Author Thomas Taylor.

In a mysterious place called Eerie-on-sea,in the modern day, there is a legend about a half man- half fish monster called the Malamander. Is it real? If so, who will get it’s egg of wishes?

Herbie Lemon ( the lost and founder of the Grand Nautilus Hotel in Eerie-on-sea) lives in the hotel’s basement. When a mysterious girl crashes into his room, and cries “Hide Me!”, he is shortly visited by a man Herbie calls ‘Boathook man’, because he has a boathook on one hand. He used to be the captain of a battleship called the Leviathan, but he got into a battle with the Malamander, and he got cursed to live forever. Now he is Boathook man, and he always wishes he could turn back into his old self. When Herbie asks him what he has lost, he says ‘Girl’. When Herbie lies to him that he doesn’t have a girl, Boathook Man starts ramsacking the place, and searching for the girl. Miraculously, he doesn’t find her, but every once in a while in the book, he finds them and starts chasing Herbie and Violet (which was the name of the girl) until he loses them. The author doesn’t describe the characters as good or evil, however, the actions that the characters do, tells us whether they are good or bad.

In the story, a lot of strange things happen, which leads them to believe that the Malamander is real. When they find the missing page of a book about the Malamander, they are about to read what the Malamander’s weakness is, when Sebastian Eels, the bookseller snatches it from them and reads it! Then he goes to the wreck of the Leviathan to kill the Malamander, and Violet and Herbie follow him…

I liked the book, because it was very exciting in my opinion. My personal favourite part was the ending, because there was a lot of action, although it wasn’t such a happy ending. I would recommend this book to people who like magic, and also to people who like thrillers. I would give this book a five star rating.