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Nice little story, although I wonder if it has enough excitement to satisfy young'uns raised on the Harry Potter series. This was Ruiz-Zafon's first novel, originally published in 1992, so don't expect the depth and genius of The Shadow of the Wind. Still, there are a lot of elements I think will appeal to kids: the weird cat, the sunken ship, the old film reels, the clown (somewhat reminiscent of Stephen King's Pennywise).

The first half of the book is fairly ordinary. I kept wondering when it would get scary. The second half is much more exciting and supernatural. All in all, I liked the story, but felt there were some aspects of the plot and characters that were underdeveloped or insufficiently explained. Great stuff for a first effort though. Fans of his more recent adult novels will recognize the author's gift for using weather and architecture to set the scene and build suspense.