Skulduggery Pleasant: The Faceless Ones
Derek Landy
 Valkyrie Cain and Skulduggery Pleasant are investigating the murders of four Teleporters. After discovering the recent murders may have been linked to a Teleporter murder 50 years ago, Skulduggery and Valkyrie talk to the Sea Hag in the lake and they discover that a man named Batu killed the Teleporter. They discover that the Isthmus Anchor and a Teleporter can open a gateway to the Faceless Ones. With China Sorrows's help they locate a teenage boy named Fletcher Renn, who is an unskilled Teleporter, and save him from Billy-Ray Sanguine who is working for the Diablerie. Batu, the head of the Diablerie, wants to use Fletcher to open the portal. Tanith Low is guarding another Teleporter, but is distracted with a phone call, and she finds him dead in his apartment. Tanith is ambushed, but escapes with a few injuries. Skulduggery and Valkyrie go to Finbar, a Sensitive, who tells them the location of the gate where the Faceless Ones can enter earth. They then meet with a Necromancer, Solomon Wreath who offers the help of himself and three other Necromancers. The Grotesquery is the Isthmus Anchor, which is the part of the Grotesquery that belonged to the Faceless Ones. Skulduggery and Valkyrie go to the Sanctuary to steal the Grotesquery, but are attacked by Remus Crux. The Diablerie use Sanguine to steal the Grotesquery, unintentionally framing Skulduggery and Valkyrie. Skulduggery and Valkyrie use an emergency exit to avoid being captured by the Sanctuary. Remus wants China's help and reveals he knows something about China's involvement on how Skulduggery came back to life. Ghastly Bespoke wakes up at Kenspeckle’s after being a statue for two years and Tanith, Skulduggery and Valkyrie go to Bespoke Tailors, Ghastly's shop, and Ghastly is informed of current news. Ghastly makes Valkyrie new clothes and tells her about his mother, a Sensitive, who had a vision of Valkyrie dying and screaming in pain. In an effort he tries to make Valkyrie quit magic and return to normal teenage life. The owner of the farm where the gate will open, Paddy, learns about magic, and Fletcher locates the exact point where the gate will open. Skulduggery and Valkyrie retrieve the Sceptre of the Ancients and find another black crystal, which powers the sceptre. Batu goes and enlists the Sea Hag's help in exchange for transporting her to the sea. Skulduggery and Valkyrie go to Gordon’s house and Valkyrie is able to take a large black crystal from the cave under his house. Valkyrie goes home to say goodbye to her parents who are leaving to Paris on their anniversary. She is then chased and arrested by Remus Crux. Crux puts her in a cell with Vaurien Scapegrace. Scapegrace tries to kill Valkyrie but she defeats him. Crux attempts to arrest China but Jaron Gallow shows up. Thinking they are working together, Crux jumps through a window to escape and China refuses Jaron’s offer to lead the Diablerie and escapes as he tries to kill her. At the trade on the bridge, Fletcher and Thurid Guild walk towards each other crossing at the center of the bridge and Sanguine tells Skulduggery that there is a bomb in Guild's jacket. Skulduggery shoots Guild in the leg to stop him from coming closer and tells Fletcher to stay near Guild as Jaron won’t risk killing Fletcher. Both sides begin fighting, and the necromancers show up to help. In the end, Tanith believes they have won, then the Sea Hag, on Batu's request, jumps out of the water and takes Fletcher. Valkyrie tricks a security guard into letting her out of her cell and she knocks him out and takes Scapegrace with her as a distraction. Valkyrie sees the new Administrator, the traitor, attempt to kill Mr. Bliss. The Administrator pins her up against a wall and Scapegrace runs into the room chased by Cleavers. The Cleavers look at the situation with Mr Bliss in a circle of blue light that is killing him, Valkyrie suspended on the roof by the Administrator and the Administrator standing there, and advance on the Administrator. The Administrator tries to run, letting Valkyrie fall to the ground. Valkyrie trips her causing her to fall into the blue light, killing herself not Bliss. Valkyrie then runs out of the Sanctuary and Skulduggery drives her to the farm. Tanith, Ghastly, Skulduggery and Valkyrie hide with Paddy in his farmhouse. The Diablerie begin to open the Gateway. Hollow Men ambush Valkyrie and the rest of her team. Paddy persuades Valkyrie to put on the ring he was going to give to the woman he married. China, a dozen Cleavers, and the Necromancers appear and start killing the Hollow Men. Fletcher involuntarily opens the Gateway. Tanith is injured and goes in the house. Bliss arrives and starts fighting Krav. While Valkyrie and Paddy are looking for First Aid supplies for Tanith, Sanguine arrives and attacks Tanith. Paddy tries to shoot Sanguine with his shotgun but is knocked out. Valkyrie then slashes open Sanguine's stomach with Tanith’s sword. Three Faceless Ones come through the gate and Fletcher manages to escape. A Faceless Ones takes over Krav’s body and makes Mr. Bliss explode, killing him. Paddy hits Valkyrie with the Sceptre, reveals himself to be Batu, and knocks Tanith out. Valkyrie realizes that the ring Batu gave her prevents her from using magic, and removes it. They fight, and Batu escapes, taking the Sceptre and hiding it. The Faceless Ones kill many Cleavers and Murder Rose is taken over by another Faceless One. Skulduggery battles the Faceless One and a Necromancer is killed. Jaron panics because he realises that the mark on his arm allows the Faceless Ones to track him down. So he finds a dead Cleaver's scythe and chops off his own arm in hope of repelling the Faceless One. China finds Crux with the Sceptre and persuades him to give it to her. She gives it to Valkyrie who raises the sceptre and fires black lightning twice into the Faceless One that had consumed Krav, killing it. Another Faceless One attacks them. Fletcher teleports Valkyrie out of the way. The Faceless One shatters the Sceptre, destroying itself. Skulduggery decides to get the last Faceless One which had taken control of Batu's body, to chase Valkyrie and go back through the portal. Fletcher opens the portal and Solomon gives Valkyrie his cane to knock the Faceless One back, which destroys the cane. The Faceless One shoots out tentacles made of Batu's organs to save itself, grabbing Skulduggery and pulling him through the portal along with it, as the portal closes. Later, Solomon Wreath approaches Valkyrie and she informs him that Guild is claiming full credit for stopping the Faceless Ones. Solomon tells Valkyrie that there is another Isthmus Anchor, Skulduggery's real skull. Solomon says that after seeing her use his cane, he has determined that she may have a gift for necromancy, and she will need more power than she has now to save Skulduggery, in hopes that she will choose to become a Necromancer.