Boss in the Wall: A Treatise on the House Devil

Professor Vlad Smith is on a terrifying quest, one that will take him from the halls of our most hallowed institutions to the most run-down of old houses in blighted neighborhoods. A mysterious committee, shredded yellowed newspapers, a daguerrotype of a Confederate soldier, a headless corpse and a corpseless head.... These are the clues which Smith must piece together to save his sanity and his daughter, and uncover the terrible secret of the Boss in the Wall. BACK COVER: What a scary story, like a modern Dracula but completely original in its concept and chillingly realistic in its narration. Avram Davidson was one of the finest writers the fantasy field has had, endlessly inventive and uniquely vivid. Grania Davis has completed this work, which he left unfinished, in a way that does him proud. - Poul Anderson The Boss in the Wall is a last powerful and major work by a major and powerful author. - Gregory Benford It is hard to imagine the genre that could encompass him; it is even more difficult to imagine fantasy or science fiction without him. - The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Davidson may be always doomed to be underappreciated, but he remains a true original and, in his own subtle way, one of the greats. - The St. James Guide to Fantasy