Gatekeepers - Robert Liparulo

The only thing separating the end of Watcher in the Woods and the beginning of Gatekeepers are the book’s covers. Liparulo wastes no time launching the Dreamhouse Kings right back into the middle of the action. This time Xander and David are in the middle of the Civil War searching for…well, the same thing they’ve been searching for since the beginning…their mother.

Gatekeepers is the key to understanding what is house is, what is does, and the nature of the portals on the mysterious third floor. We are introduced to Jesse and Keal, an old man and his ex-military nurse, who play an integral part in the story to come. Jesse, it seems, knows more about the house than anyone. The Kings’ are gatekeepers, he tells them, and it’s up to them to make sure history happens correctly. Go through a portal and change the past, and the present may not be anything the same.

But as the Kings’ understanding of the house grows, so does their alarm. More rests on their shoulders than they realize. And Taksidian, a cruel man with a strange and mysterious past, redoubles his efforts to get the Kings out of the house. He’s connected to the house closer than the Kings can understand, but how?

As you close the pages of Gatekeepers, its last words will sing a haunting melody in your ears. The Kings stand before a scene that causes them to realize that the stakes are infinitely higher than just getting Mrs. King back, and then you read the words…NOT THE END.

If you haven’t read books 1-2 of this series, then you are going to need to do so before digging into Gatekeepers, otherwise you’ll find yourself more confused than the Kings are. Gatekeepers expands upon and intensifies the foundations set forth in the first two books. The introduction of Jesse and Keal to the story serves to provide some outside brain and brawn to help the Kings solve this mystery they couldn’t solve on their own. This series just keeps getting better. Each book brings the story to new heights, and yet three books remain to the saga.

Note: Interested in winning an autographed copy of House of Dark Shadows? Well, who isn’t? Comment on my review of Watcher in the Woods and be entered. Contest ends Saturday, so comment now!

Gatekeepers - Robert Liparulo