Instead of being rescued from a plane crash, as in the author's book Hatchet, this story portrays what would have happened to Brian had he been forced to survive a winter in the wilderness with only his survival pack and hatchet.

After having survived alone in the wilderness, Brian finds that he can no longer live in the city but must return to the place where he really belongs.

When Clara vanishes after the puppeteer Grisini and two orphaned assistants were at her twelfth birthday party, suspicion of kidnapping chases the trio away from London and soon the two orphans are caught in a trap set by Grisini's ancient rival, a witch with a deadly inheritance to shed before it is too late.

Something has been going on ever since eleven-year-old Ash McGinn and his older sister, Willow, checked in to the Exit 13 Motel. Their parents don't seem to notice anything strange, but the rooms and the hallways don't go where they're supposed to, the receptionist looks like he comes straight out of a horror movie, and there are creepy woods out back where Ash is sure some kind of monster is lurking. Ash knows it is up to him and Willow to get to...