Carnegie-nominated author, Lazlo Strangolov, is a chicken-fearing scholar of East European folktales and end time theorist based in rural Romania.
On New Year's Eve, 1999, fearing the end of the world, Lazlo retired to a secure bunker. Ever since, he has existed in a state of quiet embarrassment and intense contemplation. His revised predictions can be found scribbled throughout the pages of the two novels that have surfaced to date.
Published by Walker Books, and in translation in Germany and The Netherlands.
Kamil knows something sinister is going on in the woods.
Deep amongst the trees the old Squawk Box poultry farm is stirring back to life, but it doesn't seem to be processing chickens, and the villagers are too scared to ask questions. Questions like...
Why is Mister Petri, owner of the Squawk Box, supplying the enormous Cosmina Barbescu with extra rations? What has the local schoolmistress witnessed at the farm, and how does she keep losing her fingers? Why is that flock of chickens following Kamil everywhere he goes, and did that rabbit just explode?
Together with Flori, the poacher's daughter, Kamil investigates a mystery smelling mankier by the moment.
Feather and Bone is one of the spookiest, atmospheric, wonderfully absorbing books I have read so far this year. It’s everything I wanted The Series of Unfortunate Events to be. With respect to Lemony Snicket — Strangolov is better!
GleanerZine
Strangely unnerving.
The Bookseller
The humour throughout is darkest black, the style totally tongue-in-cheek and the whole concept hilarious – but not for the squeamish or for anyone with an allergy to poultry or associated odours.
Robert Dunbar, The Irish Times
Highly original, very entertaining, unfadingly black ... hilarious.
Books for Keeps
Little Lumina loves her pet beagle, Scud, even though he's been quietly brought back from the grave by her father.
Now stranger things are surfacing in the volcanic town which is home to Doctor Grubo's health clinic... Would the doctor erupt if he was wise to the kind of animal testing going on in the clinic's lab, or does he have a hidden interest in developments? Could Scud be responsible for licking roadkill back to life? A demon badger is bad enough, but can that really be a zombie swan? And how do you walk a part-decomposed hound without attracting attention - or flies?
Scud may be a one-eyed corpse dog, but as bedlam grips the town he can still smell a mystery. When the beagle goes missing, Lumina must fight tooth and claw to save his life. Again.
Extraordinary ... Strangolov creates a sense of menace and unease.
Literary Review
A page turner with darkly comic events that will have you amazed at the way the story unfolds. You won't be disappointed. Take my word for it.
The Red House
Gloriously scary, exciting and gruesome. In the hands of Strangolov, the question of 'what's lurking in the dark dark wood' is no longer a cliche.
Irish News
Absolutely wonderful.
Junior Eductation Plus