The Lunatic's Curse [Hardcover]

The town of Opum Oppidulum is home to the freezing Lake Beluarum and its rumored monster. On an island at the center of the lake is an asylum; no one has ever escaped it. So how will Rex, whose father, Ambrose Grammaticus, has been imprisoned there under false pretenses, prove that Ambrose is not insane? And if Rex can free his father, will his evil stepmother drive them both to madness?

Higgins' fans will devour this deliciously scary tale, a polyquel to her previous books, all of which can be read singly or together. But not in the dark . . .

Treachery, greed, wickedness, revenge . . . lunacy.

F.E. Higginsis the author ofThe Black Book of Secrets,The Bone MagicianandThe Eyeball Collector. As a child, she once saw a ghostly apparition, and ever since then, she has been fascinated by the macabre. Born in London, F.E. Higgins now lives in a haunted house that dates back to the fifteenth century, in a small village in rural Kent, England.

The Lunatic's Curse has a large cast of twisted characters and a winding plot that will keep readers delightfully immersed in macabre adventure. School Library Journal

This series is shaping up into an enticing, shadowy den where scary-story addicts can get their fix. BCCB

Readers may find this a tempting, if slightly more serious, treat to follow Lemony Snicket. Booklist

Readers with strong stomachs and a taste for melodramatic narratives bedizened with words like tenebrous' and mephitic' will devour this yarn with relish. So to speak. Kirkus Reviews

Ultimately, this story is about not letting oneself sink to the level of one's enemies, but readers will be most taken by the delightfully dense atmospherics fairly dripping off the pages. Readers need not be familiar with Higgins' other books, but the hints dropped in to tie the world together will likely send them hunting for more while awaiting the next. A hyperl³+