Alex, along with her friends Sarah, Butch, Pops and Jinx, learns the meaning of friendship and courage as they battle the dangerous elements that inhabit Dread's Forest. Alex is determined to find answers and fight the man that has been the root of all evil in this adventure, her uncle, Dread. But has he? She will have to risk her safety and trust her instincts, torn between fear and love, when she is thrust alongside him to battle the Braks, skeletal creatures that project thorn-infested slime encasing their victim before plunging them deep within the caverns of the earth. Can family love defeat all evil? The Rock of Realm incorporates three learning elements - discovery friendship and courage. But the biggest lesson the Young Adult reader will absorb is that 'things are not always as they appear to be'.