One of the best things about Rick Riordan’s PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS series being such a massive hit (beyond the fact that they’re just great books) is that now there are lots of other Greek mythology-based books, too. I enjoyed last year’s THE NIGHT TOURIST, based on the Orpheus myth – the story of a boy named Jack who ends up on a journey to the Underworld searching for his missing mother. It was more serious than Percy (although it did have its lighter moments) and included a lot of references to hidden spots below New York, a subject that has always fascinated me (abandoned subway stops and that sort of thing).

Jack’s story continues in THE TWILIGHT PRISONER, and this time Marsh is weaving in the Persephone myth. Jack’s back at school and back in his normal life, but for some reason he’s still seeing ghosts. This is not only bothering him, it’s interfering with his clumsy attempts to get his Latin Club-mate and friend Cora to see him as…something more. In a misguided moment he decides to impress her by leading her to the mouth of the Underworld, but Cerberus is on the hunt for him and they end up having to cross over.

As soon as they enter the Underworld, they run into Euri, Jack’s friend from the first novel (who still hasn’t crossed over to Elysium, where ghosts go to be forever once their issues with their former lives are resolved). Euri seems annoyed by Cora and is behaving oddly, haunting a strange man and refusing to explain herself to Jack. She agrees to help them, though, and the trio goes on a mad run through New York – both above and underground – so that Jack and Cora can return to the world of the living before three days have passed. If they do not, they will have to stay in the Underworld forever.

This clever take on a familiar tale will have you wondering which myth Marsh plans to tackle next. I think this book is better than the first, and look forward to a third (if one is planned). Marsh weaves the mythology in a very subtle manner, making it an accent rather than the complete focus of the tale, and manages to create a version of the Underworld all her own.

Publisher: Hyperion

Pub Date: April 7, 2009