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The Secret of the Tirthas #2
The Book of Life
A sickly girl and her helper, trapped in a house on the swamp.
An English girl who arrives out of nowhere in the night.
A mystery that must be solved before all three can return to where they belong.
Exploring her inherited garden, Lizzie Jones is transported through another portal to the Louisianan swamp. There she is pursued by terrifying creatures to Cypress House, where an ill girl and her carer are trapped.
But Cypress House has its own mysteries Lizzie must solve before she can return home. Who is Caroline Day, the ‘ghost girl’, and what is her connection to Lizzie’s past? Why does the threatened hurricane never arrive? Who is the mysterious odd-job man, Mr Paterson? And how will Lizzie ever find the portal when it’s lost in the swamp?
A fast paced mystery adventure for lovers of His Dark Materials and Harry Potter.
Praise for ‘The City of Light’, Book 1 of The Secret of the Tirthas: “an entertaining and exciting book...I can’t wait to read the next adventure.” Guardian Children’s Books
An English girl who arrives out of nowhere in the night.
A mystery that must be solved before all three can return to where they belong.
Exploring her inherited garden, Lizzie Jones is transported through another portal to the Louisianan swamp. There she is pursued by terrifying creatures to Cypress House, where an ill girl and her carer are trapped.
But Cypress House has its own mysteries Lizzie must solve before she can return home. Who is Caroline Day, the ‘ghost girl’, and what is her connection to Lizzie’s past? Why does the threatened hurricane never arrive? Who is the mysterious odd-job man, Mr Paterson? And how will Lizzie ever find the portal when it’s lost in the swamp?
A fast paced mystery adventure for lovers of His Dark Materials and Harry Potter.
Praise for ‘The City of Light’, Book 1 of The Secret of the Tirthas: “an entertaining and exciting book...I can’t wait to read the next adventure.” Guardian Children’s Books
276 pages, Paperback
First published May 8, 2015
4 people are currently reading
605 people want to read
About the author
Steve Griffin
18 books127 followersSteve Griffin is the author of eighteen books, best known for his atmospheric ghost stories and supernatural thrillers - including the bestselling Ghosts of Alice series and his spine-tingling Christmas tales. His latest festive chiller, The Old Man of the Black, follows a young man and an enigmatic woman who must survive a night of ghostly terror when a blizzard traps them in a remote Scottish mansion.
Steve’s other books include The Secret of the Tirthas, a fast-paced mystery adventure series for young adults. The City of Light, the first in the series, was praised by The Guardian as “entertaining and exciting.” He lives in the Surrey Hills with his wife and two sons and when he’s not writing he’s out hiking, going to indie gigs, or watching classic horror films.
Follow him on Amazon or @stevegriffin.author for new releases and behind-the-scenes updates.
Steve’s other books include The Secret of the Tirthas, a fast-paced mystery adventure series for young adults. The City of Light, the first in the series, was praised by The Guardian as “entertaining and exciting.” He lives in the Surrey Hills with his wife and two sons and when he’s not writing he’s out hiking, going to indie gigs, or watching classic horror films.
Follow him on Amazon or @stevegriffin.author for new releases and behind-the-scenes updates.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 24, 2018
Time is of the essence. Time is ticking away. Time is running out like sand in an hour glass.
Lizzie starts to come into her own in this book. She develops and comes to know herself and trust herself. She discovers secrets but the meaning of those secrets are still hidden. I loved the way Lizzie grew and evolved. The secrets of the past affect and set the stage. This is Lizzie’s history. This is Lizzie’s reality. This is Lizzie’s story.
Lizzie is caught in the bayous of Louisiana with bleak possibilities of getting out. This tale of the
Tirthas takes a strange twist in this second book. It is eerie. I mean, a creepy kind of eeriness. The kind that gives you goosebumps, makes the hair on the back of your neck standup and makes you jump at the slightest sound because you just know….but you don’t know. And that is the scary part. I have been to the bayous of Louisiana and Mississippi in the middle of a hot afternoon and it gave me the heebie jeebies. The strangeness of this world envelopes you and holds you captive as if the curtains of moss hanging from the trees are closing in on you and you just know the alligators are sneaking up on you. The silence is broken only by a faint slithering sound or a call from an occasional bird. I felt it all…the whole terror of it alongside Lizzie. The author took me to this place and I went willingly and I would go again.
Lizzie starts to come into her own in this book. She develops and comes to know herself and trust herself. She discovers secrets but the meaning of those secrets are still hidden. I loved the way Lizzie grew and evolved. The secrets of the past affect and set the stage. This is Lizzie’s history. This is Lizzie’s reality. This is Lizzie’s story.
Lizzie is caught in the bayous of Louisiana with bleak possibilities of getting out. This tale of the
Tirthas takes a strange twist in this second book. It is eerie. I mean, a creepy kind of eeriness. The kind that gives you goosebumps, makes the hair on the back of your neck standup and makes you jump at the slightest sound because you just know….but you don’t know. And that is the scary part. I have been to the bayous of Louisiana and Mississippi in the middle of a hot afternoon and it gave me the heebie jeebies. The strangeness of this world envelopes you and holds you captive as if the curtains of moss hanging from the trees are closing in on you and you just know the alligators are sneaking up on you. The silence is broken only by a faint slithering sound or a call from an occasional bird. I felt it all…the whole terror of it alongside Lizzie. The author took me to this place and I went willingly and I would go again.
May 23, 2015
A terrific read for young adults (and older readers would enjoy it as well) which goes deeper into the mystery of the Tirthas - a network of portals accessed from a Heredfordshire garden - connecting other times and places. It is darker than the first book of the series and places Lizzie, its young heroine in more peril as she fights evil in the swamp lands of Louisiana.
The author has a gift for describing places without ever letting his descriptions get in the way of the story and the atmosphere of the swamps comes over very well.
The author has a gift for describing places without ever letting his descriptions get in the way of the story and the atmosphere of the swamps comes over very well.
June 16, 2016
This is a great follow up to The City of Light; in fact I found it even more of a page-turner than the first book. Entertaining for teenagers and adults alike, most of the tale is set in the swamps of Louisiana. Our young heroine Lizzie appears to be stuck in some kind of time-warp and finds herself facing voodoo, zombie-like creatures and the sinister Mr Paterson. Neatly woven through this storyline we learn more about the Tirthas and mysterious Book of Life. An intriguing final chapter leaves you waiting eagerly for the final instalment of the trilogy.
June 16, 2015
Thoroughly enjoyable sequel to 'The City of Light' - pacy and atmospheric. Great for young/mid teens and up. Recommended.
April 30, 2021
I fully enjoyed the original and imaginative first book in Mr. Griffin’s Secret of Tirthas series, The City of Light, and this past week I happily dove into book 2, The Book of Life. It is wonderful! It is also darker than the first. Its mysteries and dangers are so engaging that I read it in two sessions. In fact, I read it half way through, went sleep early and woke up at 5:30 am and finished it! That’s how much I enjoyed it. Though targeted for tweens and teens, I just had to know more about the secrets of the Tirthas.
As we learn in the first book, Lizzie’s beloved father has died and she has also inherited her Great Uncle’s cottage surrounded by elaborate gardens in the countryside of Heredfordshire, England, where she moves with her mom. We learn the garden holds a travel portal that takes her to India and on a life and death adventure. She meets the teen boy Pandu and Raz the detective, who help her. There are demons and an evil priestess and mysterious links back to her uncle, neighbors and the garden itself, built by her uncle. The garden has many secrets to unfold, with the possibility of other portals to who knows where.
In The Book of Life, Griffin’s powerful skills as a writer creates an atmosphere and a setting that becomes a character in and of itself. Lizzie discovers another portal and it takes her to an eerie mansion in the bayous of Louisiana. Time seems to stand still and the estate, called Cypress House, is surrounded by swamp and is filled with terrifying creatures. There is Hoodoo and witchcraft and so many secrets and secret plans. She doesn’t know how she is going to find her way back through the swamp to the portal that will take her back home. The inhabitants of the house are a strange young girl her age named Caroline Day, who Lizzie begins to realize may be linked to her and her family, Lola, the housekeeper and a parental substitute for Caroline, loving, protective but frightened, and a very strange man, Mr. Paterson, who begins to creep Lizzie out. Lizzie must be brave, braver than ever, in order to survive and help Miss Day. Pandu returns and plays an important role.
I love how Lizzie’s character develops in the second book. You see into her mind, live her adventure with her, know how she thinks and applaud her willingness to face what needs to be faced, to make decisions and to search for solutions. She is growing up and we are proud of her.
I will be reading all five books written in The Secret of Tirthas. These books will become influential and memorable to young fantasy lovers. The series has everything it needs to become a classic with lasting impact on children’s literature.
As we learn in the first book, Lizzie’s beloved father has died and she has also inherited her Great Uncle’s cottage surrounded by elaborate gardens in the countryside of Heredfordshire, England, where she moves with her mom. We learn the garden holds a travel portal that takes her to India and on a life and death adventure. She meets the teen boy Pandu and Raz the detective, who help her. There are demons and an evil priestess and mysterious links back to her uncle, neighbors and the garden itself, built by her uncle. The garden has many secrets to unfold, with the possibility of other portals to who knows where.
In The Book of Life, Griffin’s powerful skills as a writer creates an atmosphere and a setting that becomes a character in and of itself. Lizzie discovers another portal and it takes her to an eerie mansion in the bayous of Louisiana. Time seems to stand still and the estate, called Cypress House, is surrounded by swamp and is filled with terrifying creatures. There is Hoodoo and witchcraft and so many secrets and secret plans. She doesn’t know how she is going to find her way back through the swamp to the portal that will take her back home. The inhabitants of the house are a strange young girl her age named Caroline Day, who Lizzie begins to realize may be linked to her and her family, Lola, the housekeeper and a parental substitute for Caroline, loving, protective but frightened, and a very strange man, Mr. Paterson, who begins to creep Lizzie out. Lizzie must be brave, braver than ever, in order to survive and help Miss Day. Pandu returns and plays an important role.
I love how Lizzie’s character develops in the second book. You see into her mind, live her adventure with her, know how she thinks and applaud her willingness to face what needs to be faced, to make decisions and to search for solutions. She is growing up and we are proud of her.
I will be reading all five books written in The Secret of Tirthas. These books will become influential and memorable to young fantasy lovers. The series has everything it needs to become a classic with lasting impact on children’s literature.
April 26, 2024
The second novel in the The Secret of the Tirthas series, The Book of Life, is a fast-paced, creepy and sometimes downright disturbing read. Venturing through another Tirtha portal, Lizzie finds herself in a backwater in the Deep South, USA, where zombies, curses, and witches are all too real.
I gobbled up this book in three days and could imagine a younger reader being sucked into the world the author has created. The main character, Lizzie, is very relatable. She has no superpowers and is sometimes terrified of the things she confronts, but bravely tackles them head-on.
I’ve read book one in the series, which was very enjoyable, but have to say I liked this book even more. The series has hit its stride and the breathless pace of the plot suits the sense of time slipping away that Lizzie experiences. I also liked that characters from book one were given their own sub-plot so Lizzie didn’t have all the fun.
A first-class read for ages thirteen and upwards that even this reader in her mid-fifties thoroughly enjoyed.
I gobbled up this book in three days and could imagine a younger reader being sucked into the world the author has created. The main character, Lizzie, is very relatable. She has no superpowers and is sometimes terrified of the things she confronts, but bravely tackles them head-on.
I’ve read book one in the series, which was very enjoyable, but have to say I liked this book even more. The series has hit its stride and the breathless pace of the plot suits the sense of time slipping away that Lizzie experiences. I also liked that characters from book one were given their own sub-plot so Lizzie didn’t have all the fun.
A first-class read for ages thirteen and upwards that even this reader in her mid-fifties thoroughly enjoyed.
March 16, 2023
After reading the first novel in this series three years ago, it has been great to get back to "The Secrets of the Tirthas".
I had wondered whether the novel would have a similar set up to the first book. With Lizzie discovering a new portal and transporting her to a foreign land to explore. However, Steve Griffin throws us in at the deep in with a chase through the Louisiana Swamp with a setting and a mystery that is shrouded in secrets.
I felt the first book was about the complexity of transitioning from a teenager into an adult. "The Book of Life" continues with this theme. A lot of this comes from the fact that Lizzie has to question her situation and surrounding. Something that is very easy for teenager not to do. Mainly because they have spent their whole lives being taught that the world is the way it is because...it is.
All in all I can't wait for the third book in the series.
I had wondered whether the novel would have a similar set up to the first book. With Lizzie discovering a new portal and transporting her to a foreign land to explore. However, Steve Griffin throws us in at the deep in with a chase through the Louisiana Swamp with a setting and a mystery that is shrouded in secrets.
I felt the first book was about the complexity of transitioning from a teenager into an adult. "The Book of Life" continues with this theme. A lot of this comes from the fact that Lizzie has to question her situation and surrounding. Something that is very easy for teenager not to do. Mainly because they have spent their whole lives being taught that the world is the way it is because...it is.
All in all I can't wait for the third book in the series.
January 29, 2021
This is the second book of the Secret of the Tirthas and I loved it! It is a lot darker than the first one and couldn’t get any better! Lizzie finds herself in the Louisiana bayous dealing with a vicious houdou man who has stopped time around a mansion and created zombie like creatures to serve his nefarious intentions. At the same time we encounter Pandu and Raj, Lizzie’s friends from the first book plus a few villains that we’ve met previously. I don’t want to give the story away but this was a brilliantly written book and, as mentioned, a lot darker than the first one. Just right up my alley. Strongly recommend it. Can’t wait to see what the next book is going to bring!
August 19, 2016
Fast paced mystery adventure in a 'Southern Gothic' setting. Some of it was pretty creepy. Very enjoyable, for kids and grown ups!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews