The Light

Written by D. J. MacHale

Narrated by Nick Podehl

Marshall Seaver is being haunted.

It begins with mysterious sounds, a fleeting face outside a window, a rogue breeze—all things that can be explained away. That is, until he comes face-to-face with a character who only exists on the pages of a sketchbook—a character Marshall himself created.

Marshall has no idea why he is being tormented by this forbidding creature, but he is quickly convinced it has something to do with his best friend, Cooper, who has gone missing. Together with Cooper’s beautiful but aloof sister, Sydney, Marshall searches for the truth about his friend while ultimately uncovering a nightmare that is bigger and more frightening than he could ever have imagined.

Number one New York Times bestselling author D. J. MacHale launches his eerie new trilogy with a story so packed with chilling suspense, readers will want to sleep with the light on.

* * *

The voices grew louder, more urgent, as if they were running out of time. It sounded like gibberish. It was gibberish. I knew that. It was a dream, right? That’s what I told myself and it calmed me down. That is, until I heard a single word break through the haze as plain and clear as if someone had leaned over and spoke directly into my ear.
—“Morpheus.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Apr 20, 2010
• ISBN: 9781423397786

D. J. MacHale

D. J. MacHale (""The Scout"") is a bestselling author and is also a director, executive producer, and creator of several popular television series and movies. He lives in Southern California with his family, where they spend a lot of time backpacking, scuba diving, and skiing

Reviews for The Light

[dark_phoenix54 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marshall Seaver is 16 and has big plans for the summer, all involving his best friend since childhood, Cooper Foley. But Coop has other plans- he wants to hang out with girls more than build rockets. Then he gets in trouble for selling counterfeit tickets and gets exiled to his parent’s lake house for the summer. This really throws a wrench into the plans they both have, but they have no idea how much worse their summer will get. When Marsh throws and breaks a metal egg in a fit of anger, strange things start happening. Knocking in the house. Messages that don’t really come from who they are supposed to. People acting strangely. Finally, the appearance of a villain- Gravedigger- that can’t be real- because Marsh made him up, drawing him for a graphic novel. And while this villain can’t hurt Marsh directly, he can possess people to do that work for him… and Coop has disappeared from the lake house. No one knows where he is, or if he’s gone voluntarily or not.Marsh finds himself thrown into a fight for his own survival while trying to track down Cooper. Working with an unlikely ally, Coop’s icy older sister Sydney, Marsh must try to tell illusion from real peril and good spirit from evil. It’s a good book but not great. The beginning is slow but then accelerates to the point where there is no time to catch one’s breath. This is the first of a projected trilogy, so I assume that the 2nd and 3rd books will take off fast, having gotten the introduction to characters done in this book. It’s a blend of coming-of-age, action and supernatural. Written for 9 to 12 year olds, it’s enjoyable for all ages.

[jennk-2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Each ghostly episode feels like a carbon copy of the last, except the setting is different. I never felt myself get nervous for the characters when they were in danger. This is either the result of scenes not actually being frightening (at least from my point of view) or my not having concern for the characters (or both). Either way, it's not how I like to feel about a novel.

Basically, I feel the plot was not as strong as it could've been. There is a mystery element, which I admit it added up for me as the characters figured it out (a plus). But overall it felt weak. Some elements seemed tied in at the last minute that seemed they could have played a larger part. Perhaps these elements will be fleshed out further in the remaining titles, but it seems they could have had higher prominence at this point.

Another issue I had with the novel was the narrator. Most of the time Marsh's voice was consistent and believable. Occasionally it seemed like there were "oh yea, he's a teen" moments added in and it always threw me off the story. I like to get lost and getting tossed out makes it hard to do so.

So far this sounds like a not-so-good review, so why would I give it three stars? Two reasons: I kept reading and the ending. Although I encountered problems throughout the novel, it intrigued me enough to continue reading, and the ending sealed the deal. The next novel will not be at the top of my must read list, but I'm curious enough to take a look.

[bookslesstravelled · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Updated RTC

A good book, a young adult horror story

[skybalon · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good YA fiction. It is rare to have horror fiction be genuinely creepy, not just bloody/gory, this one at times succeeded. It is a good start to the trilogy as well. There are some slow parts but nothing that lasts too long. There is the beginning of a mythology here that may be hard to keep consistent and rational but it will be interesting to see if the author can pull it off.

[68papyrus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I chose the audio edition of Morpheus Road, The Light and I was not disappointed. Once again Nick Podehl offers an excellent narrative performance. He did a great job of voicing all the characters and adding to the depth of the story. Marshall Seaver is looking forward to an amazing summer with his best friend, Cooper Foley but all that changes when Cooper lands himself in " trouble town" and has to lay low at his parents lake house for a while. When strange things begin happening to Marshall and Cooper goes missing the book's suspense factor is ratcheted up. This book keep me intrigued from beginning to end it had plenty of chills, thrills and creepy moments to hold my interest. If you enjoy your horror with a good dose of suspense I recommend you check out this audio CD.

[russell7alynn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really really liked this book.

After reading the introduction and discovering that the author used to write for Are You Afraid of the Dark, one of my favorite childhood shows, I was pretty much hooked. MacHale has a very distinct style of writing. The entire time I was reading this book I found myself asking questions I didn't know I had until the narrator asked. I took for granted the lives of many characters in the book. Within the first few chapters, I realized that I cared entirely too much about minor characters, and when they were no longer alive, it made me a little sad. That's a bad thing because it meant I was bound to get hooked and invest my emotions in these people, but it's great because it means MacHale is writing about real people. These characters weren't one dimensional. I mean, they weren't exactly the most thought provoking or mentally stimulating characters I've ever encountered, but considering the target audience of the story, they felt pretty real.

The pacing in the story is excellent. It starts off fairly quickly, and you’re introduced to all the major players within the first 50 pages or so. From that point on, MacHale really gives you the action and pacing of a scary movie. You won't be bored. So much happens over the course of a week in Marshall Seaver's life that by the time you reach the end, you forget how much he's suffered already, and you just want him to be safe and to return to the life he had within the first few pages.

As I'm sure you already know, Marshall is being haunted by Gravedigger, a comic book/ graphic novel villain of his own creation. I know, it sounds like this has been done before, but by the end of the story you'll see that what's haunting Marshall is much deeper than a figment of his imagination. It seems that every time Marsh is alone, he's tormented by the creepy, hollow-eyed, skeletal figure of Gravedigger. No place is safe for Marshall. What's even more terrifying is that he has no one to turn to for answers about why Gravedigger has suddenly sprung from a sketchpad and has his black eyes dead set on Marshall.

If you're in the mood for something that will not only creep you out, but make you feel sad when it's over and long for more, I think this is a good read for you.

I will be picking up the second book in the series very soon!

[wethereaders · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's a book you wont want to put down until the last page. Great adventure and can not wait until the next one comes out. 

[ctmsbesl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I decided to rate this book a three and a half out of five stars because I thought it was very slow in the beginning, but it did get alot better after thirty or forty pages. It got more suspenseful. There were alot of interesting charecters, especially a charecter called Gravedigger. He was tall, wore a long leather jacket, had a skull like face, and had an Indiana Jones style hat. Hes also on the cover of the book. One other thing about him that made him all the more terifying is that he used a pick ax as a weapon. Thats just a taste of thise awesome thriller.

[ctmsbens · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I decided to rate this book a three and a half out of five stars because I thought it was very slow in the beginning, but it did get alot better after thirty or forty pages. It got more suspenseful. There were alot of interesting charecters, especially a charecter called Gravedigger. He was tall, wore a long leather jacket, had a skull like face, and had an Indiana Jones style hat. Hes also on the cover of the book. One other thing about him that made him all the more terifying is that he used a pick ax as a weapon. Thats just a taste of thise awesome thriller.

[aume6 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is a very ineresting book with twists and turns around every turn.

[galleysmith · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Morpheus Road was filled with creepy ghouls, mysterious occurrences, teen-aged boy antics and even a cute girl to tag along on the adventure. I can certainly see why this book would appeal to boys. It isn’t entirely unappealing to girls either, I imagine, but they’d have to be a bit more into the supernatural to really enjoy it. It does, however showcase a sassy heroine who’s strong with a touch of vulnerability. So that could draw some girls in as well.Sadly, the story dragged a bit as the story built in some character history and set the plot up. Even so, I found myself wanting a bit more explanation and backstory as to why it was that the entity haunting Marshall took the form of The Gravedigger. Relative to this there was quite a bit of repetition in the initial haunting of Marshall. The point was well made by the time we got to the middle of the story and saw some real progression. As part of this build up and haunting, there were some predictable moments and a several that felt pretty contrived. Of course, I look at these events through different eyes than the target audience so they aren’t something that should keep anyone away. None of it destroyed the overall story for me just made it longer than I liked.The characters are enjoyable. Particularly the hero Marshall who was endearingly dorky. I greatly appreciated that MacHale chose to write him with genuine fear of the situation, he was cautious and nervous and flustered. I’ll add that Marshall also made great progress and found strength and courage as the mystery unfolded. Sydney, interestingly enough, went the opposite direction. She was all sass and snark early on, fearless and without concern for what was to come. However, as they twosome were further drawn into The Gravedigger’s plot she became increasingly vulnerable, showed reservation and ultimately fear.I have to say, I was on the fence about this book early on, I didn’t love it (didn’t hate it either). I was glad that it picked up about half way through and finally got to the meat of the story and action. There were answers presented to some questions (though not all) and some excellently plotted revelations and steps forward. But what really won me over was the end. At the end (which I won’t spoil) I found out something HUGE that changed how I looked at the whole story. It almost makes me want to go back and re-read to pick out any subtle clues that alluded to the revelation that I’d missed.It’s this circumstance that definitely has me interested to read book two.

[lauriebrown54 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marshall Seaver is 16 and has big plans for the summer, all involving his best friend since childhood, Cooper Foley. But Coop has other plans- he wants to hang out with girls more than build rockets. Then he gets in trouble for selling counterfeit tickets and gets exiled to his parent’s lake house for the summer. This really throws a wrench into the plans they both have, but they have no idea how much worse their summer will get. When Marsh throws and breaks a metal egg in a fit of anger, strange things start happening. Knocking in the house. Messages that don’t really come from who they are supposed to. People acting strangely. Finally, the appearance of a villain- Gravedigger- that can’t be real- because Marsh made him up, drawing him for a graphic novel. And while this villain can’t hurt Marsh directly, he can possess people to do that work for him… and Coop has disappeared from the lake house. No one knows where he is, or if he’s gone voluntarily or not.Marsh finds himself thrown into a fight for his own survival while trying to track down Cooper. Working with an unlikely ally, Coop’s icy older sister Sydney, Marsh must try to tell illusion from real peril and good spirit from evil. It’s a good book but not great. The beginning is slow but then accelerates to the point where there is no time to catch one’s breath. This is the first of a projected trilogy, so I assume that the 2nd and 3rd books will take off fast, having gotten the introduction to characters done in this book. It’s a blend of coming-of-age, action and supernatural. Written for 9 to 12 year olds, it’s enjoyable for all ages.

[jrlibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is book one of a trilogy by the Pendragon author, D.J.MacHale. I found book one to be disappointing because when I finished I still knew almost nothing, even though I'd invested 341 pages of reading into the story. Marshall Seaver is haunted by a drawing he created called the Gravedigger. We don't know why the drawing suddenly comes to life or why it seems to have it in for Seaver, and 341 pages later we still don't know much more than that other than it has something to do with Marshall's deceased mother and something she did. There is the beginning of a potential romance between Marshall and Sydney, as unusual as that might be, and we know that Marshall is still not safe, but we don't know why. The Gravedigger is gone by the time the book ends, and has been replaced by a tunic wearing Greek or Roman warrior named Damon who also wants Marshall to either help him find the poleaxe or wants him to die, or both. A few other things have happened but I don't want to spoil the story if you haven't read it. I will read book two, but I'm expecting a few more answers than were provided to me in book one.

[crayonwillow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I felt like this book was more of a huge set up for the second book, rather than this book having it's own entity. I felt that DJ MacHale could have taken it a lot farther than he did, especially compared to how the flow and the feel of the first Pendragon book was. A lot of compassion for the characters were lost to me. I wasn't emotionally connected as much as I feel like I should have been for this series.

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Quick & Dirty: A highly entertaining read that is sure to give you nightmares. Opening Sentence: I believe in ghosts. The Review: The story is narrated by Marshall Seaver, an average teenage boy and amateur comic book artist. He's a bit immature and clings to all of the things that define him. He loves comics, video games, building model rockets, and spending time with his one and only friend - his best friend, Cooper. Where Marshall is a total geek and lacks skills with the ladies, Cooper is a ladies man and is always looking for trouble. Marshall is really looking forward to spending the summer with his best friend, but Cooper's parents decides that he needs to get away from his troubles so Cooper goes to his family's cottage. Marshall creates his own comic book character, the Gravedigger. He begins to have hallucinations and starts to question what's real. He starts to see the character that he created - Gravedigger and believes that Gravedigger is stalking him. To make matters worse, Marshall discovers that Cooper has gone missing, so he teams up with Cooper's sister, Sydney, to help get to the bottom of the mystery. Morpheus Road: The Light is an interesting story that deals with many themes, such as identity and growing up. This engaging tale certainly has its share of creepy and scary moments. Mr. MacHale is an excellent writer. He does an amazing job building tension. The secondary characters and villains are well crafted, interesting, and unique. The plot is surprisingly complex, with numerous subplots, but this in no way detracts from my enjoyment of the novel. Mr. MacHale disdains cliches and creates multidimensional characters in both Marshall and Sydney, who grow over the course of his book. Overall, Morpheus Road: The Light is a good read. Mr. MacHale delivers some great twists and lots of suspense. Readers will be chomping at the bit to see what happens in the next installment. Notable Scene: I heard more than saw what happened behind me. The heavy stack of glass hit the floor and exploded. Bits of glass flew everywhere, filling the air with a storm of sharp, shiny fragments. I glanced back in time to see a wave of broken glass headed my way. I ducked quickly and covered my face before I got sliced. I felt the sting through my clothes as I was pelted by the glass, but I didn't dare budge. After a couple of seconds I cautiously peeked over my arm to see the carnage. The four climbing ropes were hanging straight down, swinging gently, no longer animated. FTC Advisory: Big Honcho Media provided me with a copy of Morpheus Road: The Light. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review. In addition, I don't receive affiliate fees for anything purchased via links from my site.

[krau0098 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I got this book through Traveling ARC Tours; thanks to them for letting me be on the tour. This is the first book I have read by Hale, and though I am not normally a horror read, the premise sounded interesting and I loved the cover. This is the first book in the Morpheus trilogy. Marshall Seaver is looking forward to a great summer, but then things start to go wrong. His dad has to go out of town to Las Vegas and his best friend is being shipped off to the family cabin. Then Seaver, in a fit of anger, breaks a golden ball that is a memento from his deceased mother and things start to get creepy. Marshall is being haunted and he keeps running into the image of Gravedigger, a graphic novel character that he created. He needs to figure out what is going on before people start dying.This book is definitely more of a creepy psychological thriller than a gore fest. I am a person who is easily scared and I found many parts of this book to be incredibly scary. I know it is aimed at young adults, but if you have an active imagination I would read it when there are other people around and it is light outside. Really it did freak me out. There are some mystery elements to the story as well, Marshall's spends a lot of time trying to piece together various pieces of evidence as he searches for his best friend. There are also some gross parts; the characters drowning in a boat shed full of blood comes to mind. The book in general is very reminiscent of your typical teenage horror film.The book takes a while to get going, it plods slowly ahead with a couple creepy scenes here and there. Then in the last third of the book things really pick up. When all was said and done I wish that Hale had gotten through the beginning of the story quicker and spent more time dealing with all the supernatural strangeness surrounding Gravedigger and the Morpheus Road.I didn't like any of the characters all that much. Marshall is okay, but I didn't find him particularly engaging. Sydney is an ice-queen and, though her character thaws a bit as the novel progresses, I still never liked her all that much.The supernatural surrounding this story is never really all that well defined. You can't tell if Gravedigger is an anomaly or part of a more world-wide problem. The story itself is summed up completely, but there are some story threads introduced at the end that promise to be interesting in future books.Overall I thought the story was okay. I am not a big horror fan though so it was a bit too scary for me. The idea behind the Morpheus Road is intriguing but not very well detailed in this story. The characters were so-so and the story starts out slow. I am interested to see what the second book in the series brings, but I will probably wait to see what other people say about it before I commit to reading it.

[yaaddict · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When I first got Morpheus Road: The Light in the mail, it was the first time I was hearing about it. I went in to the story with just the description on the back to go by. Man, was this in intense story! It is filled with action, so the pages moved quickly for me. My adrenaline was pumping throughout the whole read.It didn't take me long to like the main character, Marsh. Marsh isn't the super hot bad boy. He is a normal teenager and, well . . . a geek. In the beginning of the story you can tell he is clinging on to his childhood. He wants to stay in the time of model rockets and graphic novels. I actually felt he came off more like 14 than 16 in the beginning. But his character grows a lot during the story. Marsh's best friend Cooper on the other hand is about the opposite of Marsh. He is all about taking risks and hanging out with girls. You don't get to see a lot of him before he goes missing, but MacHale has added flashbacks of the boy's friendship that helps you get more of a feel for him. I enjoyed watching Marsh and Cooper's sister Sydney slowly come closer together, even when they didn't notice. There is a whole lot going in this story. You definitely need to pay attention to the details. Gravedigger is very creepy, but the things that are happening when he is around is what gave me the chills. I found myself up at night, swearing I heard water dripping or felt a breeze on my face. It didn't take me long to realize there was more than just a drawing of Marsh's coming to life going on. I enjoyed the suspense of trying to figure out what was causing everything. I did feel like sometimes there was too much going on. There were so many details going on at some points that it was hard to see the direction. Even now there are some things that happened that I don't know how they tie in. But I have a feeling somethings were set up for the next book in the series. The ending was awesome. It answered answered a lot of my questions, but then again it gave me more. The ending is when you see how complex the story actually is. The epilogue took me by surprise. It gives a glimpse into what we can expect from the next book, which makes me really excited for it! The Light was great start to what I feel will be a fantastic series. I can't wait to see what is in store for these characters.