When Fergie takes home a book out of the library, he doesn't know what to expect. He begins reading the book and the book begins to control his life. Johnny Dixon and Professor Childermass try to talk to their friend, but it is no good. Soon they find out that the evil Dr. Thanatos is trying to take over Fergie completely. It's up to Johnny, the Professor, Dr. Coote, and Father Higgins to stop the evil Thanatos.

Book Summary by David Bass

I think this book was not as good as some of the other Bellairs books, but it is still mysterious and exciting. The evil Thanatos is a good bad guy. Strickland describes the characters a little differently then Bellairs and that is a slight problem, but it is still a good book to read. You can find this book at Amazon Books for the reasonable price of $14.99 hardcover (with Edward Gorey jacket). I would not reccomend this book for a first-time Bellairs reader.

Excerpt from the Book         The professor made a strange, statled sound in his throat. Johnny stared, not believing his eyes. The desiccated locusts had swarmed all over the front wall of the house, but now they had arranged themselves into lines. The lines created raggad capital letters. And the letters spelled out an eerie warning: THE FERGUSON BOY IS MINE