The Hand of the Necromancer

There may have been only one John Bellairs, but Brad Strickland hits pretty close to the mark. Although it lacks in some areas, it overall gets the feeling of a Bellairs kids' thriller, full of the various ghoulish visions and villains and offbeat humor. Johnny Dixon is quite depressed when his best friend Fergie leaves for a while. In an effort to cheer his friend up, Professor Childermass gets a job for Johnny at the Gudge Museum, where he has just donated several artifacts from the malignant wizard Esdrias Leach. Among them is a lightweight wooden hand -- which grips Johnny's fingers when he touches it. He's frightened, but it seems harmless otherwise -- and the professor begins to have nightmares about it.After Johnny takes the job, things begin to go wrong. A strange man comes to the museum to see the artifacts, and seems to know a great deal about Esdrias Leach and his sorcerous ways. Matthias Mergal continues pursuing the artifacts, until the museum is robbed. Now the only people who can hope to stop Mergal are Johnny, the professor, and his new friend Sarah.In many ways, this fits easily into the Bellairs mold. There is a sinister, talkative villain who lurks around the edges until the climax, weird dreams and visions, hideous magic and weird artifacts that are linked to the main plot. Strickland seems to have a good grasp on the correct pacing, descriptions, and dialogue without ever becoming cheesy or cliched. Sometimes his references to things in the 1950s (such as the "Howdy Doody" show) are a little too forced, as if he's trying very hard to place it in the correct time frame.Johnny is a little more highly-strung than one would expect, but otherwise is well-characterized. The Professor is delightfully crabby and knowledgeable, as always. The main stumbling block is Sarah, but seems like a pale copy of the rough-edged, athletic Rose Rita. I think Fergie would have suited the plot far better. Mergal is a classic Bellairs-type villain, with insanely dark intentions and a very spooky manner.Despite its flaws and the rather anemic Sarah, "Hand of the Necromancer is a good, spooky read by a talented author. Just so long as Sarah isn't brought back, Strickland will do fine.

Out of all of the six Bellairs/Strickland books published thus far, "The Hand of the Necromancer" still remains the best. Even though Brad Strickland was bold to say the least with this one, he managed to pull off an excellent story line and introduce a new character to boot while still including all of the original Bellairs magic and charm.The dust jacket design by Edward Gorey is one of the best - the hand and globe on the front immediately tell an important part of the story without even having to open the book, and the illustration on the back of Johnny, the Professor and Sarah at the park with Mattheus Mergal in the background brandishing his staff is marvelously done. We will sourly miss you, Mr. Gorey!If you decide to read any of the Bellairs/Strickland books, make this one the first title you pick up. It'll set a good mood for the next five. Also check out the other four titles written by John Bellairs and completed by Strickland...

This book is a classic Bellairs/Strickland! Probably one of the best that Strickland's done so far! The story unfolds fast, and the characters develop at the same pace. A new character was introduced in this title, which might have been a little ambitious on the part of Brad Strickland since it was the first true Bellairs book that he wrote. I think that if he had waited a few more years, once people started to get used to the idea of him writing the books, then he could introduce the new character. It's great that Strickland has continued the Bellairs series like this, and I can't wait for the next title in the series!

this is the kind of book i really engoy because of the good writing style and plot. i enjoyed this book because of the idea of the nacromancer. if you enjoy this type of book i recomend reading "Sabriel" by Garth nix and his other books too.

First off, Strickland had transferred the Bellairs characters with no trouble at all. The transition was so smooth I was wondering whether or not the first half of the book had been written by John Bellairs himself. Readers won't be disappointed. The introduction of Sarah, who could be the future love interest of Johnny Dixon, also went well, although one wishes that she were more feminine and less boyish-John's books had the distinction of having very little contacts with girls and more with the rough and tumble boys. Sarah's personality and disposition are definitely of the latter, so I do wish she could be more unique than that. Even so, she is an interesting character to watch for. Now, the plot of the story was a little less exciting than I would hope. It was a little too simple, too concise, too mundane. Something creepier, something darker, something lurking in the shadows would have made it "all better". And the climax of the book left something to be desired. The Doom of the Haunted Opera had this same problem. A little more spice, a little more excitement, a little more tension like someone plucking the strings of a tightly winded violin would have helped greatly. In conclusion, this book is lacking in some ways but comes up well in others. Every now and then, certain aspects of the book just seem to almost reach that line that marks where Bellairs crossed, and then stop. But still, this book warrants reading and Brad Strickland was probably the best choice to follow-up to John Bellairs.