Even if you haven't read the prequel, Fly by Night (as I haven't), you will still fly through Fly Trap by Frances Hardinge, staying up far later than you should to find out what happens next. Mosca Mye is one feisty, clever, courageous, endearing super-heroine ready to take on evil and corruption regardless of the danger it puts her in. She has just escaped from the city of Mandelion, where she, her sometimes con-man friend Eponymous Clent, and her goose guard Saracen helped foment a revolution. Now the trio is trapped in the wealthy, but "stinkin', rotten" city of Toll that operates like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Hidden behind the white-washed daytime walls is another entire city of oppressed people who are only allowed to venture out at night; a dark time ruled by an underground syndicate of Locksmiths. While trying to invent a scheme to raise money to pay the high toll to get out of Toll, Mosca and her friends become embroiled in the city's twisting politics, a kidnapping, and plots and counter-plots that leave you guessing and breathless at the end of each chapter. Mosca's world is so vividly created that you feel as if you are right there with her and the characters are people you know. Questions and issues raised in this suspenseful story will leave you pondering long after you close the book. Artistic touches of humor keep the novel from becoming too heavy. This superb adventure is a must read for the summer!
(Visit Frances Hardinge's webite too!)