Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0385733747, Hardcover)

GRIMPOW HAD NO idea who the dead man was, but hidden in his leather bag was a treasure that would change his life forever. Ruby and
emerald encrusted daggers, silver coins, jewels, and a letter with a golden seal depicting a snake swallowing its own tail. And clutched in the man's firm grip - a stone. A stone that will shape Grimpow's destiny. For when he holds it, strange things begin to happen. Visions of places he's never been fill his mind and he's able to read the strange language in the letter, a message meant for someone else entirely.

So begins Grimpow's journey with the stone - a centuries-long journey that has driven sane men crazy, turned peaceful men violent, and made strong men powerless. No man has ever unlocked its secrets. But no boy has ever tried.