3 Review(s)

Jack Carr has been shuttled from foster home to foster home his entire life. The only constant has been his interest in magic - especially handcuff escapes like his hero, Houdini. When he meets Professor Hawthorne, however, he feels like he's finally found a home, and a foster father who understands his interest in magic. But Hawthorne is hiding a secret. Years ago he bartered his soul to the undead magician Mussini, and Hawthorne offers Jack in his place. While serving Mussini as part of his traveling magic act in Purgatory, entertaining the dead, Jack must use all of his skills as a magician to try to escape before he starts to die himself. He'll have the help of Mussini's other "minions" - kids just like Jack - and his wits, nothing more. An engrossing, twist-and-turn adventure in the spooky Forests of the Dead, from a promising debut author.