When twelve-year-old Jeremiah Strout’s mom drags him to a boring new town, the only upside is the awesome mansion they now live in—and how many people the formerly-boring Jeremiah can impress with it. But when he finds a dusty old harp in the basement and strikes the strings, Jeremiah realizes that his awesome new mansion may be more dangerous than it appears. A huge beast of a man emerges out of nowhere, all wild hair and crazed eyes. Convinced that Jeremiah’s family stole the harp from his Clan, the stranger demands Jeremiah either travel back one thousand years to his world in retribution for the theft or willingly hand over the harp. Suspecting that the dirty old harp has more power than even the stranger realizes, Jeremiah reluctantly declines, only to have the stranger and his Clan kidnap his mom and threaten to burn down the entire town. The threat of a boring town is a distant memory for Jeremiah as he fights an entire Clan of barbarians in an effort to save his mom and protect his family name.