Neverland

From Publishers Weekly An adolescent's cruel mischief proves a pathway to a dimension of otherworldly terrors in this creepy supernatural thriller, first published as a mass-market paperback in 1991. One summer on Gull Island off the coast of Georgia, Sumter Monroe indoctrinates his cousin Beau Jackson into the marvels of Neverland, Sumter's name for a tumble-down shack on their mutual maternal grandmother's property that's a shrine to a god he names Lucy. In Neverland, reality and illusion blur eerily, and the spirit of fun takes a malevolent turn as Sumter begin offering sacrifices of an increasingly disturbing nature to placate Lucy and sustain his special relationship with her. Clegg (_The Vampyricon_) crafts a haunting story redolent with the influence of Arthur Machen, H.P. Lovecraft, and other classic horror writers. His credible rendering of the internal lives of children and their imaginations give this flight of dark fancy a firm and frightening foothold in reality. (Apr.) Copyright В© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review Dean Koontz, New York Times Bestselling Author "Clegg's stories can chill the spine so effectively that the reader should keep paramedics on standby." Sherrilyn Kenyon, New York Times Bestselling Author "Douglas Clegg is the future of dark fantasy." David Morrell, New York Times Bestselling Author of _ The Shimmer _В "Douglas Clegg's Neverland is an unforgettable novel that combines creeping horror and psychological suspense. It starts like a bullet and never slows down." Marjorie M. Liu, New York Times Bestselling Author "From start to finish, Neverland is a haunting and tragic masterpiece. A powerful, thrilling tale, Douglas Clegg tells Beau and Sumner's incredible story with a subtle blend of humor and sadness that resonates with the reader long after the novel ends.” F. Paul Wilson, New York Times Bestselling Author “This is a powerful and thrilling tale, Douglas CleggвЂTMs best novel yet. The novel builds in whispers and ends in a scream. You will never forget Neverland .” Bentley Little, Bestselling Author “A brilliant novel that grows richer with each reading, a multilayered marvel that will one day be recognized as one of the classics of supernatural literature.” Formats : EPUB For years, the Jackson family has vacationed at Rowena Wandigaux Lee's old Victorian house on Gull Island, a place of superstition and legend off the southern coast of the U.S. One particular summer, young Beau follows his cousin Sumter into a hidden shack in the woods-and christens this new clubhouse "Neverland." Neverland has a secret history, unknown to the children...The rundown shack in the woods is the key to an age-old mystery, a place forbidden to all. But Sumter and his cousins gather in its dusty shadows to escape the tensions at their grandmother's house. Neverland becomes the place where children begin to worship a creature of shadows, which Sumter calls "Lucy." All gods demand sacrifice...It begins with small sacrifices, little games, strange imaginings. While Sumter's games spiral out of control, twisting from the mysterious to the macabre, a nightmarish presence rises among the straggly trees beyond the bluffs overlooking the sea. And when Neverland itself is threatened with destruction, the children's games take on a horrifying reality-and Gull Island becomes a place of unrelenting terror. Sumter Monroe takes his cousin Beau Jackson to a deserted shack he has named "Neverland," and the spirit of fun is broken when Sumter begins offering sacrifices to please an unseen god named Lucy