This is the prequel to the Karl Lark Chronicles. Contemporary urban fantasy horror fiction set in 2007. Escapist thrill ride, sci-fi thriller, and mystery mashup. If Sherlock Holmes, Indiana Jones, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea made a baby... www.erik-lange.com The legend begins... Karl Lark is a peculiar, enigmatic man - 63 years old, never married, with a keen interest in the paranormal - now forced into early retirement. He has nothing but time to tinker around in the basement, inventing gadgets. It's retirement after all...what's the worst that could happen? Famous last words. A groundbreaking invention sends him on a quest for answers and Lark uncovers an otherworldly reality that nearly kills him. Not to mention the mysterious entities who've taken a sudden keen interest in him, and whose motives are unclear. Realizing there are threats he is unable to deal with alone. And with his last remaining family member missing, a race against the clock begins to get to the bottom of the disappearance. All while contending with the realization that the eldritch secrets he's stumbled upon aren't quite as secret as he might have believed...