The Dark Missions of Edgar Brim

April 15, 2016
A young Victorian is haunted and hunted by monsters from the era's darkest literature in Peacock's spine-tingling mystery. Edgar Brim has lived every story he has ever read. Sent to the College on the Moors (for Boys) after the mysterious death of his father, the white English lad spends his days dodging bullies and the rugby ball, while his nights are spent amid the mesmerizing and terrifying creations of such authors as Le Fanu, Stevenson, and Shelley, whose mad villains and vicious monsters invade Edgar's nightmares. In his last year of school, when a young boy he has befriended suddenly dies, teenage Edgar is approached by Professor Lear, who claims that the student and Edgar's father were both murdered for the same reason that Edgar's own life is in danger--they suspected the monsters from dark stories are real. Joined by the professor's attractive grandson and fearless granddaughter, as well as a talented and deceptive friend from school, Edgar and Lear set out to hunt down the bloodthirsty creature from the pages of the newest sensation novel before it kills them to protect its secret. With cameos from such artistic giants as Bram Stoker and the actor Henry Irving, Peacock weaves the frissons of classic Gothic horror into the reality of a culture entranced by its own dark creations. This thrilling historical mystery will have readers anxiously turning pages and checking under their beds. (Historical thriller. 12-16)

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June 1, 2016

Gr 7 Up-Nightmares have plagued Edgar Brim from the time he was small. At nine, the Victorian lad is orphaned after his father is seemingly frightened to death after watching a dark play from one of his favorite horror writers. Edgar is sent to boarding school in the Scottish Highlands, where he endures unchecked bullying and continued dreams of being attacked by monsters. When his one true friend, Tiger Tilley, is expelled from the exclusive boys school for masquerading as a boy, Edgar goes to find her in London. Professor Lear follows him, thinking Edgar's night terrors hold the key to solving some vicious local murders, and orchestrates a meeting with the Crypto-Anthropology Society of the Queen's Empire. Convinced that shared nightmares portend more attacks, Lear convinces Edgar, Tiger, and his grandchildren, Lucy and Jonathan, to begin an earnest campaign to find and destroy the evil creature that is on the loose. After channeling monsters and demons from the literature of Edgar Allan Poe and others, the vigilantes are led to Dracula's creator, Bram Stoker, whose London stage plays hold clues to the death of Edgar's father. A meandering plot and numerous red herrings are merely contrivances for introducing readers to elements of Victorian horror literature. The main characters aren't fully developed, and teens will struggle to finish. VERDICT Only avid fans of classic horror will enjoy.-Vicki Reutter, State University of New York at Cortland

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