Skulduggery Pleasant: Books 1 - 3: the Faceless Ones Trilogy: Skulduggery Pleasant, Playing with Fire, the Faceless Ones

Meet the great Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course). Oh yeah. And dead. Then there's his sidekick, Stephanie. She's...well, she's a twelve-year-old girl. With a pair like this on the case, evil had better watch out..."So you won't keep anything from me again? "He put his hand to his chest. "Cross my heart and hope to die." "Okay then. Though you don't actually have a heart," she said. "I know." "And technically, you've already died." "I know that too." "Just so we're clear." Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source – the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard. When all hell breaks loose, it's lucky for Skulduggery that he's already dead. Though he's about to discover that being a skeleton doesn't stop you from being tortured, if the torturer is determined enough. And if there's anything Skulduggery hates, it's torture...Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing's for sure: evil won't know what's hit it. Just when you think you've saved the world...You will kill her? the Torment asked. Skulduggery sagged. "Yes." He hesitated, then took his gun from his jacket. "I'm sorry, Valkyrie," he said softly. "Don't talk to me," Valkyrie said. "Just do what you have to do." Valkyrie parted her tunic, and Skulduggery pointed the gun at the vest beneath. "Please forgive me," Skulduggery said, then aimed the gun at the girl and pulled the trigger. With Serpine dead, the world is safe once more. At least, that's what Valkyrie and Skulduggery think, until the notorious Baron Vengeous makes a bloody escape from prison, and dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. With Baron Vengeous after the deadly armour of Lord Vile, and pretty much everyone out to kill Valkyrie, the daring detective duo face their biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home...? Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yeah. And dead. Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source – the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard. When all hell breaks loose, it's lucky for Skulduggery that he's already dead. Though he's about to discover that being a skeleton doesn't stop you from being tortured, if the torturer is determined enough. And if there's anything Skulduggery hates, it's torture... Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing's for sure: evil won't know what's hit it. The third bone-breaking, belly-busting adventure in the series that puts the "funny" back in...um...funny series. That didn't really work, did it?If you've read the previous Skulduggery books then you know what the Faceless Ones are – and if you know what the Faceless Ones are, then you can probably take a wild guess that things in this book are going to get AWFULLY sticky for our skeletal hero and his young sidekick. If you haven't read the previous Skulduggery books then what are you doing reading this? Go and read them right now, so that you know what all that stuff in the previous paragraph was about. Done? Good. So now you're on tenterhooks too, desperately awaiting the answers to all your questions, and instead you're going to have to wait to read the book. Sorry about that. At least, that's what Valkyrie and Skulduggery think, until the notorious Baron Vengeous makes a bloody escape from prison, and dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. With Baron Vengeous after the deadly armour of Lord Vile, and pretty much everyone out to kill Valkyrie, the daring detective duo face their biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home ...?Praise for Skulduggery Pleasant:'Skulduggery Pleasant serves up a thoroughly satisfying blend of humour, magic and adventure. Once you've met Stephanie and Skulduggery, you'll be clamouring for a sequel' Rick Riordan'Hugely enjoyable - a thrill-a-minute adventure' Jonathan Stroud 'exciting, pacy, nicely handled and fun' Philip Ardagh, Guardian Together for the first time, books 1, 2 and 3 in the Skulduggery Pleasant – the biggest, funniest, most thrilling comedy-horror-adventure series in the universe! From number-one-bestselling author Derek Landy. Book 1: SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT. Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yes, and dead. Book 2: PLAYING WITH FIRE. Vengeous. Dusk. Sanguine. Three of the deadliest killers alive are in town to resurrect an unstoppable creature of horrifying power... and only Skulduggery and Valkyrie stand in their way. Book 3: THE FACELESS ONES. You've seen it all before: some bad guy wants to bring about the end of the world. A few people get hurt, sure, but everything's all right in the end. Well... not this time. Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yes. And dead. If you've read the previous Skulduggery books then you know what the Faceless Ones are – and if you know what the Faceless Ones are, then you can probably take a wild guess that things in this book are going to get AWFULLY sticky for our skeletal hero and his young sidekick. If you haven't read the previous Skulduggery books then what are you doing reading this? Go and read them right now, so that you know what all that stuff in the previous paragraph was about. Done? Good. So now you're on tenterhooks too, desperately awaiting the answers to all your questions, and instead you're going to have to wait to read the book. Sorry about that. If you haven't read the previous Skulduggery books then what are you doing reading this? Go and read them right now, so that you know what all that stuff in the previous paragraph was about. Done? Good. So now you're on tenterhooks too, desperately awaiting the answers to all your questions, and instead you're going to have to wait to read the book. Sorry about that. Praise for Skulduggery Pleasant:'Skulduggery Pleasant serves up a thoroughly satisfying blend of humour, magic and adventure. Once you've met Stephanie and Skulduggery, you'll be clamouring for a sequel' Rick Riordan'Hugely enjoyable - a thrill-a-minute adventure' Jonathan Stroud 'exciting, pacy, nicely handled and fun' Philip Ardagh, Guardian Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: detective, sorcerer, warrior. Oh yes. And dead. With Serpine dead, the world is safe once more. At least, that's what Valkyrie and Skulduggery think, until the notorious Baron Vengeous makes a bloody escape from prison, and dead bodies and vampires start showing up all over Ireland. With Baron Vengeous after the deadly armour of Lord Vile, and pretty much everyone out to kill Valkyrie, the daring detective duo face their biggest challenge yet. But what if the greatest threat to Valkyrie is just a little closer to home...? Meet Skulduggery Pleasant: ace detective, snappy dresser, razor-tongued wit, crackerjack sorcerer, and walking, talking, fire-throwing skeleton. As well as ally, protector, and mentor of Stephanie Edgely, a very unusual and darkly talented twelve-year-old. These two alone stand in the way of an all-consuming ancient evil When the evil Baron Vengeous escapes from prison, Detective Skulduggery Pleasant and his apprentice, Valkyrie Cain, have just two days to recapture him or the Baron's creature, the Grotesquery, may summon the Faceless Ones back to their world Fourteen-year-old Valkyrie and the skeleton mage, Skulduggery Pleasant, try to foil a plot set in motion fifty years before to find and open the gate that will allow the Faceless Ones to return to this reality When twelve-year-old Stephanie inherits her weird uncle's estate, she must join forces with Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton mage, to save the world from the Faceless Ones