The first book in this series bore the coveted skull "Mystery" sticker on the spine, but this one's got the Hydrogen atom for "Science Fiction" and I have to agree, the story's just as fantastic as it is mysterious, so I'm not sure which is correct this time around.
Maggie and Nate's dad gets a job at Yellowstone, after the mutant mushroom fungus ruined his chances of ever finding employment in their hometown. Almost as soon as the kids arrive, they encounter an enormous killer komodo in a stream. Huh. Komodos don't live in Yellowstone, and the pools are far too full of sulfuric acid for the komodos to survive.
Maggie worries her dad might be involved in setting the creature loose in the park (she finds a tracker bracelet in his pack), as it's just the sort of hare-brained scheme he'd get involved in, and Nate's just excited to get video for his conspiracy vlog.
While you're screaming at the kids to TELL THEIR DAD, they get separated from him and their grandmother by a quake. Soon they're trekking across the wilderness and have got more strange creatures to deal with than they anticipated, including kinda cute but deadly jackalopes.
A fellow conspiracy vlogger and his crew meet them, camera rolling, and offer to use Nate's video on his show, but Maggie smells a real stinker.
I won't spoil the plot twist, or how it ends, but know it involves CRISPR technology and genetic manipulation. Never fear -- Maggie and Nate live to explore the next outlandish animal mystery! We can't wait to read the next in this series.
