Thirteen-year-old Alcatraz Smedry and his companions seek Al's father and grandfather in the Great Library of Alexandria, where they face undead, soul-stealing wraiths called the Curators of Alexandria, and one of the Scrivener's Bones, a part-human, part-machine mercenary.

When a hero is needed to save the doomed kingdom of Mokia from the evil Librarians, thirteen-year-old Alcatraz Smedry, whose family talents include getting lost and breaking things, answers the call.

"So there I, Alcatraz Smedry, was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed--wait, you've heard that before? Oh yeah, I wrote it at the beginning of my first book. Well, this is the one where that actually happens, I promise! I managed to beat the evil Librarians attacking Mokia (it's not on the maps the Librarians let you see, so don't try to find it), but Bastille was hit by some kind of knockout ray and is in a...