Eleven-year-old Colm thinks that spending a fortnight with his cousin – The Brute – is the worst thing that can happen to him this summer. He's about to find out he's wrong. When his family have to find a place to stay for the night they choose the worst possible option: a remote hotel where they're the only guests, a hotel that holds some dark secrets. When Colm accidentally sets an ancient curse in motion he has less than twenty-four hours to solve the mystery of the Lazarus Key or he'll have to face the gravest danger of all.