Derek can't claim to be a normal fourteen-year-old anymore. Not after what he discovered at the Red House. His role in the war against the dead is more pivotal --- and more terrifying --- than he could have imagined. And so it all comes down to this. The Rift between the worlds of the living and the dead has to be closed . . . forever. It seems like an impossible task. And it rests squarely on the shoulders of a slightly overweight, not especially brave kid named Derek Stone. If Derek is ever going to become a hero, now's the time.