17-year-old Ander Barr knows the truth about his uncle. He’s not the upstanding landlord everyone thinks he is. He’s a criminal who thinks invasion of privacy is his right.

Ander is bound by secrecy because his childhood crush, Mera, lives in one of his uncle’s rentals. For him to expose the truth would destroy his family’s reputation and taint himself in Mera’s eyes. But when Mera goes missing, kidnapped by a known offender, Ander is offered a chance at justice. His scheme, however, doesn’t go as planned.

Here begins the tale of Ander Barr, an unremarkable teenager caught between a despicable secret and unwanted shame. He did not expect that everything in his life-his uncle’s corruption, his mother’s strange illness, and his reclusive neighbor’s mysterious machine-would combine to sweep him into another world where he must learn to confront monsters, gods, and himself.

The Bedrock Gate, book one of the Broken Vessel series, is like The Wizard of Oz with the tone of Donnie Darko. This coming-of-age story is filled with grit, grime and hope for those burdened by unwanted darkness.