cover image He Came from the Shadows

He Came from the Shadows

Chris Westwood. HarperCollins Publishers, $14.95 (215pp) ISBN 978-0-06-021658-0

A stranger calling himself Mr. Stands comes to Eastfield, a dying English mining town, and offers to make people's wishes come true. A toy dog becomes real and longed-for luxuries suddenly appear, apparently at his command. Jules, Rachel and Jules's brainy friend Steve are suspicious of Stands's motives and the minor miracles he works. Predictably, few other townspeople are. Stands promises--or threatens--his masterwork on a mysterious, unnamed Big Day. Then Laurie, Jules's sister, disappears, and the threesome tracks Stands and Laurie to the town's closed mine. There all is climactically revealed--not only Stands's plan and Laurie's place in it, but also how he can be stopped. Westwood's suspenseful supernatural fantasy rises above certain trite elements (among them, Jules's and Rachel's inevitable romance). He offers some surprises, too, and brings to life the gritty details of contemporary life in England and whispers a question: ``Do we really want all our wishes to come true?'' This compelling story will reach even those readers not normally addicted to the fantasy genre. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)