Marooned in the World Next Door: Book One in The Hole in the Universe Saga By: WEITFAHRER One summer day, while constructing a backyard tree fort, two boys, Lee and Mike, come upon a strange phenomenon: tucked in among the tree branches is a mysterious region of utter darkness, blacker than any night. They soon determine that the darkness conceals a portal of sorts, a passageway leading to an unknown location. But what location? Where? Seeking to find answers to these questions, the boys recruit Stefan, a new kid in the neighborhood, to go through the portal to gather information. Stefan‘s findings are astonishing: the unknown location on the other side of the portal is in some totally different world from Earth, a place where even the passage of time occurs at a different rate. Lee promptly dubs this phenomenon a “Hole in the Universe.” Since the three of them are apparently the only people who know of the Hole’s existence, they see this as the perfect opportunity for a secret summer adventure. They immediately begin making plans to begin exploring what they will come to think of as the World Next Door. But they will soon learn that there is a fine line separating high adventure from serious danger. Almost before they know it, they will find themselves on the run, fleeing the monstrous minions of a mysterious Enemy known as the Dark One. They will come to realize that their “secret summer adventure” was a bad idea from the start. But it is too late now for second thoughts; the situation is already beginning to spin out of control. And it is about to turn calamitous.