Jack McCool is a middle child and though he’s very much loved by his mum and dad, he often loses out to the demands of his annoying older brother, Tom, and to the baby of the family, Tilly. School is equally problematic thanks to his teacher, Miss Medusa (who curls her lip at the mere mention of his name) and the class bully, Oscar and his band of cronies. When impulse drives Jack to take refuge in the attic from the chaos of family life after a particularly trying day at school, he finds a dusty old trunk in which to hide - little knowing that by prising it open, his adventures with Finn McCool are just about to begin. Jack finds a golden amulet, once bejewelled, but now missing the magical six gemstones that hold the key to breaking a witch’s wicked curse, a thwarted king seeking vengeance on a band of brave men who dared defy him and a warrior from the past who proves to Jack that heroes come in all shapes and sizes - even ones with sticky-up hair and a stock of one-liners. To solve the secrets of the Amulet of Athlone and to end the witch’s curse forever, Jack must go through a series of six quests by the side of his kinsman, Finn. Never knowing when a quirk of time will find him back at the breakfast table with a mouthful of Weet-Bix, in the middle of a maths test with Miss Medusa breathing down his neck or in the camp of his clan deep in the Irish forests of long ago, Jack has to learn to live by his wits and find the courage, strength and confidence he never knew he possessed in order to meet the greatest challenge of his life.
