LOCATION

This series of mysterious stories begins in the heart of Europe near the end of the 20th century.  In later books, the master plot also extends to multiple other places in the world:  For it will be essential to find out where the underground tunnels lead, starting with their strange entrances discovered in one ordinary, insignificant old town.  It will be equally necessary to undertake complementary expeditions on the surface to investigate all other leads and possible causative connections.  For ages, the Carpathian - Ruthenian forests and mountain ranges have been the home of ancient myths, unexplained phenomenons, and curious artefacts -  and our heroes will accidentally rank among the very few select individuals of the 21st century who will understand why...

STORY  PRELUDE

Who would expect a wonder-worthy drama to start amidst boringly grey, painfully uniform cubical condominiums?  But thanks to the nearby sharp borderline between the soviet-style prefab house agglomeration and the picturesque historical suburb, it's easy to escape from the dull concrete-paved playground and walk into the mysterious corners of the picturesque Old Town district.  There, a child's curiosity leads to unexpected findings.  These discoveries not only cause undeserved troubles at school but also nastily complicate the lives of adults.  Humorous situations arise in the neighbourhood when parents and casual acquaintances try to protect children and their unbelievable excavations from falling into the wrong hands.  Here and there, you can feel a touch of light satire because the totalitarian regime serves as a grotesque scenery for secret societies and resistance movements operating under various creative forms of camouflage and authorities-defying practices.  Defenders of human dignity are eagerly exercising their covert so-called "forbidden activities" (e·g·, respecting private property, reading Western literature, listening to foreign music, having spiritual opinions, etc·) when those investigative children and their problematic, even illegal unearthings add further worries into everybody's daily stresses...

MAIN  HEROES

●  Bruno Bolek:  An 8-year-old schoolboy with great imagination.  Together with a few befriended boys and girls, they formed a search team.  He accidentally discovers a misplaced historical chest.  It presumably used to belong to his grandfather, but it was unforeseeably encountered in a complete stranger's cellar.  The lid is locked, the keys are nowhere around, and no one has the faintest idea about its origins or contents.  Bruno swears he noticed something glowing inside - but strange things are starting to happen before he gets a chance to take a second look!  The triggered happenings are so weird and noteworthy that this mystery-packed book series continues well into Bruno's adulthood.

●  Dr• Sinister Barton:  An enigmatic treasure hunter disguised as a speech therapist working in a dilapidated state health centre.  Without the help of this charismatic scholar, Bruno's newly discovered wooden chest would have been confiscated by the police.  And this is just the beginning of a chain of unusual events and unexpected twists.  With each new discovery or shocking scientific explanation, more surprises and challenges arise...

LESSONS  LEARNED

Unlike in mediocre movies, real conundrums of real life usually cannot be solved in hours, weeks, or months.  Meaningful achievements require patience, determination, enduring interest, and long-term systematic efforts.  Never give up:  Life will bring more failures than instant winnings.  Friendship and mutual trust can protect people in difficult times and help them cope with injustice or a dysfunctional society.

AUTHORING  APPROACH

This entire line of mystery-solving stories is written in a lightened, cosy, and occasionally joyous style.  The imaginative and romanticising child's perception of unexplainable incidents and the surrounding daily reality is confronted with pragmatic countermeasures and daring adventures undertaken by experienced but often clueless adults.  All scientific puzzles and fictional encounters are always derived from a deep knowledge of the real-world material essence.  Rational explanations of seeming miracles and baffling apparitions will typically emerge from the heroes' extensive brainwork and adventurous undertakings.  Readers can enjoy intricate secrets, surprising uncoverings, exciting actions, and funny situations.  Enjoy a rich dose of the so-called realistic fantasy:  These stories do not give the impression of "a pity that the book is coming to an end and that this story could never happen", but instead, they evoke the feeling of "I want it to be real" or "I will make this happen once myself".