"This should be the story of Hercules: his twelve labors, his endless adventures... everyone's favorite hero, right? Well, it's not. This is the story of everyone else: Alcmene: Herc's mother (She has knives everywhere), Hylas: Herc's first friend (They were more than friends), Megara: Herc's wife (She'll tell you about their marriage), Eurystheus: Oversaw Herc's labors (He never asked for the job). His friends, his enemies, his wives, his children, his lovers, his rivals, his gods, his victims. It's time to hear their stories"--

When Samira receives a strange vase with some ancient coins, she and her sister Rima are pulled into Baalbek, a Phoenician underworld where they are caught up in the a struggle between deities, shapeshifters, and ghouls--and Eshmun, who wants his obol, his burial coin, back.