Overview
Marshall Seaver is being haunted.
It begins with mysterious sounds, a fleeting face outside a window, a rogue breeze—all things that can be explained away. That is, until he comes face-to-face with a character who only exists on
the pages of a sketchbook—a character Marshall himself created.
Marshall has no idea why he is being tormented by this forbidding creature, but he is quickly convinced it has something to do with his best friend, Cooper, who has gone missing. Together with Cooper’s beautiful but aloof sister, Sydney, Marshall searches for the truth about his friend while ultimately uncovering a nightmare that is bigger and more frightening than he could ever have imagined.
Number one New York Times bestselling author D. J. MacHale launches his eerie new trilogy with a story so packed with chilling suspense, readers will want to sleep with the light on.
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The voices grew louder, more urgent, as if they were running out of time. It sounded like gibberish. It was gibberish. I knew that. It was a dream, right? That’s what I told myself and it calmed me down. That is, until I heard a single word break through the haze as plain and clear as if someone had leaned over and spoke directly into my ear.
--“Morpheus.”
Synopsis
#1 NYT bestselling author D.J. MacHale's Morpheus Road trilogy brings readers down an ethereal pathway between the worlds of the living and dead.
Publishers Weekly
MacHale (the Pendragon series) launches the Morpheus Road trilogy with this creepy, tension-filled adventure, in which 16-year-old Marsh Seaver is terrorized by forces he doesn't understand. It's the first week of summer, and Marsh is all alone, his widower father out of town on business, and his best friend Cooper a few hours away at Thistledown Lake with his family. Things get seriously weird when Gravedigger, a skeletal comic book character of Marsh's design, starts stalking him. Convinced that only Cooper can help him, Marsh enlists the aid of Cooper's beautiful yet frosty sister, Sydney, to get to the lake. Once they arrive, they learn that Cooper is missing and true terror is just beginning. Spooky and fraught with peril, this ghost story evokes campfire horrors and classic slasher films with a relentless onslaught of macabre imagery and mortal danger. What is Gravedigger, what does he want, and how does it all tie into Cooper's fate? Unfortunately, as the first act in a larger piece, few answers are revealed, and numerous questions are left unresolved in anticipation of the next installment. Ages 10-up. (Apr.)
Editorials
Children's Literature -
The Light is the first installment of a trilogy called "Morpheus Road." From the creator of Are You Afraid of the Dark? D.J. MacHale takes us on a journey through trouble town with a character named Marshall Seaver. Ghosts are haunting Marshall. Or is it ghosts? The answers that Marshall needs to solve this mystery only get more and more complicated every time you turn a page. I loved this book! The hauntings were very age appropriate: how scary is dripping faucets everywhere you go? I was enthralled, entranced, and ready to figure out this mystery with Marshall. Once he thinks he might have a grasp on what is going on, his best friend goes missing and no one is searching for him. After Cooper's family and the local police finally agree that Cooper is not playing around, they start to look for him and they all find out the more people who know about what is going on the more people are in danger. Marshall, with the help of Cooper's beautiful and difficult sister Sydney, searches for the truth about the haunting and the disappearance of Cooper. What they find out only takes them on a ride bigger and scarier than what they were ready for. Reviewer: Bobbie LoweVOYA -
Sixteen-year-old Marshall Seaver is looking forward to a great summer with his best friend, Cooper Foley, when Cooper is busted for scalping tickets and sent away to the family cabin. Life has been rough for Marshall since his mother died. Once in frustration, he even smashed a small, golden ball she left him, resulting in a pool of blood that somehow disappeared when he called his father. Does that have anything to do with the strange events that begin when his father leaves on a business trip? How about the odd circular designs he sees in spilled cocoa powder, the breezes in closed rooms, or, worst of all, the death's head drawing called "Gravedigger," done by Marshall himself, that appears to pursue him? Terrified, Marshall flees to join Cooper, only to discover that Cooper is missing. This lengthy fantasy, full of twists and turns, keeps the reader working to unravel the illusive plot line while Marshall flirts with death, dragging various characters along with him. Marshall, the only developed character, is an older Harry Potter without super powers but with a best friend and an incipient love interest in Cooper's sister Sydney. Names are different, but the pace and the events of the novel seem familiar. MacHale, known for his bestselling Pendragon series, begins another series in this open-ended novel. Undoubtedly readers can expect more adventures of the supernatural kind. Reviewer: Laura WoodruffPublishers Weekly
MacHale (the Pendragon series) launches the Morpheus Road trilogy with this creepy, tension-filled adventure, in which 16-year-old Marsh Seaver is terrorized by forces he doesn't understand. It's the first week of summer, and Marsh is all alone, his widower father out of town on business, and his best friend Cooper a few hours away at Thistledown Lake with his family. Things get seriously weird when Gravedigger, a skeletal comic book character of Marsh's design, starts stalking him. Convinced that only Cooper can help him, Marsh enlists the aid of Cooper's beautiful yet frosty sister, Sydney, to get to the lake. Once they arrive, they learn that Cooper is missing and true terror is just beginning. Spooky and fraught with peril, this ghost story evokes campfire horrors and classic slasher films with a relentless onslaught of macabre imagery and mortal danger. What is Gravedigger, what does he want, and how does it all tie into Cooper's fate? Unfortunately, as the first act in a larger piece, few answers are revealed, and numerous questions are left unresolved in anticipation of the next installment. Ages 10-up. (Apr.)Kirkus Reviews
A skeletal sketch he's drawn haunts 16-year-old Marshall (Marsh) Seaver, even as he searches for his missing best friend, Cooper Foley. As more people go missing-and turn up violently killed-Marsh is left to wonder whether he is responsible for these tragic outcomes and if his friend is still alive. Unsophisticated pacing and a convoluted plot coupled with a non-authentic narrator make MacHale's first book after the popular Pendragon series-itself a series opener-a difficult read. The action ebbs and spikes randomly, and it is both too long for middle school and too juvenile for high school. Marshall reads much younger than 16, and MacHale's attempted justifications-shy guy, scientific interests, gaming fan-only enhance the age disconnect. Multiple climax points pile revelation upon revelation, and the cliffhanger ending reflects a very heavy hand. There's a few too many sharp turns for this narrative to be anything but a rough ride. (Horror. 10-14)From the Publisher
Sixteen-year-old Marshall Seaver is looking forward to a great summer with his best friend, Cooper Foley, when Cooper is busted for scalping tickets and sent away to the family cabin. Life has been rough for Marshall since his mother died. Once in frustation, he even smashed a small, golden ball she left him, resulting in a pool of blodd that somehow disappeared when he called his father. Does that have anything to do with the strange events that begin when his father leaves on a business trip? How about the odd circular designs he sees in spilled cocoa powder, the breezes in closed rooms, or, worst of all, the death's head drawing called "Gravedigger," done by Marshall himself, that appears to pursue him? Terrified, Marshall flees to join Cooper, only to discover that Cooper is missing.
This lengthy fantasy, full of twists and turns, keeps the reader working to unravel the illusive plot line while Marshall flirts with death, dragging various characters along with him. Marshall, the only developed character, is an older Harry Potter without super powers but with a best friend and an incipient love interest in Cooper's sister Sydney. Names are different, but the pace and events of the novel seem familiar. MacHale, known for his bestselling Pendragon series, beings another series in this open-ended novel. Undoubtedly readers can expect more adventures of the supernatural kind.
---VOYA April 2010
Book One of this new trilogy grabs the reader immediately and never lets go. Marshall, an unassuming guy, lives vicariously through his adventurous best friend, Cooper. When Cooper is taken away after getting into too much trouble, and Marshall’s dad goes out of town, strange things begin to happen. His drawings of the supposedly imaginary Gravedigger seem to come to life and attack him. Marshall and Cooper’s older sister go in search of Cooper and unwittingly become ensnared in a dangerous nightmare. They learn that Gravedigger was just a small danger compared to what lies ahead. Marshall learns that he must locate items required by a creature much more evil and demonic. The use of foreshadowing will keep readers engaged as they learn that the end of this novel is just the beginning of Marshall’s quest. This high-octane action adventure will fly off the shelves and have students begging for the next installment.
--Library Media Connection August/September