The story...
Adam Roberts has just received an unfortunate package. It contains something he lost a long time ago. The memory it's just unlocked threatens to kill him.
Thirty years have passed since Adam since the horrible time, when the innocence of a twelve-year-old preacher’s son who feels dirty looking at his own private parts and who hasn’t an inkling that they’re about to turn into a man’s was ripped away on an express trip to hell.
Rick Kuhns is the conductor. He is the thirteen-year-old friend Adam hasn’t seen in a year and a half. Once a carbon copy of Adam, puberty’s dealt with him like a two-by-four to the head. Beyond that, he’s saddled with a self-centered stepfather and a half sibling on the way and he’s found ways to cope that mommy wouldn’t approve of. But things won’t be so great for Adam either.
Adam leaves his short reunion with Rick in a state of shock. The older boy says things are about to turn bad for him. He can laugh most of it off except for the fact his fifteen-year-old sister corroborates the scariest: when he starts junior high in three days, he’ll have to shower naked in front of all his classmates.
Rick is right, of course. Bad things do happen. And Adam’s mix-up about changing rooms at a swimming pool sounds the alarm to take Rick’s offer of protection seriously. It’s simple. All he has to do is wear a Black Magic amulet where nobody can see.
Okay, so junior high is still hell on earth, but Adam is convinced the pentagram he wears in his briefs keeps the evil forces at bay. The threats are constant and Adam’s worst fears are realized, but he survives them.
Life isn’t all bad, though. If it weren’t for the power of the amulet, he’d never be able to bypass his mom’s prohibition against guns and take up target practice with Rick’s grandpa. The parents of Rick’s deceased father are angry that their daughter-in-law moved away after their son’s death in a car accident. She has promised to bring Rick back for a visit, but they’ve finally figured out she’s been stringing them along. Since Adam has spent time with Rick recently, the old couple have lots of questions. Boy and grandparents soon take an interest in each other and Adam has his sights set on a deer hunting trip when the season comes around.
The amulet seems to weaken after Adam gets careless and his sister finds it in the laundry. Soon near-misses seem nearly as bad as actually dying. Adam writes for help. And he gets it. Rick comes for a surprise visit. And Adam’s not sure why.
Adam finally gets the ultimate protection from Rick as the older boy incredibly becomes Adam’s classmate. Trouble at home has cleared the way for him to stay with his grandparents indefinitely and a lie about a rare disease and a coma become the cover story to explain Rick’s repeat of the seventh grade.
Life is great with Rick. There’s no trouble to be found, except for that which Rick himself causes. It’s not worth getting excited about, except that it’s overwhelms his grandparent. That just means that Adam’s long-lost friend becomes his roommate.
Adam is so amazed at what Black Magic can do for him. The only thing that’s missing is an answer to the magic question: who killed Rick’s dad two years ago? Rick says an Ouija board has told him the car accident was no accident.
In the pursuit of locating a killer to kill, Adam finds he has nothing left to fear except for himself. From lying and spying to assault and burglary, the preacher’s boy is far out of bounds from the life he used to know. It’s all for the sake of vengeance, but when the stakes get too high, Adam must set his sights on saving lives and saving his soul. |
