Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: A common swear word used twice.

Violence: Vision of a boy after he was beaten, bruised and bleeding, about to become a human sacrifice.  Scene cut out as the knife is coming down.

Adult Themes:  History of human sacrifice to gods briefly discussed.

Synopsis

Eleven-year-old Hector reluctantly accompanies his mom on a trip to Italy for the summer.  She was asked to interpret ancient writings for an archeological dig of an Etruscan site.  Hector finds a companion in one of the archeologists who suggests that he become his apprentice.  Hector’s first find is a strange rock with the symbol of an eye on it.  He shows the archeologist, who claims the rock is not Etruscan and must have been dropped by a tourist.  Hector hangs on to the rock anyway, for a souvenir.  That is when things take an interesting turn.  When Hector holds on to the eye rock, he finds himself traveling back in time to when the Etruscans inhabited the area.   He meets a twelve-year-old boy named Arath, who is the son of the current priest and next in line to become a priest.  His uncle Cai, however, is a jealous man and wants Arath dead so that he can inherit the religious position himself.  Arath knows his life is in danger and begs Hector to help him.  Hector is forced to return to the present site where unfortunately, nothing has been found to impress the sponsors of the dig. They are threatening to close down the operation. With the help of his eye rock, Hector’s  ‘intuition’ leads him to find a few interesting Etruscan artifacts  which helps to keep the crew motivated.   Shortly afterward, Hector is brought back to the past where he tries to learn more about Arath’s situation.   He knows he does not have much time to stop his evil uncle from killing him.  Torn between two worlds, Hector’s summer is suddenly turned into a time traveling adventure where he must find a way to save his new friend and keep the site from shutting down.

An interesting plot that really made me want to travel to Europe to do a little digging myself.  I enjoyed Hector who was unassuming and awfully normal but brought into the middle of a great adventure.  The idea of human sacrifice, especially involving children was hard to think about.  Although not described in great detail,  I would steer sensitive readers away.