The sea is calm, the air is fresh, and the bobbing boat feels like a living creature underneath Johnny Dixon's feet. Johnny hardly ever sees his father, who trains Air Force pilots in Colorado, and their annual Florida fishing trip is the highlight of his year. They're on their way back to Duston Heights, Massachusetts, where Johnny lives with his grandparents, when a visit to a fortune-teller puts a terrible fright into Johnny. Inside the seer's crystal ball, he sees a grinning ghost who cackles out a fearsome message: "The universe shall be mine!"

Johnny tries to forget what he saw, but when he and his father return to Duston Heights, his dad falls into a coma, and Johnny is certain that the ghost is to blame. With the help of his old friend Professor Childermass, Johnny will defeat the smirking ghoul--or never see his father again.

The Johnny Dixon series, from the author of The House with a Clock in Its Walls, is full of fun, adventure, and supernatural chills, along with "believable and likable characters" who are a delight to spend time with (The New York Times).