#simon stroud

[thingsasbarcodes]

Morbius (2022)

[livingvampyre]

there's something whimsy about this NYPD detective

[marvelousmrm]

Adventure into Fear #31 (Mantlo/Robbins, Dec 1975). The final nail in this book’s coffin! Martine is cured, and Morbius flees in shame.

[merrymarvelite]

Cover of the Day: Fear #29 (August, 1975) Art by Ron Wilson, Bob McLeod, John Romita, &Danny Crespi

[abwwia]

Lisa Simone Kelly (born Lisa Celeste Stroud; September 12, 1962) is an American singer, composer and actress, known for her work on and off Broadway, in Rent, The Lion King, Aida, and Les Miserables. She is the only child of musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone from her marriage to police detective Andrew Stroud and is the executive producer of the Netflix documentary What Happened, Miss Simone? Simone's albums include Simone on Simone, All is Well, My World, and Live at the Edge.

[oceanspray5]

Perfectly Incadescently Happy - Chapter 10: After: Everything And Then Her

Dearest Gentlereader, The subject that has set the ton abuzz and everyone bereft of answers may soon be coming to its conclusion yet. Naturally, I would hate to have to print any retraction however, it seems this writer, too, may have to reconsider concerning one of the more astonishing matches this season: the one between Viscount Anthony Lockwood and Ms Lucy Carlyle. But did our handsome Lord Lockwood finally open his eyes to exactly all he had to lose at the Finchley Ball? Certainly, there can be no other reason for his interference with one of Ms Francesca Bridgerton's potential suitors. Paired with his early calling at Viscount Bridgerton's house two days after and ecstatic exit, perhaps wedding bells may be in Lord Lockwood's future after all... just not with the surely broken-hearted Ms Carlyle. After the death of her best friend, Ms Lucy Carlyle is given the opportunity to be sponsored for the 1815 London season by Norrie's aunt. Instantly compared to the Diamond due to their astonishingly similar looks, she befriends Lord Lockwood quite unexpectedly yet is left wondering if she was a fool for believing he'd look twice at a mere country girl. Lockwood, his fears, and how he falls headfirst into love with Lucy Carlyle.

Ao3

So sorry for the late chapter this time. It's finally Lockwood's POV now though which I know a lot of people have been waiting for so I hope its worth the wait! Please comment if you enjoy!

[harmonycorrupted]

Strapping Young Lad - Underneath the Waves (City, 2007 remaster)

[tuxedo-rabbit]

I am thinking about putting Simon in the Ghilly/Marlow timeline for real now. Reasons why I like this:

1) The idea of Simon and Kieran (who does not exist in the Gertrude/Toth timeline) meeting brings me joy. Former creepy weird kid + current creepy weird kid solidarity.

2) The irony of Simon running into an eluvian and Mahariel while he and Merrill are separated is fun. Imagine the letters. Just frantic, excited letters back and forth. While they're supposed to be "on a break."

3) Simon feeling bitter because Varric has replaced him with someone who is more charismatic than Simon, pro Circle, and apparently chosen by the Maker. This being made worse by the fact Marlow keeps trying to be friends with him.

4) Marlow plays favorites and wouldn't sacrifice Simon. Simon, at this point in his story, just wants to run away so I get to figure out what the hell he does with his life next. Fucking off to go join the wardens actually seems like a plausible choice.

[book--brackets]

The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine (2001)

Twelve-year-old Addie admires her older sister Meryl, who aspires to rid the kingdom of Bamarre of gryphons, specters, and ogres. Addie, on the other hand, is fearful even of spiders and depends on Meryl for courage and protection. Waving her sword Bloodbiter, the older girl declaims in the garden from the heroic epic of Drualt to a thrilled audience of Addie, their governess, and the young sorcerer Rhys. 

But when Meryl falls ill with the dreaded Gray Death, Addie must gather her courage and set off alone on a quest to find the cure and save her beloved sister. Addie takes the seven-league boots and magic spyglass left to her by her mother and the enchanted tablecloth and cloak given to her by Rhys - along with a shy declaration of his love. She prevails in encounters with tricky specters (spiders too) and outwits a wickedly personable dragon in adventures touched with romance and a bittersweet ending.

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams (1988-1992)

A war fueled by the powers of dark sorcery is about to engulf the peaceful land of Osten Ard—for Prester John, the High King, lies dying. And with his death, the Storm King, the undead ruler of the elf-like Sithi, seizes the chance to regain his lost realm through a pact with the newly ascended king. Knowing the consequences of this bargain, the king’s younger brother joins with a small, scattered group of scholars, the League of the Scroll, to confront the true danger threatening Osten Ard.

Simon, a kitchen boy from the royal castle unknowingly apprenticed to a member of this League, will be sent on a quest that offers the only hope of salvation, a deadly riddle concerning long-lost swords of power. Compelled by fate and perilous magics, he must leave the only home he’s ever known and face enemies more terrifying than Osten Ard has ever seen, even as the land itself begins to die.

Starbound by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner (2013-2015)

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets into the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone. 

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they're worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help. 

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other's arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder-would they be better off staying here forever? 

Everything changes when they uncover the truth behind the chilling whispers that haunt their every step. Lilac and Tarver may find a way off this planet. But they won't be the same people who landed on it.

Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy (2004-2024)

Meet the great Skulduggery Pleasant: wise-cracking detective, powerful magician, master of dirty tricks and burglary (in the name of the greater good, of course). Oh yeah. And dead.

Then there's his sidekick, Stephanie. She's… well, she's a twelve-year-old girl. With a pair like this on the case, evil had better watch out…

Stephanie's uncle Gordon is a writer of horror fiction. But when he dies and leaves her his estate, Stephanie learns that while he may have written horror, it certainly wasn't fiction. Pursued by evil forces intent on recovering a mysterious key, Stephanie finds help from an unusual source – the wisecracking skeleton of a dead wizard.

When all hell breaks loose, it's lucky for Skulduggery that he's already dead. Though he's about to discover that being a skeleton doesn't stop you from being tortured, if the torturer is determined enough. And if there's anything Skulduggery hates, it's torture… Will evil win the day? Will Stephanie and Skulduggery stop bickering long enough to stop it? One thing's for sure: evil won't know what's hit it.

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine (2006)

Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted to be pretty . . .

Aza's singing is the fairest in all the land, and the most unusual. She can throw her voice so it seems to come from anywhere. But singing is only one of the two qualities prized in the Kingdom of Ayortha. Aza doesn't possess the other: beauty. Not even close. She's hidden in the shadows in her parents' inn, but when she becomes lady-in-waiting to the new queen, she has to step into the light--especially when the queen demands a dangerous favor. A magic mirror, a charming prince, a jealous queen, palace intrigue, and an injured king twine into a maze that Aza must penetrate to save herself and her beloved kingdom.

Trickster's Duology by Tamora Pierce (2003-2004)

Alianne is the teenage daughter of the famed Alanna, the first lady knight in Tortall. Young Aly follows in the quieter footsteps of her father, however, delighting in the art of spying. When she is captured and sold as a slave to an exiled royal family in the faraway Copper Islands, it is this skill that makes a difference in a world filled with political intrigue, murderous conspiracy, and warring gods. This is the first of two books featuring Alianne.

Monstress by Marjorie M. Liu (2015-present)

Set in an alternate matriarchal 1900's Asia, in a richly imagined world of art deco-inflected steam punk, MONSTRESS tells the story of a teenage girl who is struggling to survive the trauma of war, and who shares a mysterious psychic link with a monster of tremendous power, a connection that will transform them both and make them the target of both human and otherworldly powers.

Lockwood & Co by Jonathan Stroud (2013-2017)

When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Protector of the Small by Tamora Pierce (1999-2002)

Keladry of Mindelan is the first girl who dares to take advantage of a new rule in Tortall—one that allows females to train for knighthood. After years in the Yamani Islands, she knows that women can be warriors, and now that she’s returned home, Kel is determined to achieve her goal. She believes she is ready for the traditional hazing and grueling schedule of a page. But standing in Kel’s way is Lord Wyldon. The training master is dead set against girls becoming knights. He says she must pass a one-year trial that no male page has ever had to endure. It’s just one more way to separate Kel from her fellow trainees. But she is not to be underestimated. She will fight to succeed, even when the test is unfair.

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes (2012-2018)

Princess Cleo of Mytica confronts violence for the first time in her life when a shocking murder sets her kingdom on a path to collapse. Once a privileged royal, Cleo must now summon the strength to survive in this new world and fight for her rightful place as Queen. 

 The King of Limeros's son, Magnus, must plan each footstep with shrewd, sharp guile if he is to earn his powerful father's trust, while his sister, Lucia, discovers a terrifying secret about her heritage that will change everything. 

 Rebellious Jonas lashes out against the forces of oppression that have kept his country cruelly impoverished--and finds himself the leader of a people's revolution centuries in the making. 

 Witches, if found, are put to death, and Watchers, immortal beings who take the shape of hawks to visit the human world, have been almost entirely forgotten. A vicious power struggle quickly escalates to war, and these four young people collide against each other and the rise of elementia, the magic that can topple kingdoms and crown a ruler in the same day.

[anntickwittee]

Tagging @ofliterarynature

Here is my 2023 book list challenge. How many have you read? :)

[rillabrooke]

2024 Reading List

The Curse of Pietro Houdini - Derek B. Miller

Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

All Creatures Great and Small - James Herriot

The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien

Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie

Just Stab Me Now - Jill Bearup

The Words and Music of Paul Simon - James Bennighof**

The Paul Simon Companion: Four Decades of Commentary - Stacey Luftig**

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

The Zookeepers' War: An Incredible True Story from the Cold War - J.W. Mohnhaupt

The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

The Screaming Staircase - Jonathan Stroud

Tress of the Emerald Sea - Brandon Sanderson

The Sea of Monsters - Rick Riordan

Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

The Whispering Skull - Jonathan Stroud

King Lear - William Shakespeare

The Duke and I - Julia Quinn

Macbeth - William Shakespeare

Siege and Storm - Leigh Bardugo

Redeeming Love - Francine Rivers

The Titan's Curse - Rick Riordan

Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo

The Thursday Murder Club - Richard Osman

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

The Battle of the Labyrinth - Rick Riordan

The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien

We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

The Queen's Gambit - Walter Tevis

* reread ** for school

[aurumacadicus]

There are still a couple weeks left to read Iron Widow, but we’re voting for our next book now so we have plenty of time to get it for the first day of reading on October thirtieth! Book summaries are under the cut! Each new title is in bold for clarity.

If you’d like to join the book club, now or for the next book, feel free to send me an ask and I’ll give you the link to our Discord!

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

Nathaniel is a boy magician-in-training, sold to the government by his birth parents at the age of five and sent to live as an apprentice to a master. Powerful magicians rule Britain, and its empire, and Nathaniel is told his is the “ultimate sacrifice” for a “noble destiny.”

If leaving his parents and erasing his past life isn’t tough enough, Nathaniel’s master, Arthur Underwood, is a cold, condescending, and cruel middle-ranking magician in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The boy’s only saving grace is the master’s wife, Martha Underwood, who shows him genuine affection that he rewards with fierce devotion. Nathaniel gets along tolerably well over the years in the Underwood household until the summer before his eleventh birthday. Everything changes when he is publicly humiliated by the ruthless magician Simon Lovelace and betrayed by his cowardly master who does not defend him.

Nathaniel vows revenge. In a Faustian fever, he devours magical texts and hones his magic skills, all the while trying to appear subservient to his master. When he musters the strength to summon the 5,000-year-old djinni Bartimaeus to avenge Lovelace by stealing the powerful Amulet of Samarkand, the boy magician plunges into a situation more dangerous and deadly than anything he could ever imagine.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, traveling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand.

After an exchange goes awry, Kell escapes to Grey London and runs into Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She first robs him, then saves him from a deadly enemy, and finally forces Kell to spirit her to another world for a proper adventure.

Now perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save all of the worlds, they’ll first need to stay alive.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet up once a week to investigate unsolved murders.

But when a brutal killing takes place on their very doorstep, the Thursday Murder Club finds themselves in the middle of their first live case. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim, and Ron might be pushing eighty but they still have a few tricks up their sleeves.

Can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer before it’s too late?

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

“Come home.” Vera’s mother called and Vera obeyed. In spite of their long estrangement, in spite of the memories – she’s come back to the home of a serial killer. Back to face the love she had for her father and the bodies he buried there.

Coming home is hard enough for Vera, and to make things worse, she and her mother aren’t alone. A parasitic artist has moved into the guest house out back, and is slowly stripping Vera’s childhood for spare parts. He insists that he isn’t the one leaving notes around the house in her father’s handwriting… but who else could it possibly be?

There are secrets yet undiscovered in the foundations of the notorious Crowder House. Vera must face them, and find out for herself just how deep the rot goes.

The Girl in the Letter by Emily Gunnis

A heartbreaking letter. A girl locked away. A mystery to be solved.

1956. When Ivy Jenkins falls pregnant she is sent in disgrace to St Margaret’s, a dark, brooding house for unmarried mothers. Her baby is adopted against her will. Ivy will never leave.

Present day. Samantha Harper is a journalist desperate for a break. When she stumbles on a letter from the past, the contents shock and move her. The letter is from a young mother, begging to be rescued from St Margaret’s. Before it is too late.

Sam is pulled into the tragic story and discovers a spate of unexplained deaths surrounding the woman and her child. With St Margaret’s set for demolition, Sam has only hours to piece together a sixty-year-old mystery before the truth, which lies disturbingly close to home, is lost forever…

Read her letter. Remember her story…

Cinder by Melissa Meyer

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

[ao3feed-kathony]

An Inevitable Convergence of Lives

read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/56555959 by Nomolosk Lucy honestly never really thought much about the fact that she'd been adopted. Sure, she didn't like the Carlyles much, but for all intents and purposes, they were the family she grew up with, and at least she didn't have to put up with her mum's demands after joining Lockwood and Co. She's fine with her past, because her future is so much brighter than she ever thought it would be. However, a case at a country house brings her past to the forefront, forcing her to confront some difficult truths. Words: 1363, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co. (TV), Bridgerton (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Lucy Carlyle, Anthony Lockwood, George Cubbins | George Karim, Holly Munro, Mary Carlyle, Lucy Carlyle's Sisters, Kate Sheffield | Kate Sharma, Daphne Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton, Violet Bridgerton, Eloise Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton, Penelope Featherington Relationships: Lucy Carlyle/Anthony Lockwood, Lucy Carlyle & George Cubbins | George Karim & Anthony Lockwood, Anthony Bridgerton/Kate Sheffield | Kate Sharma, Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington, Simon Basset/Daphne Bridgerton Additional Tags: Kidnapping, Amnesia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Book 05: The Empty Grave (Lockwood & Co.), Spoilers for Book 05: The Empty Grave (Lockwood & Co.) read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/56555959

[marvelousmrm]

Adventure into Fear #29 (Mantlo/Heck, Aug 1975). Hell is other people. Morbius is trapped in a nightmare dimension with his hunter.

[pictureofdoriaaaaaangay]

chaotic book ramble so I can stop spiraling into the abyss: my childhood favorite books that I've been thinking about lately

I start college in four days, where I'll be pursuing an English degree. I've been both a reader and by extension a writer my whole life. lately, I've been thinking about the books I loved when I was younger that fueled this passion and thus helped me along to where I am now <3

The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer. I still have my old copies of these books, and when I tell you they are well-loved, I mean they are well-loved. they're sort of fairytale retellings, and take place in the Land of Stories, which exists as a parallels world to this one where fairytale characters are real and living beyond their happily ever afters. the books follow twins Alex and Connor, who find out (spoiler?? lol) that their grandmother is the fairy godmother. all sorts of stuff goes down, and honestly I only remember half of it like a fever dream, but I remember really loving it in book five (?) when they get to meet the characters from stories Connor wrote. honestly, I probably read the entire series over fifty times, and that's not an exaggeration. first read them the year the third book came out, when I was nine. waiting for the rest was, I recall, absolute torture.

the Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. this is so funny to me, because these books basically set me up for my later teen years and loving the Folk of the Air series by Holly Black - but I digress. I first read these at age eight in a high-stress time of my life, and as a result they were likely deeply formative. they follow twins Jared and Simon (more twins ??) and their older sister Mallory (thinking back, she was absolutely part of my bi awakening). they move with their mother into the old Spiderwick mansion, and soon discover a fieldguide all about faeries and different fae species that live in the woods surrounding the house. I honestly think that the plot of these books is batshit, but I still sort of love them. there's a movie, but it's terrible, and aggressively condenses the plot into something completely unrecognizable.

Harry Potter, by... Harry Potter. isn't it great that, after his time at Hogwarts, he decided to write a seven-book autobiography?? so funky of him!! anyways - I read these at the ripe age of ten, and stuck by loving them since. HP was my first fandom, and maybe the one I'm fondest of (actually, thinking on this, no), and Hogwarts in general holds a lot of nostalgia for me. this being said, I still love the books, but I have to say that I reread them last year for the first time since I was maybe 14/15 and um. wow. Mr. Potter you are?? problematic??? someone please tell me why the adult man who was allowed to abuse children in a position of power for sixteen years got a redemption arc but the literal CHILD who was born into an abusive and power-hungry family didn't. also why is Dumbedore hailed as such a bloody saint?? he's worse than fucking Voldemort. I said what I said. also it's super confusing that Harry never mentioned in his autobiography that his Sirius and Remus were happily married and living at Grimmauld place. weird storytelling choice I guess!!

all those damned Warrior cats books by Erin Hunter. I swear to god these books had crack in them I ATE THEM UP from the ages of like. eight to eleven?? maybe??? genuinely, I must've reread them a hundred times, but I could tell you NOTHING about the plots. a few vibes, maybe, but zero plots. did they even have plots?? were plots a thing in those books??? how was I so obsessed with them???? funniest part is the fact that I see people talking about them on the internet now and it's just. insane. actually insane.

Lockwood and Co by Jonathan Stroud. full transparency: I read these for the first time at age eleven (around the time the fourth book out of five came out) and now remain an active member of the fandom. I love these books, and these characters, with my whole heart and I want nothing more than them to be happy. the Netflix show, though I have some pretty severe gripes with it, is still really amazing and absolutely deserves a second season. the books are set in London, where ghosts are real deeply dangerous, and follow the main trio of Lucy, Lockwood, and George. I reread them at the start of the year in preparation for the show, and they're genuinely just incredible works. I sobbed a lot reading them. they're absolutely comfort reads for me; 35 Portland Row is home.

wow. that was a lot. there's honestly several more I could talk about (School for Good and Evil, Percy Jackson, etc), but this is a long enough post for now, ha. love you all <3

[desos-records]

Chapter 7: Case Studies

First | Prev / Next

Ghost possession doesn't happen often, but fatality rates are high. Even if an agent does survive, there are the aftereffects to worry about.

After surviving a possession, Lucy Carlyle struggles with recovery, delving ever deeper into the memories of Visitors and, in the process, stumbling into the world of blackmarket Sources.

Meanwhile, George Karim races to learn the truth behind ghost possession in order to protect Lucy and save future agents.

And Anthony Lockwood must face his own past with the London underworld if he wants to save his friends and himself.

-

Like the Problem itself, the cause of possession hadn't yet been solved, but not for lack of trying. Or lack of research. As usual, the first place George went for answers—or failing that, inspiration—was Portland Row's own library. The Lockwoods had been two of the most thorough researchers to ever confront the Problem. There was no aspect of it they hadn't touched on in their ethnographies, articles, and travel journals.

Resources he wouldn't have access to if he didn't live under the same roof as their son. George often forced himself to remember this fact when Lockwood wound him up.

In the case of possession, they'd traveled to America and studied the Ghost Dance practiced by the Lakota tribal nation. Dancers went into a kind of trance and communicated with dead ancestors to achieve visions or hear prophecies. George didn't know of any evidence that Visitors could be prophetic, but clearly white Americans had felt threatened enough. They massacred hundreds of Lakota people for it.

The Lockwoods had drawn parallels between the Ghost Dance trances and cases of possession. They argued that possession occurred because the Visitor was unusually determined to communicate something to the living and so latched onto a significantly Talented agent. They suspected the mortality rates were high because most agents weren't Talented enough to survive the psychical overload—except for Simon Rose, Evelyn Lawrence, Bennie Russell, and now Lucy Carlyle.

The Ghost Dancers, however, had never suffered such a fate, but the Lockwoods hadn't been able to determine why—partly because they'd been barred from witnessing the dances themselves. The Lakota people were understandably wary of sharing details with outsiders.

George, stacks of papers and cold cups of tea dominating the quiet kitchen, scoured the issue of American Anthropologist that had published their article on the subject until he caught on something.

Upon reviewing the data (fig. 31), we realized that, while agents with Sight are less susceptible to possession, they experience higher rates of mortality than their counterparts with Listening and Touch. After careful study of the Lakota Ghost Dance, practitioners' experiences during trances and their emphasis on visions, we believe this statistic is due to the fact that truly gifted Seers are simply a rarity. Few are strong enough to be sought out by Visitors and, at the time of this publication, none have been strong enough to survive the force of psychic visions.

So his theory had been wrong, or at least misinformed. Talent did have an impact on survival rates, but it was less about type and more about level.

George didn't know how much that would help Lucy. She'd only given vague descriptions of what she'd seen, how it overlaid with the living world. It didn't seem consistent with the accounts of visions made by the Lakota dancers, which were vivid and all-encompassing. Maybe Lucy's Sight wasn't powerful enough, her experience mostly defined by her Listening and Touch.

Lockwood had the strongest Sight out of the three of them, and stronger than any agent George had worked with. If they could find a reasonably safe way to test his Talent, then maybe…

"Lockwood!" George called, voice reverberating through the house.

The iron staircase down to the basement shook and rattled enough to threaten collapse as Lockwood tramped up it into the kitchen. "For the love of God, George, someone had better be haunted, haunting, or on fire because I'm gonna—"

He stopped in his tracks as he surveyed the state of the kitchen table. His white shirt stuck to him from sweat and he still had his practice rapier in his hand, slightly heavier than his others, designed for overtraining. He'd been down in the basement cutting the dummies to shreds ever since Lucy stormed out. Then the space around his eyes tightened ever so slightly as they did whenever George dug into his parents' research for a case. He had yet to tell him off for it, but the reminder clearly affected him.

"Exactly how good is your Sight, Lockwood?" George asked before he could come up with a threat.

Lockwood blinked. "What? It's fine. Why?"

"Your parents have an interesting theory about possession. I thought we might test it."

"That's what you're researching? We have a case to solve, George. We don't have time for any more experiments."

"It's to help Lucy, remember? I thought you were on board with this."

"What's my Talent got to do with Lucy? I'm on board with possession recovery, not causing it on purpose." Then Lockwood paused, looked around at the kitchen, out the darkening windows, and glanced up at the ceiling as if he could see all the way up to the attic. "Where's Lucy anyway? Has she come back yet?"

"No."

Lockwood looked at his watch and cursed. "It's been hours."

George shrugged, looking back at his papers. "She's blowing off steam."

"It's getting dark."

"She's an agent."

"I'm going after her." Lockwood disappeared out the door. More rattling came from the hallway as he traded the practice rapier for a proper one. He returned to the kitchen, dead-set determination welded in his eyes. "Seen my coat anywhere?"

"Library." When Lockwood went through the door again, he called after him, "You're going to be the last person she wants to see, you know."

He returned, shrugging his coat on. Somewhere between the kitchen and the library, he'd found spare flares and canisters to hang from his belt, the iron in his expression not in the least bit dimmed. "She can tick me off when she's safe inside. Do us a favor and stay put. No research field trips."

George rolled his eyes.

"Please, George."

"Well, since you said please…"

The door swung shut, soon followed by the resounding slam of the front door.

George sighed, reshuffled some papers around to pull out the Annabel Ward articles he'd abandoned. The inscription on the ring wasn't enough to prove Hugo Blake's guilt and he'd yet to find anything else in the dull society pages. Besides, they were psychical agents, ghost hunters, not homicide detectives. He didn't know what Lockwood was playing at.

But he'd followed him into this mess and he would follow him back out again. So George made more tea and flipped open a magazine, mind still turning over Talents and trances and descriptions of circle dances. Then he remembered. There were interviews with the possession survivors somewhere in Lockwood's stack of VHS tapes. It might be helpful to review them.

He pushed to his feet and into the library, digging through the stacks until he found what he wanted.