Devo Mannix the Sorcerer’s Apprentice

About the Book

Devo Mannix is an understudy to his grandfather, a world renowned sorcerer and magician. In the course of his training, Devo inherits a mystifying steamer trunk and a magical 1925 Rolls Royce Phantom 1 automobile. While on vacation at the Mannix summer cottage on Pawley’s Island, South Carolina, Devo encounters a cat sitting at the front door of their cottage. The cat is persistent in his endeavors to enter the beach house. When Devo tries to find out who the owner of the cat is, a neighbor tells him that he only sees the cat when the Mannix family is staying in their cottage. An attempt to discover why the cat disappears and reappears only when their cottage is occupied leads Devo to an abandoned temple in Cambodia. Devo will learn the secret of the All-Seeing Eye and the strange history of the Mannix summer cottage and its former owners before he can solve the mystery of the disappearing cat. When Devo uses a neighbor’s cat to assist him in solving the mystery, that cat also disappears. Julie, a friend of Devo, in an attempt to see the cat using the All-Seeing Eye, discovers a secret about the cat that leads Devo into a mysterious story about the cat and the origin of the All-Seeing Eye.

About the Author

Roland Vincent Boike was born October 28, 1930, at his family home in Madeira, Ohio. He is the son of Dr. Stephen Boike and Ludvica Rensi Boike and is one of seven children. During the Korean War, Roland served in 134th and the 147th Field Artillery. Roland attended Western Kentucky State University, Ohio State Department of Agriculture, and the University of Cincinnati Department of Applied Arts. He was awarded a full scholarship to attend Lincoln College of Chiropractic, where he graduated in 1962 with a degree in chiropractic. Roland practiced chiropractic in Loveland, Ohio, for thirty-five years and was a staff physician at Jewish Hospital in Kenwood, Ohio. He served as team physician for Loveland High School, Western Brown High School, and Wilmington College Girls Soccer Team. Roland served as mayor and vice mayor in Loveland, Ohio, a community of over 10,500 residents. Roland was a founder and director of the Community National Bank, Loveland, Ohio, and chairman of the Loveland 1976 Centennial Celebration, which produced a live outdoor spectacular, The History of Loveland. Roland was a founder, past president, and member of the board of trustees of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce. He designed the Valentine postage meter stamp and the logo There Is Nothing in the World So Sweet as Love. He was recognized with an award from the National Safety Council for saving the lives of three children in a submerged automobile at Lake Isabella in May 1964. Roland was honored by the city of Loveland, Ohio, for dedicated service to the community with a commemorative marker in the Veteran’s Memorial Park. Roland is a Kentucky colonel and has received numerous awards for civic achievements.