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... Read Full Review

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... Read Full Review

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... Read Full Review

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... Read Full Review