Cassandra Clareworked for several years as an entertainment journalist for the Hollywood Reporter before turning her attention to fiction.The Mortal Instrumentstrilogy has been on many bestseller lists. Cassandra lives in an old Victorian house in Western Massachusetts with her fiance, two cats, and lots and lots of books. Visit her website at CassandraClare.com. Learn more aboutThe Mortal Instrumentstrilogy at MortalInstruments.com. Learn about her new trilogyThe Infernal Devicesat TheInfernalDevices.com. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

This Buffy-esque YA novel does not translate well to the audio medium, and part of the problem lies in the story's pacing. Teenager Clary discovers she can see supernatural beings that no one else can, gets drawn into the world of the "Shadowhunters" (teens who kill demons and monsters) and learns that her mother is somehow mysteriously connected to all the strange happenings around her. As a result, a good chunk of the novel consists of long explanatory passages, as various characters fill Clary in on supernatural creatures, the history and rules of the Shadowhunters and her mother's entanglements-all of which come across as tedious lectures. In addition, narrator Graynor makes almost no attempt to differentiate the various teen characters' voices. Only the minor character Dorothea, played as a faux witch with a gravelly New York accent, is memorable. Graynor also frequently ignores the author's explicit textual directives, such as "[Simon] came back, sounding worried" or "The tone of arrogant superiority was back in [Jace's] voice," for her performance, making this a program with an intriguing premise and cast but disappointing execution. Ages 14-up. (May) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information