The title says it all: when Book 3 brought the Skulduggery series into violent yet dull new territory, the status of the next instalment seemed to indicate it would be too dark for any age group to truly enjoy. Thank goodness, then, that Derek Landy retreats here into well-trodden ground, quickly reuniting the central protagonists after their strange separation at the climax of the previous novel, and gangs together some of the deadliest and thus most dangerous remnants of previous baddie groups, preparing both sides for an all-out tussle in a football stadium. If all this sounds a bit unrealistic, then Dark Days certainly won't be your cup of tea, but Book 3 took itself far too seriously and was all the worse for it, so this change in believability makes for a higher standard. Overall, while as usual Landy fails to inject enough emotion or general power into his various plots (the so-called romance between Valkyrie and Fletcher is nigh-on painful to read at times), he certainly provides a decent romp with Dark Days, and leaves the series in good condition for September's Book 5.
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