a low-budget option to deal with the possessed tram car. In the process, they discover a sentient automaton, a smuggling ring, and are inadvertently swept into the suffragette movement. This book will delight readers of all ages.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)