Mikie's Key (The Preenkon Connection Book 1)

Unlock the Portal to Preenkon

When sixteen-year-old Mike Matthews inherits a strange silver key from his ailing grandfather, he expects a mystery — not a doorway to another world. But beyond the portal lies Preenkon, a planet under a crimson sky, home to hidden civilizations, strange creatures, and dangers that reach far beyond its borders.

Joined by his shy but courageous friend Hildy Reynolds, Mike is drawn into an ancient network of portals connecting distant worlds. As they uncover the truth about Preenkon’s fragile future, they face an insect-like alien threat preparing for invasion — and a power-hungry man determined to seize the key for himself.

Mikie’s Key: The Preenkon Connection, the first book in Ron Montgomery’s Preenkon Connection series, is a young adult fantasy adventure about friendship, courage, sacrifice, and growing up when the fate of two worlds rests in your hands.

Begin the journey into Preenkon today.

Excerpt from the book

The humming started at 5:37 a.m. in the small town of Woodhill. It was faint—barely more than a whisper—and lasted only a few seconds. Most people slept through it, the way they might sleep through distant thunder rolling far beyond the horizon.

George didn’t.

He woke with a sharp intake of breath, heart hammering, the sound already fading as he pushed himself upright in bed. For a long moment, he sat perfectly still, listening, waiting for it to return. It didn’t.

George swallowed and pulled the blanket tight beneath his chin. He kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling, careful not to look toward the nightstand beside him. Some things were better left unseen, especially at his age.

A few blocks away, young Mike Matthews slept on, unaware that anything had happened at all. On his nightstand sat a small glass bowl, the water inside perfectly still. His goldfish drifted near the surface, gills slowing, as if the room itself had forgotten how to breathe.

Woodhill, Illinois, was a quiet small town, sitting in a forgotten corner of Midwestern America. It was the kind of town where adults liked things to be predictable. They worked their jobs, celebrated with their friends, raised their children, and slept at night, knowing everything was safe.

Peaceful and normal—until the hum started. That summer, things changed in ways no one could predict. Adventure often likes to hide in the shadows, and when it steps out, it can be more thrilling than you imagine—and more dangerous.

Late spring softened the air, fresh with promise. Summer was quickly approaching. Dandelions filled lush lawns and pushed through cracked sidewalks. Birds sketched quick lines across a liquid blue sky. Two blocks from the high school, at the corner of Ashford Street and Main Street, a small, red-painted diner rested beneath a hand-lettered sign:

AL’S SNACK SHACK

Few people in town called it that. To most in Woodhill, it was just The Shack. It wasn’t much to look at: peeling trim, a plain glass door, four roomy booths lining one wall, and a scatter of small tables in the dining area. It was like hundreds of other diners in hundreds of other small towns, but to the teens of Woodhill, it was their social center.

School had just let out when three teen girls stepped in, laughing and talking loudly. They made a beeline for their usual table by the big window in front of the diner.

Camelia Turner—Camie for short—worked the day shift. She spotted them immediately but didn’t rush over to wait on them. There was no need. They were regulars, and she knew their order by heart. As she watched them take their seats, Camie placed her purse under the counter and put her apron on, making certain the order book and straws were in her apron pockets.