YORK The Shadow Cipher, Book 1

Narrator Adam Verner's spirited delivery is faultless for this combination of alternate history and love story set in New York City. In the late 1700s, the Morningstarr twins built ultra-modern buildings for the time. Before mysteriously disappearing, they left clues to finding a treasure hidden in their buildings. Verner ratchets up the excitement as contemporary twins Tess and Theo and their friend, Jaime, set out to locate the treasure to save the Morningstarr, now an apartment building, which has been sold to developers who plan to tear it down. Listeners will meet the building's longtime international residents and hear their despair at the prospect of losing their beloved home. The chapters shift in point of view from child to child, making it fun to hear each of their ideas about the clues. Crotchety old Mr. Perlmutter and spunky 7-year-old Cricket and her raccoon-cat, Carl, are Verner's best creations. This first of a trilogy has a cliff-hanger conclusion. S.G.B. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2017]