Publication Date: 14 September 2023

The Blurb

Rachel and Robert have defeated the tyrant Malstain and become the heroes of Krasnia, but all is not how it should be. Robert is swept away with his new friends, leaving Rachel alone to take care of her ailing father, who’s lost without their beloved mother.

From nowhere, a boy appears knowing the secrets of the hidden blood-red key. For the key is a way into the Hinterland – and Rachel must promise that, as a new key keeper, she will answer when it calls. When a young girl, Elsa Spiegel, is illegally smuggled into the Hinterland, Rachel has no choice but to use her key to save Elsa. But her fate is linked to Krasnia, and Rachel must battle to save her home as she knows it.

The Review

There is always a weighty expectation with a follow up to a much loved book, and David has surpassed it with his second outing in Krasnia – an absolutely compelling read that took my breath away!

While Rachel and Robert are hailed as heroes for saving their nation, only one of them is enjoying the new found freedoms life has to offer. Robert is busy preparing for his speech with the gang, while Rachel is doing everything she can to support her grief stricken father. It is easy to empathise with her as she balances the responsibility for her family with the weight of a promise she made with little understanding of what it could entail.

We see yet more of David’s skilful world building as we venture fully into the Hinterland – the land of the dead – with it’s differing neighbourhoods, climates and colours to accommodate souls before their final journey based on the lives they lived. A world with it’s own rules and natural order hanging in the balance, Rachel shows courage, determination and sacrifice to ensure she stays on the right path and keeps her promise to save not only Elsa, but both her world and the next.

The creeping realisation of what is to become of Rachel and the girl she is determined to save at the hands of new treacherous characters is utterly chilling and had me gripped until the very last page. With a fate worse than death awaiting her, the twists and turns crank up the suspense while asking questions of what we would do in her shoes, especially when faced with the chance to be with her mother again, and how and when a person’s morality should be judged.

I truly hope this isn’t the last time we go adventuring in Krasnia.

Huge thanks to Fritha and Usborne for sending me a finished copy and making me a Keeper Of The Key.