One moment, 12-year-old Montgomery Slaybaugh is screwing off, killing time before the birthday pool party to end all birthday pool parties. The next moment, Monty's dead.He doesn't wake up in Heaven. Or Hell. Monty's one more ghost in a dust-covered, rust-colored wasteland the thousand-plus locals call the Game Room.Shown the ectoplasmic ropes by a former shopping mall Santa's helper, Monty discovers he can travel back to the land of the living. He finds out the girl he never even got to kiss is in danger. A sadistic killer is closing in on her.No one can see Monty. No one can hear Monty. He can't touch anything. He can't even "ghost" through anything. He's a little boy ghost. A joke. And like any of the dead on either side of the great divide, Monty must obey the rules. Those rules have enforcers. Ghosts can hang for their crimes. Ghosts can forfeit their souls.Caught between the ruthless enforcers of the afterlife and the evil intentions of the living, Monty is about to discover there is more than one way to exit the skin palace.