Twelve-year-old Rufus has nothing he can call his own. So when he's recruited by a shady showman to secretly operate a mechanical chess player called the Turk, Rufus sees an opportunity he can't turn down. But the job must be kept secret, and Rufus worries about what has happened to the previous operators of the Turk, who seem to disappear as soon as they are no longer needed. Can Rufus figure out the truth before his questions lead him into a final checkmate?
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