The Series
The Books
Follow Archibald and Jockabeb as they journey from a midnight forest to the Australian Outback across nine books. Each adventure builds on the last — read them in order for the full experience.
Book One
In the Forest
The first book in the series begins when Archibald and Jockabeb sneak out of their house at midnight to hunt for a secret cave that was marked on an old map they'd found earlier in the day. The two brothers, who are twelve and eleven, end up finding and entering the secluded cave hidden deep within an eerie forest. After the boys descend a stone staircase, they discover a subterranean lake where an underwater dragon lives. The underwater dragon is actually a young Indian brave, Haktu, who many years before was transformed into the dragon by four evil warriors of the Black Raven Tribe. After Archibald repeats the magic words, "Nito, Vito, Samu," Haktu is returned to his natural body. The three young boys then run for their lives when they are chased by flying wolf-crows that are part snarling wolf and part giant black crow.
Book Two
In the Mountains
The setting for the second book in The Adventures of Archibald and Jockabeb series shifts from an eerie forest close the two brothers' Midwestern home, to a remote mountain range in the western United States. When Archibald and Jockabeb leave home to board a plane, they are completely unaware that they'll be the only two campers at Camp Bear Claw that summer. When they arrive at the camp, the boys find out that there are only two other people there—Gran, the elderly woman who owns Camp Bear Claw, and Ben, the ranch hand who helps her. Worse yet, they soon hear stories from Ben about the strange and suspicious circumstances under which Gran's husband, Walt, died a terrible death, together with how a deadly creature might well be roaming in the mountains nearby. When the boys leave camp early one morning with Ben and Gran's old dog, Champ, to hike high in the mountains to find Tommy Two Feathers, an old Indian who may shed some light on whether the rumors are fact or fiction, they have no idea that what they ultimately learn will connect back to Haktu and his tribe. After being joined by a white wolf named Ghost Rider, the boys, Ben, Champ, and Tommy Two Feathers set out to solve a mystery that has gone on for over a century. As danger looms at almost every turn, Archibald and Jockabeb hope that the magic blue feather they received from Haktu really does have the power to protect them.
Book Three
In The Amazon
Whereas the settings for the first two books in The Adventures of Archibald and Jockabeb series were inside the United States, the third book shifts to Brazil. When the two brothers fly south to visit their Uncle Charlie, a retired Merchant Marine who'd travelled all over the world before putting down roots in the Amazonian Rainforest, they have no idea what lies ahead. As the boys and their uncle travel further up river toward a remote village inhabited by the Minauri tribe and its wise old shaman, Hutano, the mood shifts and takes on a more foreboding nature. Jockabeb's clairvoyant dreams once again foreshadow the danger lurking in the jungle outside the Minauri village. As a confrontation with the rival Wikola tribe and its evil shaman, Vengeolus, draws closer, the boys learn a terrible secret that only their uncle and his good friend, Hutano, know. When Uncle Charlie and a Minauri war party head into the jungle in the dead of night, the boys are left alone with only women and children. Far from home, and with no one to protect them, Archibald and Jockabeb both hope that the blue feather dust will once again work its magic.
Book Four
In The Desert
Having narrowly escaped an evil shaman and supernatural black jaguar deep within the Amazon jungle in Book 3, the fourth book in The Adventures of Archibald and Jockabeb series finds the two brothers on a school field trip to California. After the boys are accidentally stranded in the middle of the night in a remote part of the Sonoran Desert, they meet a mysterious old man named George Washington Natonto. Accepting the old man's offer to spend the rest of the night at his underground home at Lizard Flats launches one of the boys' strangest and most harrowing adventures to date. As a gray-haired Gypsy woman's tarot card reading, an ancient legend of how a young Indian girl battled a renegade warrior, and several creatures from Jockabeb's recurring nightmares all begin to converge, the trapped brothers decide it's high time to escape Lizard Flats and start their perilous journey back to civilization. What they next encounter in a subterranean grotto, and later out in the scorching desert, provide a true test of their survival skills and the power of the last bit of Haktu's blue feather.
Book Five
In The Caribbean
The fifth book in The Adventures of Archibald and Jockabeb series picks up right where the fourth book left off. With many questions about what really happened in the Sonoran Desert still unanswered, Archibald and Jockabeb's family head to the island of Jamaica for spring vacation. What begins as an idyllic stay at a secluded beachfront inn soon takes a turn for the worse when the boys and the inn's proprietor, Salty, charter a fishing boat for the day. The captain of the boat is none other than Tommy Nat, Mr. Natonto's estranged son. The violent storm that follows turns out to be only the first of many unexpected events that quickly propel the two brothers toward an unexpected showdown on another Caribbean island. The elusive Tommy Nat, a mysterious island doctor, a giant Haitian named Maurice, and unseen zombies all combine to set the stage for another classic clash between the forces of good and evil. While the final confrontation that unfolds inside a deserted café ultimately provides answers to the remaining mysteries of Lizard Flats, it also places the boys in untold danger.
Book Six
In The Big City
The sixth book in The Adventures of Archibald and Jockabeb series finds the two brothers and their younger sister travelling to New York City to spend a long weekend with their aunt. After finishing a wonderful dinner at Sardi's the first night, the boys become separated from Tess and Aunt Claire in nearby Times Square. Events quickly take a menacing turn when a mysterious person from the past suddenly appears with two henchmen in tow. Frantically trying to escape, Archibald has no idea what he'll find when he leads Jockabeb down the stairs into a nearby subway station—and what the boys do find launches one of their strangest and most electrifying adventures to date. A beautiful young girl named Willow, a one-armed man called Meatloaf, and a dangerous gang leader who goes by the name of Shabazz are just a few of the characters who the boys meet in the abandoned subway tunnels far below the streets of Manhattan. As Archibald and Jockabeb try to make their way safely back to Aunt Claire, they only move closer to a final confrontation with their pursuers, both human and non-human alike.
Book Seven
In The Arctic
In the seventh book in The Adventures of Archibald and Jockabeb series, the brothers are reunited with Willow and Meatloaf, two members of the secretive Moonlight Clan who the boys met during their harrowing weekend in New York City. The setting for their next great adventure now shifts from the bustling streets of The Big Apple to a barren, windswept stretch of tundra north of the Arctic Circle. Only days before Christmas, Special Agent Quade of the Paranormal Surveillance Agency resurfaces. Arriving in the dead of night with another dangerous looking government agent named Lynch, Quade explains to the boys' parents why Archibald and Jockabeb are needed as members of a secret task force that has been formed to investigate a possible alien landing near the North Pole. Willow and Meatloaf have already been recruited due to their experience in dealing with the Ratweil, a supernatural creature that Agent Quade mistakenly thought was an alien being. When the skeptical parents reluctantly agree to let their sons join the task force, they have no idea the untold danger that is lurking in the frozen wasteland shrouded in twenty-four hour darkness.
Book Eight
In The Orient
The eighth book in The Adventures of Archibald and Jockabeb series finds the two brothers on the other side of the globe in the "Pearl of the Orient"—Hong Kong. At the conclusion of Archibald's summer Students' Living Abroad Program, Jockabeb and a surprise visitor, Willow, arrive in Hong Kong for a week of what they assumed would be pleasant sightseeing. All that changes when May Chen, a member of Archibald's host family, takes her three young American visitors to a nearby island for a hike to the summit of Landau Peak. When the four teenagers leave the beaten path to explore a remote part of the peak that is shrouded in a dense, low-hanging cloud, they have no idea that Willow will soon find a secret entrance into the side of the mountain. The moment they step out of the mist and into the dark passageway that leads deep inside the giant peak, their fate is sealed! Dr. Chen's personal bodyguard, May's martial arts instructor, and a mysterious old alchemist from the Chinese mainland are only a few of the memorable characters swept into the intrigue when an ancient Chinese legend comes to life.
Book Nine
In the Outback
The thrilling ninth and final book in The Adventures of Archibald and Jockabeb series finds the two brothers returning to the other side of the globe, but this time "down under" in the Australian Outback. While attending the Students' Living Abroad Program in Sydney, sixteen-year-old Jockabeb stays with the Macalester family. He quickly strikes up a friendship with Prim Macalester, who is exactly his age. Prim is fascinated by the Australian Aboriginal culture and lore, and she tells Jockabeb about an old Aboriginal legend that turns out to be strikingly similar to some of his recent dreams. As bizarre events in the desolate Outback begin to spiral out of control, the hazy line between reality and fantasy is once again tested—but this time in an adventure unlike anything the two brothers have ever encountered. Fasten your seat belt one more time and prepare yourself for unexpected twists and turns as Archibald and Jockabeb race toward their final date with destiny.