Path of beasts by Lian Tanner

The Keepers series bk 3. Allen and Unwin, 2012. ISBN 978 1 74237 197 9
(Age: 10+) Recommended. Fantasy. Adventure. When Goldie, Toadspit and Bonnie sneak back into the city of Jewel they are unaware of just who is ruling their community. They are shocked to see mercenaries patrolling the streets and when a street-rig is pulled up, the occupants questioned by the soldiers. Two of the Blessed Guardians get out telling the men to throw some rubbish into the canal. But they demur, questioning their authority and it is only when the Protector also alights, that the children realise just what danger they and their families are in. The Protector, once a revered person in Jewel, has been replaced by the dreaded Fugleman, and when they rescue the package thrown into the water, find it is his sister, the beloved Protector whose position has been usurped.
So begins third in this exciting and page turning trilogy about the amazing Museum of Dunt, a place where all the evils of the world are kept, but plundered by the Fugleman for his own dark needs.
The children know most of what the Museum holds, and are appalled that the Fugleman may release forces he cannot control. Goldie, now the holder of powers that she must keep leashed, is in a quandary of who to tell and how to use her new power. But even she does not know the inner secret path of the Museum, the path of Beasts, and it is this path she must tread.
The background to this wonderful fantasy adventure is all engrossing, the cities beautifully described and the Museum a place to wonder at. For those who want to look more deeply, parallels to modern political and social institutions are there to be found and ponder, as evil is about to be released.
I simply ate up the first in this trilogy, slowly meandered through the second, but the third held me gripped all the way through.
Fran Knight