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About the Book:
It is 1956, and Dak
Leventhal is a high school senior in a small, historic town nestled
beside the Ohio River. When asked to pick a local topic to research
for a term paper, he decides to explore the background of a
long-abandoned mansion that sits just north of town. His best friend,
Johnnie David, agrees to join him in sneaking into the old mansion
where they find a secret room and some intriguing relics. However,
shortly afterward, things begin to go very wrong. Dak receives
anonymous threats, and someone attacks his dog.
Dak is frightened
but determined. Continuing with his investigation, he finds some
rotten wooden planks peeking from an embankment along the river and
wonders if they are old graves. Discovering a tie-in between the
wooden planks, the mansion, and the Old Slave House, a plantation-like
home that was used in the 1850s to house captured runaway slaves, Dak
is shocked to learn that there has also been a more recent murder.
While listening to The Platters in Johnnie David's junky old Ford, the
two boys struggle to avoid someone who is trying to silence them while
they untangle the mysteries they have stumbled onto.
This gripping story
takes place in Shawneetown, Illinois. The oldest town in the state and
a gateway to the west, it is a little-known historic jewel. Hayes has
explored its tragic history and the culture of the 1950s in this fun,
and often moving, account of a principled and resolute young man
coming of age while wrestling with some terrifying situations.
About
the Author:
William Hayes, a
lover of history and writing, spent his childhood in the historic old
town where this novel takes place. After receiving his Master's Degree
in Physics from Northwestern University, he did a lot of writing of
another kind as part of the team that put man on the moon, developed
the Space Shuttle, and put the International Space Station in orbit.
For that work, he received the NASA Public Service Medal. Along with
his two sons and four grandchildren, he and his wife Jean make their
home in Texas.
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