Tunnel Down to Moonrise

Jack Toland, 17, has traveled to England with his mother, Cara Peters, who plays “Montana Black” in a well-known TV adventure series. They are to meet Jack’s father, Dr. Charles Toland, a “TV scientist” who has been investigating destructive gold mining practices in Eastern Europe. The family is attempting to have a special vacation together at Halliwell Hall, an ancient estate in the north of England near Durham Cathedral. The estate belongs to Freddy and Gail Armstrong, the latter a former actress and close friend of Cara Peters. Freddy Armstrong is the CEO of a resort chain, buying up historic properties to turn them into expensive tourist playgrounds.

The Tolands’ carefree vacation turns frightening when there is an attempt to kidnap Jack, and to murder his father. Jack and Cleo (Gail Armstrong’s daughter) are drawn together and must deal with the threat of a sinister international mafia group known as the Cromlech Gang. They learn that the gang is after much more than gold: they seek power through a remarkable invention that enables the user to travel in time and space to alternative universes. The machine is tuned in with the ancient megalithic monuments, which retain the power to activate dimensional travel.

Jack and Cleo must outsmart the gang and enter “the tunnel down to moonrise” in order to visit the unspoiled world of Stonehenge that exists in an alternative earth. They discover an odd and dangerous society, and take part in strange-seeming ceremonies. But they soon see how respectfully these ancient people treat the earth and their dead ancestors. Getting back to earth is not easy and when they return Jack and Cleo find themselves caught between the international mafia and British intelligence, both of whom are out to capture the time-travel machine. Can they rely on their new friend, the scientist Arthur Harker, and the clever but somewhat dubious Freddy Armstrong to help them at the critical moment?