Raven's Gate (The Gatekeepers #1) - Anthony Horowitz

Matt has been in trouble for years.  Up till now, it's been petty stuff, but one night changes everything.  Now, his aunt doesn't want him, so his options are jail or a new program called LEAF.  Matt decides to try LEAF, but little does he realize that the woman taking him in has chosen him and has plans for him.  Matt doesn't know what those plans are, but one thing he knows for sure: they're not good.  Anyone who tries to interfere with Mrs. Deverill's plans or help Matt ends up dead.

This one left me feeling...uncomfortable.  The black magic, the Lord's Prayer backwards, the upside-down cross - all these things made me cringe, but the main issue I had with it is that evil seems to have the upper hand for almost the entire book.  There never seems to be a victory for the good guys, and if there is one, it's a hollow victory that is soon taken back by evil.  Also, a fair number of people die in this book, all in horrible ways.  The descriptions of those deaths aren't what I would call graphic, they were more...grisly.

You're led into the next book, but this is a complete story.  Amazon has Raven's Gate listed as grades 5-8 (the book has ages 10+ on it), and I have to disagree on that.  I think it would be more appropriate for older kids, I'd say 15+.  Maybe it's the prude in me, but even though I made it to the end, I don't feel the need to go farther.  I've read books in the past where evil is conquered, but this was too dark for me.