Upon his return home after vanquishing the threat of Caul and his army of Hollows, Jacob Portman has returned home to parents who question his sanity.

As they set off to admit him to an asylum, the car is suddenly brought to a halt by a blockade of people.

Jacob questions his own sanity at the sight of his beloved Emma and the rest of his peculiar friends. 

As far as he knew, they were unable to leave the Devil’s Acre loop in which he had left them. 

With Jacob’s parents placed in an induced sleep, his peculiar friends explain how their time clocks have been reset, enabling them to live each day like Jacob. 

Following Miss Peregrine’s creation of a portal in Jacob’s very own back yard, Jacob is taken back to Devil’s Acre and overwhelmed by fans due to his heroics in the previous novel.

There, the Ymbryne Council employ, Jacob and his hero friends with jobs that are so mundane, they can’t help but feel poorly rewarded for their efforts.  

With the discovery of a bunker beneath Jacob’s grandfather’s home, Jacob uncovers a journal containing a list of secret missions his Grandfather, Abe Portman carried out with an unknown person named H.

Jacob establishes contact with H and with his friends along for the ride, goes against the Ymbryne’s wishes; embarking on a mission in the footsteps of Abe Portman.

I read and enjoyed all three previous novels in the Peculiar Children series, presumably to the end. 

I hadn’t anticipated another release. I was however pleasantly surprised by the arrival of this fourth instalment.

It had been a while since reading the series. Nevertheless, The Map of Days picks up right where the Library of Souls ended and so was like picking up conversation with an old friend. 

Although at times I found myself disliking the main character, I found that because this novel was not required to complete the series, it was a true adventure, spontaneous and less of a designed piece of the puzzle. I look forward to the next chapter.

All four books in the Peculiar Children series are now available from the Raven’s Parlour book store, Tanunda.

>> Todd Kuchel, writer, book reviewer and contributor to The Barossa Mag