A few days before his thirteenth birthday Martin James Lewis makes a frightening discovery when chased into the graveyard by Gary Harding, the school bully. One hundred years earlier to the day, another Martin James Lewis died on his thirteenth birthday. Martin is haunted by this and sets out to ascertain exactly what happened to the other Martin, only to discover there has been several other boys sharing his name and birthday, each born one hundred years apart, and not surviving past their thirteenth birthday. When Martin embarks on his quest he is shadowed by the verger, Archibald Snode, a man who frequently appears out of nowhere. He also has to avoid Gary, whose father used to bully Martin's father, thereby carrying on a feud between the families, the reasons for which had been lost in the mists of time. As the tale unfolds Martin attempts to enlist the help of his friend Ruth, who thinks he is mad and persuades him that the only way out of danger is not to be in the village on his birthday. Martin and Ruth join a school field trip, even though Gary is to be there too. Despite escaping from the village, where unaccountably, everyone else is falling ill, destiny follows Martin and draws him back to face his fate. With a skilful and exciting denouement Porter brings this superb ghost story to a satisfactory close.

2008-04-04