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A review by manwithanagenda
The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie: A Johnny Dixon Mystery by Brad Strickland, John Bellairs, Edward Gorey
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This is the last Johnny Dixon book in which John Bellairs himself had a hand. Brad Strickland completed 'The Drum, the Doll, and the Zombie' from an outline after Bellairs' death in 1991.
The Professor's old friend Dr. Coote comes to visit Duston Heights, bringing with him a curious antique drum given to him after an academic conference. It concerns 'voudou' as practiced by a sinister family on the small Caribbean island of St. Ives settled by white planter families fleeing from revolutions in the last century. That's an interesting touch that neatly sidesteps any objections that horror stories featuring any form of voodoo inevitably have. The professor or Dr. Coote mention, too, that the religion is thoroughly corrupted from the real deal and twisted by these descendants of slave-owners.
Dr. Coote's apprehension about the drum is being discussed when the ever-tactful Fergie takes up the drum and starts rapping on it and singing Desi Arnaz' 'Babulu'.
Things start happening.
Dr. Coote takes ill and Johnny and Fergie have run-ins with a sinister, shapeless old woman who is at least once mistaken for a bear. Dark powers want the drum and will do anything to get their hands on it!
Strickland does a wonderful job here, as I reflect on this reading, the only issues I have with the book are issues that are endemic to the series. Strickland's plot here is rock-solid, there are clues that can conceivably be followed by a young reader, conversations and lore end up being relevant later on, and Edward Gorey's cover art featuring a zombie carrying off Johnny on the front and a witch menacing a blank-faced Johnny and Fergie with a voodou doll of Gramma Dixon is superb.
I'm going to go ahead an up my rating of the book, because it's not Strickland's fault that Fergie is an ass and just about everyone in the series is unwilling to believe in the supernatural despite this being the NINTH TIME this has happened. Strickland even has the characters make a few sly comments about this at the end of the adventure. I was a little skeptical of reading beyond Bellairs' own books, but I think I'll give Strickland's solo books a try.
Johnny Dixon
Next: 'The Hand of the Necromancer'
Previous: 'The Secret of the Underground Room'
The Professor's old friend Dr. Coote comes to visit Duston Heights, bringing with him a curious antique drum given to him after an academic conference. It concerns 'voudou' as practiced by a sinister family on the small Caribbean island of St. Ives settled by white planter families fleeing from revolutions in the last century. That's an interesting touch that neatly sidesteps any objections that horror stories featuring any form of voodoo inevitably have. The professor or Dr. Coote mention, too, that the religion is thoroughly corrupted from the real deal and twisted by these descendants of slave-owners.
Dr. Coote's apprehension about the drum is being discussed when the ever-tactful Fergie takes up the drum and starts rapping on it and singing Desi Arnaz' 'Babulu'.
Things start happening.
Dr. Coote takes ill and Johnny and Fergie have run-ins with a sinister, shapeless old woman who is at least once mistaken for a bear. Dark powers want the drum and will do anything to get their hands on it!
Strickland does a wonderful job here, as I reflect on this reading, the only issues I have with the book are issues that are endemic to the series. Strickland's plot here is rock-solid, there are clues that can conceivably be followed by a young reader, conversations and lore end up being relevant later on, and Edward Gorey's cover art featuring a zombie carrying off Johnny on the front and a witch menacing a blank-faced Johnny and Fergie with a voodou doll of Gramma Dixon is superb.
I'm going to go ahead an up my rating of the book, because it's not Strickland's fault that Fergie is an ass and just about everyone in the series is unwilling to believe in the supernatural despite this being the NINTH TIME this has happened. Strickland even has the characters make a few sly comments about this at the end of the adventure. I was a little skeptical of reading beyond Bellairs' own books, but I think I'll give Strickland's solo books a try.
Johnny Dixon
Next: 'The Hand of the Necromancer'
Previous: 'The Secret of the Underground Room'