When a mysterious envelope arrives for Jake Ransom, he and
his older sister, Kady, are plunged into a gripping chain of
events. An artifact found by their parentsβon the expedition
from which they never returnedβleads Jake and Kady to a
strange world inhabited by a peculiar mix of long-lost
civilizations, a world that may hold the key to their
parents' disappearance. But even as they enter the gate to
this extraordinary place, savage grackyls soar across the
sky, diving to attack. Jake's new friends, the pretty Mayan
girl Marika and the Roman Pindor, say the grackyls were
created by an evil alchemistβthe Skull King.
And as Jake struggles to find a way home, it becomes obvious
that what the Skull King wants most is Jake and Kadyβdead or
alive.