Deze serie dompelt lezers onder in een wereld waar oude boeken en moderne technologie samenkomen, en ontrafelt mysteries van het eeuwige leven en cryptische complotten. Volg een jonge protagonist terwijl hij geheime codes ontcijfert en een verborgen samenleving ontdekt die verbonden is met een bijzondere boekwinkel. Het is een spannend avontuur over vriendschap, liefde en de zoektocht naar kennis in het digitale tijdperk.
Recession has shuffled Clay Jannon out of his life as a San Francisco Web-design drone - and serendipity, coupled with sheer curiosity, has landed him a new job working the night shift at Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. But after just a few days, Clay begins to realize that this store is even more curious than the name suggests.
San Francisco, 1969. The summer of drugs, music and a new age dawning. A young, earnest Ajax Penumbra has been given his first assignment as a Junior Acquisitions Officer - to find the single surviving copy of the Techne Tycheon, a mysterious volume that has brought and lost great fortune for anyone who has owned it. After a few weeks of rigorous hunting, Penumbra feels no closer to his goal than when he started. But late one night, after another day of dispiriting dead ends, he stumbles upon a 24-hour bookstore and the possibilities before him expand exponentially. With the help of his friend's homemade computer, an ancient map, a sunken ship and the vast shelves of the 24-hour bookstore, Ajax Penumbra might just find what he's seeking...