Kay's "Phantom" is not a sequel, but rather a retelling of the original Leroux novel. While the book draws mainly from Leroux's text, there are also obvious references to Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical: several phrases from the musical's lyrics are used to describe certain circumstances in the book. There are also nods to the Lon Chaney film version of the story. The character of Javert shares his name with the obsessive police captain who hunts Jean Valjean for twenty years in Victor Hugo's novel "Les Misérables." The storyline surrounding Erik's vain, childish mother bears some glancing similarities to Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary;" like Emma Bovary, she lives in a stultifyingly provincial town and is courted by a medical man.