The third, least compelling adventure for Johnny Dixon—the 1950s boy-hero of The Curse of the Blue Figurine and The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt. This time Johnny and Professor Childermass take a vacation trip up to a countryinn in New Hampshire, where the Prof immediately spots an unusual shelf clock that was stolen from his ancestral home some years ago: the bottom half of the clock contains a dollhouse room, a replica of the Victorian parlor wherein Prof. Childermass' great-uncle died in a bizarre fashion. Furthermore, during the night, Johnny sees the dollhouse room come to life (!); a tiny skull, from a shelf within the mini-room, falls out of the dollhouse; and Johnny, under some odd compulsion, secretly pockets this creepy talisman. Unsurprisingly, then, strange things start happening once Johnny and the Prof return to Duston Heights, Mass. A jack-o'-lantern mirage keeps appearing at the windows of the Professor's house. Then the Prof vanishes—appearing to Johnny only in a mirror-vision (mouthing "Help me"), leaving behind a few tiny clues. So, with pal Fergie and Catholic priest Father Higgins, Johnny starts on a sleuthing trail after the Professor; the clues eventually lead to a clock museum, a cemetery chapel, and a demon-possessed Professor—all on an island off the Maine coast. And the drawn-out, rather murky finale involves a book of black magic and a vengeful spirit (out to destroy the Professor because of a long-ago crime), with the devil-fighting powers of the True Cross and the Latin church Mass finally saving the day. Throughout, in fact, this thick occult stew is dubiously flavored with Catholic rites and totems—including a prayer to St. Anthony that produces a miraculous clue. ("It was possible that St. Anthony or some higher power had spoken.") More important, while Bellairs turns up the supernatural heat here, he leaves the characters almost entirely undeveloped: Johnny's home-life problems (father in Korea, mother dead, grandmother ill) barely get a mention this time, and there's little pizzazz in the supporting cast. A disappointing follow-up, then, but brightly inventive enough (especially in the creepy dollhouse notion) to provide a new chill or twist every few pages.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1984
ISBN: 0142402656
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: April 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1984
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fun but insubstantial genre mashup.
Amateur archaeologists race to claim an allegedly magical Roman relic.
Margot Rhodes isn’t exactly famous for her follow-through; she’s quit activities from watercolor painting to taekwondo. So it’s no surprise that her snooty boarding school classmates are more than a little skeptical when she impulsively applies for and is accepted into a six-week archaeology summer class in southern Italy. Armed with a special volume from her school library—the personal journal of archaeology wunderkind Van Keane, who tragically died in a 1932 dig site collapse in Pompeii—Margot is determined to find the missing pieces of the Vase of Venus Aurelia that Van was searching for. But when she stumbles upon a marble statue that eerily resembles the boy whose words have captured her heart, she gets more than she bargained for. Her discovery awakens the long-frozen Van, who’s decidedly less poetic and a great deal surlier than his journal let on. The two become unlikely partners in the hunt for the vase and must prove themselves worthy of the treasure by completing tasks that test their wits and courage before their competitors—and the curse that turned Van to marble to begin with—beat them to it. Unfortunately, Moore neglects the setting’s potential, and the story's minimal attention to detail undermines its rich historical aspects. Plot holes and unconvincing villains also weaken the story, but Margot and Van’s banter and chemistry are engaging. Main characters are cued white.
A fun but insubstantial genre mashup. (Romantic adventure. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9780063284685
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
A well-paced page-turner about uncovering the truth at any cost.
Savannah’s sister, Piper, is comatose after falling off a cliff, but was it really an accident?
Piper seems perfect: smart, popular, and successful at everything she tries. Savannah is the soccer star of Grayling High, but she feels invisible, stuck in her younger sister’s shadow at home as well as at school. When Piper is found unconscious beneath a scenic lookout called Vanderwild Point, some of her classmates suspect she attempted suicide—but Savannah wants to figure out what really happened and whether it was her fault. She discovers a note in Piper’s locker asking her to come to a Survival Club meeting at the Point on the day she fell, but why was the club holding a session on a Wednesday when they only meet on Mondays? For that matter, why did Piper even join the Survival Club when she hates the outdoors? Savannah uncovers more strange clues. Who is the mysterious Alex who called Piper’s cell three times the day of the incident? Savannah is determined to uncover evidence of wrongdoing before going to the police. This fast-moving mystery focuses on Savannah and her feelings in the aftermath of her sister’s accident. The realistically imperfect characters make mistakes and have human flaws. Readers will enjoy the twists and turns as facts that exonerate one person throw suspicion onto others. Main characters read as White.
A well-paced page-turner about uncovering the truth at any cost. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72825-597-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2022
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