In a Massachusetts town, an evil wizard is about to come back from the dead and a young hero must fight to stop him
In the days of the Salem witch trials, the sleepy hamlet of Duston Heights had just one practitioner of the dark arts: the notorious necromancer Esdrias Blackleach. As the fever for witch hunting reached its terrible peak, Blackleach was accused of using powerful black magic against his fellow townsfolk. But just before he could be brought to trial, he dropped dead, escaping justice forever. Or so it seemed …
Fast forward to the 1950s, the inquisitive young sleuth Johnny Dixon and his mentor Professor Childermass are getting ready to donate a box of Blackleach artifacts to the local museum when a descendant of the sorcerer shows up and attempts to steal his ancestor’s wooden hand. He has a fiendish plan to raise the old necromancer from the dead, and only Johnny and the professor can stop him and make the town safe from black magic forever.
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“Strickland, in his first solo work featuring the characters created by John Bellairs, leads readers on an entertaining frolic. There are enough well-placed frissons to keep readers flipping those pages, even those who know that, in keeping with series formula, all nefarious plans will be nixed.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Sophisticated notions on the nature of good and evil, nuanced storytelling, and expert world-building.”
— AV Club, praise for the series“There’s suspense and action aplenty…Perfect for the pre-Stephen King set.”
— Booklist, praise for the seriesBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Brad Strickland was born in New Holland, Georgia, in 1947 and has written over seventy-five books in the intervening years. He is also a professor of English at the University of Georgia in Gainsville, about six miles from where he was born. He and his wife, Barbara, have two grown children, both of whom have artistic careers of their own. Their nest is not empty, however, as they have three cats and two dogs, which is enough to keep them busy.
John Bellairs (1938–1991) was beloved as a master of Gothic young adult and fantasy novels. His stand-alone novel The Face in the Frost is regarded as a fantasy classic. He published more than twenty novels in the Anthony Monday, Johnny Dixon, and Lewis Barnavelt series.
Johnny Heller, winner of numerous Earphones and Audie Awards, was named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine in 2019. He has been a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award winner from 2008 through 2013 and he has been named a top voice of 2008 and 2009 and selected as one of the Top 50 Narrators of the Twentieth Century by AudioFile magazine.