The book of blood and shadow by Robin Wasserman

Atom, 2012. ISBN 9871907411441.
Without a doubt, Robin Wasserman's Da Vinci Code for teens is as addictive and mysterious as its first line; 'I should probably start with the blood'. Wasserman cleverly dangles a carrot in front her readers . . . What blood? Whose blood? . . . so that they willingly follow from beginning to end.
Just one night, and Nora Kane's world was no more . . . as if darkness had consumed life as she knew it and left, trailing in its wake, a never-ending nightmare; her best friend confined within the walls of a mental asylum, her boyfriend gone without a trace (let alone a goodbye) and Chris . . . dead at her boyfriend's hands. Suddenly, Nora, a high school student, is handed a puzzle like none other to solve; not only does her boyfriend's fate rest with it but it's also . . . in Latin?
This cleverly written historical mystery follows Nora's journey as she traces 'the blood' overseas to the sinister streets of Prague, where its roots, she discovers, date far back to the 1500's. Soon, Nora finds herself in the middle of a centuries-old battle for the Lumen Dei, a divine device said to connect man and God. In the wrong hands, the world's fate is compromised . . .
Robin Wasserman ingenuously incorporates flashbacks from the past into The Book of Blood and Shadow so that the storyline becomes incredibly complex; readers are kept on their toes. Countless suspicious and mysterious characters appear throughout her novel . . . it is unpredictable and compelling until the very last page.
Emilia Corbo (Student)