Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow - Hardcover

Rollins, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061473790 ISBN 13: 9780061473791

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2009

Synopsis

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 parents—on the expedition from which they never returned—leads 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 alchemist—the Skull King. And as Jake struggles to find a way home, it becomes obvious that what the Skull King wants most is Jake and Kady—dead or alive.

About this title

About the Author

James Rollins is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of international thrillers. His writing has been translated into more than forty languages and has sold more than 20 million books. The New York Times says, " Rollins is what you might wind up with if you tossed Michael Crichton and Dan Brown into a particle accelerator together." NPR calls his work, " Adventurous and enormously engrossing." Rollins unveils unseen worlds, scientific breakthroughs and historical secrets matched with stunning suspense. As a veterinarian, he had a practice in Sacramento for over a decade and still volunteers at local shelters. Nowadays, Rollins shares his home up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with his two golden retrievers, Echo and Duncan. He also enjoys scuba diving, spelunking, kayaking, and hiking. Of course, he loves to travel and experience new places around the world, which often inspire his next globe-trotting adventure.

From the Back Cover

THE EXPLOSION BLEW AWAY THE EMERGENCY LIGHTS.

Before Jake could react, the world fell out from under him. Blood rushed to his head, as if he were plummeting down a well. He knew something was staring at him out of that darkness.

Then it began to move.

A few words scraped into his mind, like fingernails digging at the lid of a stone coffin.

"Come to me..."

From the Inside Flap

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 parents--on the expedition from which they never returned--leads 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 alchemist--the Skull King. And as Jake struggles to find a way home, it becomes obvious that what the Skull King wants most is Jake and Kady--dead or alive.

Blockbuster author of The Judas Strain and The Last Oracle, James Rollins brings all the twists and chills he's famous for to this breathlessly paced adventure-his first book about Jake Ransom. Fans of Indiana Jones, Alex Rider, and Maximum Ride will flock to this explosively entertaining adventure.

"For Jake, I saved my wildest and best adventure of all."

James Rollins and his new protagonist, Jake Ransom, share many of the same passions. The author's interest in archaeology led him to amas his own Cabinet of Curiosities, which includes a 100,000-year-old mammoth tusk from China.

His New York Times bestselling books include The Last Oracle, The Judas Strain, and Black Order. James has a doctorate in veterinary medicine and his own practice in Sacramento, California. An Amateur spelunker and certified scuba enthusiast, he'll often be found either underground or underwater.

Reviews

Grade 5–9—Eighth-grader Jake and his older sister Kady are invited to the British Museum to view the Mayan treasures their archaeologist parents discovered shortly before their disappearance three years earlier. Jake takes along what is left of their parents' possessions: a field log, a sketch book, and two halves of a gold Mayan coin (worn by the siblings around their necks). At the exhibit, Jake examines a two-foot-tall solid gold pyramid with a round hole in its side. He places the Mayan coin in the slot, which creates an explosion, transporting the siblings to another place and time. Calypsos is a land inhabited by dinosaurs, mythical and fantastical creatures, and people from long-lost civilizations. Upon their arrival, Jake and Kady befriend two teens, Pindor and Marika. Together they must save Calypsos from the banished Skull King who threatens to return and take over the land. The pace of the story is occasionally a little slow, but readers who stick with it will be caught up in the adventure, particularly those who are interested in Mayan culture. The characters are likable, especially Jake and Pindor, who experience the insecurities of most teens. Simple drawings add visual aid to the descriptions of Mayan glyphs and other objects. Unanswered questions surrounding their parents' disappearance and the connection between Jake and the Skull King will have readers eagerly looking for the next installment in the series.—Kelley Siegrist, Farmington Community Library, MI END

Rollins, a best-selling author of adult adventure, takes on the youth market with mostly good results, including a strong opener: a package from a Mayan archaeology site is lost (along with its sender) in quicksand, but it is only a decoy. Jake Ransom and his older sister receive the matching halves of a gold coin, an artifact that eventually fires them into a strange land where tribes of lost civilizations live side-by-side with prehistoric animals. In premise, this is very Harry Potter—Jake, a virtual orphan (his archaeologist parents have disappeared), has the fate of many resting on his skinny shoulders as he tries to fight a Voldemort-like specter, who has inspired traitors to his side. Stylistically,  however, Rollins is no Rowling, though his short paragraphs and staccato sentences make this a fine read for the reluctant or those who put a premium on action. Oddly, things get a bit more ho-hum as they become more fantastical, but those left wondering what’s next will apparently have many sequel opportunities to find out. The intensive media campaign will no doubt promote demand. Grades 5-8. --Ilene Cooper

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow

By James Rollins

HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

Copyright © 2009 James Rollins
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780061473791

Chapter One

School Daze

From his school desk, Jake Ransom willed the second hand on the wall clock to sweep away the final minutes of his sixth-period history class.

Only another twenty-four minutes and he would be free.

Away from Middleton Prep for a whole week!

Then he could finally get some real work done. He had already mapped out his plans for each day of the weeklong vacation break: to explore the rich vein of shellfish fossils he had discovered in the rock quarry behind his house, to attend a signing by one of his favorite physicists, who had a new book out called Strange Quarks and Deeper Quantum Mysteries, to listen to the fourth lecture by a famed anthropologist on the cannibal tribes of Borneo (who knew sautéed eyeballs tasted sweet?)?and he had so much more planned.

All he needed now was the school's last bell to ring to free him from the prison that was eighth grade.

But escape would not come that easy.

The history teacher, Professor Agnes Trout, clapped her bony hands together and drew back his sullen attention. She stood to one side of her desk. As gaunt as a stick of chalk, and just as dry and dusty, the teacher peered over her fingertips at the class.

"We have time for one more report," she announced.

Jake rolled his eyes. Oh, great . . .

The class was no happier. Groans spread around the room, which only hardened her lips into a firmer line.

"We could make it two more reports and stay after the last bell," she warned.

The class quickly quieted.

Professor Trout nodded and turned to her desk. One finger traced a list of names and moved to the next victim in line to present an oral report. Jake found it amusing to watch her thin shoulders pull up closer to her ears. He knew whose name was next in line alphabetically, but it had somehow caught the teacher by surprise.

She straightened with a soured twist to her lips. "It seems we will hear next from Jacob Ransom."

A new round of groans rose. The teacher did not even bother quieting them down. She plainly regretted her decision to squeeze in one more report before the holiday break. But after almost a year in her class, Jake knew Professor Agnes Trout was a stickler for order and rules. She cared more about the memorization of dates and names than any real understanding of the flow of history. So once committed to her course of action, she had no choice but to wave him to the front of the class.

Jake left his books and notes behind. He had his oral report set to memory. Empty-handed, crossing toward the blackboard, he felt the class's eyes on him. Even though he had skipped a grade last year, he was still the second tallest boy in his class. Unfortunately it wasn't always a good thing to stand out in a crowd, especially in middle school, especially after skipping a grade. Still, Jake kept his shoulders straight as he crossed to the board. He ignored the eyes staring at him. Not one to set fashion trends, Jake wore what he found first that morning (clean or not). He ended up with scuffed jeans, a tattered pair of high-top sneakers, a faded green polo shirt, and of course the mandatory navy school jacket with the school's insignia embroidered in gold on the breast pocket. Even his sandy blond hair failed to match the current razored trend. Instead it hung lanky over his forehead.

Like his father's had been.

Or at least it matched the last picture Jake had of the senior Ransom, now gone three years, vanished into the Central American jungle. Jake still carried that photograph, taped to the inside of his notebook. It showed his parents, Richard and Penelope Ransom, smiling with goofy happiness, dressed in khaki safari outfits, holding up a Mayan glyph stone. The photo's edges were still blackened and curled from the fire that burned through their hilltop camp.

Taped below it was a scrap of parcel paper. On it, written in his father's handwriting, was Jake's name along with the family address for their estate here in North Hampshire, Connecticut. The package had arrived six weeks after the bandits had attacked his parents' camp.

That had been three years ago.

It was the last and only contact from his folks.

Jake fingered the thin cord around his neck as he reached the front of the class. Through his cotton shirt, he felt the small object that hung from the cord and rested flat against his chest. A last gift from his parents. Its reassuring touch helped center him.

To the side, the teacher cleared her throat. "Class, Mr. Ransom will be teaching us . . . well . . . I mean to say his oral report will be on . . ."

"My report," he said, cutting her off, "is on Mayan astronomical techniques in relation to the precession of the equinoxes."

"Yes, yes, of course. Equinoxes. Very interesting, Mr. Ransom." The teacher nodded, perhaps a bit too vigorously.

Jake suspected Professor Agnes Trout didn't fully understand what the report was about. She backed toward her desk, as if fearful he might ask her a question. Like everyone else, she must have had heard the story of Mr. Rushbein, the geometry teacher. How after Jake had disproved one of the teacher's theorems in front of his whole class, he had suffered a nervous breakdown. Now all the teachers at Middleton Prep looked at Jake with a glint of worry. Who would be next?

Jake picked up a piece of chalk and wrote some calculations on the board. "Today I'll be showing how the Maya were able to predict such events as the solar eclipses, like the one that will occur next Tuesday?"

A balled-up piece of paper struck the board near his hand and caused the piece of chalk in his fingers to snap with a loud squeak on the board...

Continues...

Excerpted from Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadowby James Rollins Copyright © 2009 by James Rollins. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0061473790
• ISBN 13: 9780061473791
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 416