Beckett, Ohio
Beckett University
Time Out Cafe
Bookwyrm Books
The Ravenswood Mansion
Beckett, Ohio
A small city in the middle of nowhere, Ohio, Beckett's main attractions are Beckett University and the lake which Beckett rings. If you were to look at a satellite photograph of Beckett, you'd see that the city and the lake are actually built inside of a giant crater. The edges of the crater can still be seen in a ring of tall hills and mountains, which are then surrounded by forests and farmlands. The story has it that a giant meteor struck this part of Ohio sometime in the ice ages, which in turn created the lake. According to legend, no one has ever made it to the bottom of the center of Lake Beckett, which is supposed to be several miles deep.
Weird stuff goes down in Beckett every couple of years. It makes it a good place for geeks, artists and other wackos to hang out.
Beckett University
A small university located in a small city in the middle of nowhere, Beckett is known for its humanities programs and as a good place for academics to hide from big cities. Beckett is where Jack Walker was struggling for his degree in NeverJack, it's where Pi's father Peter St. John teaches mathematics, it's where Michael Coldman came after having his long-running passion for demonology awakened by Dr. Simon Blacknail at Harvard, it's where Pi, Jack and Michael first met... In short, this is the linchpin of the Beckett mythology.
Time Out Cafe
A coffeeshop owned by Kirby Richmond, an old friend and landlord to Michael Coldman, who lives in an apartment upstairs. This is also the place of employment for Jack Walker, the protagonist from NeverJack. (Jack only shows up once or twice throughout Bones of the Angel, though, and the events of NeverJack are only vaguely alluded to, if at all.) This is where Pi first meets Victoria Ravenswood, and where Jack introduces the pair.
Bookwyrm Books
A small used bookstore owned by Pi's uncle Theodore (Teddy) St. John and his lover, Patrick Davis (many jokes used to abound there about the pairing of two saints). Teddy and Patrick are kind of a Laurel-and-Hardy pair; Patrick is very tall and lanky and Teddy is very short and round. Patrick is a stiff-upper-lip, brooding Englishman. Teddy, however, has always been the closest thing to a godfather that Pi has ever had, always spoiling the boy with books and presents. Pi now lives in a basement apartment beneath the bookstore, where we works off his rent.
The Ravenswood Mansion
Once upon a time, the St. John family was rather wealthy. His grandparents were wealthy enough to pay both brothers' ways through the very best colleges. Pi's father, Peter, went on to become a mathematics professor at Beckett University, and his uncle Teddy dropped out of Harvard to run a small, nearly-bankrupt used bookstore (see Bookwyrm Books). The problem is, the moneyŐs almost gone. The brothers have enough of an inheritance left over to live comfortably, but the St. John manor was sold to Vincent Ravenswood a long time ago when he came to town. ItŐs enough to make Pi sick, especially since he used to play in the halls of the old mansion when he was a little boy. (Note: as a result of this, Pi knows about a few hidden rooms and passageways that even Ravenswood is unlikely to know about.)