The Dark Missions of Edgar Brim

Edgar Brim is a sensitive orphan who, exposed to horror stories from his father as a young child, is afraid of almost everything and suffers from nightly terrors. His stern new guardian, Mr. Thorne, sends the boy to a gloomy school in Scotland where his dark demons only seem to worsen and he is bullied and ridiculed for his fears. But years later, when sixteen-year-old Edgar finds a journal belonging to his novelist father, he becomes determined to confront his nightmares and the bullies who taunt him. After the horrific death of a schoolmate, Edgar becomes involved with an eccentric society at the urging of a mysterious professor who believes that monsters from famous works of literature are real and whose mandate is to find and destroy these creatures. With the aid of a rag-tag crew of friends, the fear-addled teen sets about on his dark mission, one that begins in the cemetery on the bleak Scottish moors and ends in a spine-chilling climax on the stage of the Royal Lyceum Theatre in London with Henry Irving, the infamous and magnetic actor, and his manager, Bram Stoker, the author of the most frightening and sensational novel of the day, Dracula. Can Edgar Brim truly face his terror and conquer his fears?

From School Library Journal

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 Cortlandα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About the Author

SHANE PEACOCK was born in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and grew up in Kapuskasing. A biographer, journalist and screenwriter, he is also the author of several novels and plays. He has received many honors for his writing, including the prestigious Arthur Ellis Award for Eye of the Crow and Becoming Holmes and the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction for Vanishing Girl, all titles in his Boy Sherlock Holmes series. Shane Peacock lives with his wife and three children near Cobourg, Ontario. Visit him at his website: www.shanepeacock.ca and follow him on twitter: @Shane_Author

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