At the age of twelve, Crispin is a boy who has already lived three years on the streets, fending for himself with the help of an unusually sentient and prescient dog who adopts the boy as his own, as well as a girl he meets who he dubs the Phantom of Broderick's. Crispin is not a throw away; he's not a fugitive. Crispin is a refugee who has fled from an evil so pervasive that it stole his younger brother and sister from him in a grotesque ritual of human sacrifice, an act perpetuated by his own mother.

Clarette is a woman who sees her children as nothing more than a means to financial gain. Seducing prominent men, giving birth to their bastard children, then blackmailing them to keep their names off the official birth records is her means of income until she can find her next wealthy mark. When she meets and marries Giles Gregorio and the family moves into Theron Hall, life for Crispin takes a turn from which he might never recover. Crispin escapes at the age of nine, but he is by no means free from the guilt of being unable (unwilling?) to save his siblings. His sense of self-preservation is strong enough that his only thought was to run when he had the chance. Crispin is a boy who is haunted and hunted by a black magic that tests his very resolve to survive. He is a boy, who at the age of twelve has learned that "journeying through the fields of evil is the price we pay for free will."

Dean Koontz has established the basis for his next full-length novel, 77 Shadow Street, with this introduction to an underworld of demonic worship and murder that seems to originate beneath the surface of the city. One thing is certain, I'll be waiting to pick this one up as soon as it's released.

I'm not sure if Mr. Koontz had as much fun writing this book as I did reading it, but it would seem so, based solely upon some of the names he chose to give his places and characters, from Mr. Mordred to Merripen to Proserpina to Theron Hall itself.

This novella left more questions than it gave answers, which one can only assume was done purposefully, in order to build suspense for its sequel. I hope Crispin, his dog Harley, and his friend Amity will be along for the ride.