The Stone, the Cipher, and the Shadows: John Bellairs's Johnny Dixon in a Mystery

This book was excellent! Brad has big shoes to fill, as he was originally hired to finish Bellairs' unfinished manuscripts and create from his story ideas after his passing in the 1990s. While there is a difference in their styles that longtime fans will notice, Brad still manages to write compelling fiction in the same tradition, that still feels "Bellairsian". I am beyond thrilled to see a new story with Johnny, Fergie, and Professor Childermass, and I feel like the flu pandemic backdrop attempted to show the importance of public health measures, especially in the wake of COVID-19. The story itself is compelling, building up the sense of mystery and bringing the details together with an unexpected twist in the end. Definitely a worthy read!

In a long awaited return, Johnny Dixon and the Professor must attempt to stop a ghostly enemy from taking advantage of a flu epidemic to gain power. This book shows that Brad Strickland still has his Bellairs skills intact, and even throws a nice analogy to the COVID pandemic in order to appeal to young readers. Johnny's pals Fergie and Sarah make this a true return to Duston Heights, the first in 23 years! Well done!

I have been a fan of John Bellaires books for years. Brad Strickland completed a number of John Bellaires books after his death. I don't know if "The Stone, Cipher and the Shadows" was another uncompleted book, or a new one completely from Mr. Strictland. The book is great and continues the"Johnny Dixon" series. I did not know that this book was scheduled for release and what a treat it is. I hope there are more to come.

I grew up with the books of John Bellairs and the worlds he created and the tales he told within them have been integral parts of the landscape of my imagination. Strickland did us a tremendous service in finishing the incomplete works Bellairs left behind - The Ghost in the Mirror is one of my favorites. The stories that he has written on his own, however, can’t measure up to the originals. Strickland is his own person with his own voice and skills but the stories he writes in Bellairs’ world and using his characters do not feel right.This installment feels as flat and two-dimensional as others he has written. The characters feel like caricatures of Bellairs’ creation without depth or even purpose of existence. The plot is opaque and resolved by a tidy deus ex machina that is unbelievable and only explicable after the fact. The Bellairs books have never really been “mysteries” and this is even less so. A series of events happens to characters and then the story ends.The real problem in this installment is setting it in the midst of a fictional flu epidemic that has effectively zero influence on the plot and instead reminds us of the miseries of the 2020-21 era that most of us would like to forget.