Sam is an orphaned card sharp who operates on the mean streets of turn-of-the-century Coney Island. Jin is a Chinese girl who travels with the Fata Morgana Fireworks Company and helps her Uncle Liao create incredible fireworks displays by being able to read an ancient, cryptic book of chemical recipes.
The Brooklyn Bridge is being constructed and will connect Brooklyn to New York City for the first time and this connection has attracted dark forces. Below a deserted ferry pier in the deepening dusk, an evil-looking man in an impeccable linen suit opens a carpet bag on the sand and calls to life a pile of bones. These two "men" are the advance team of Jack Hellcoal who wants to claim the crossroads between New York City and Brooklyn as his own.
As the two set off on their task of preparing the city for Jack's takeover Sam and Jin become involved with forces both good and evil and they realize they are being pulled in to a battle of epic proportions - and they are only teenagers themselves. With elements of steam punk, high adventure, suspense, voodoo, magic, and imaginative twists of fantasy, Milford has created an alternate story within the facts of our history that will keep readers on the edge of their seats until the very end. 464 pages Ages 12 and up (companion to The Boneshaker)
Recommended by: Susan Grigsby, Librarian, Georgia USA
