When Matthew Quentin finds an old book in their attic, he doesn’t know he’s about to turn his world upside down. After his classmates and adopted senior sister make fun of him, he angrily writes down every offender’s name in the book, intent on using it as a black book like his British head teacher, who uses one in school to list the names of pupils to be punished. However, something very strange begins to happen in the quiet little suburb of Sleepy Lake after Matthew writes his list. Neighborhood kids start disappearing . . . one by one.

The book Matthew found is an extraordinarily mysterious one fashioned by an unearthly being in 315 A.D. Many have killed and died for it before several unfortunate events landed it in their attic. So, when Matthew eventually writes down his name and his adopted younger sister’s as the book’s owners,...