• Age: 14 to 18
• Grade: 9 to 12

Fifteen-year-old Barnabas Bopwright is proud to live in the greatest city on earth. But under the shiny exterior lurks the hidden cost of the city's skyscraping success.

On his way to school, Barnabas discovers a transit map with an unknown subway line. Soon he's on an impossible train, running from authorities who have guarded the city's dark mysteries for a century. The subway brings Barnabas to a hidden valley outside the city where he's drawn into a terrifying world of deception and revenge.

In the valley, Barnabas discovers new friendships, a death-defying circus, an evil emporium, and a surprising attraction for another boy. But when his investigations uncover a terror plot to destroy the city he loves, Barnabas realizes it's up to him to save his home and bring deadly secrets into the light before it's too late.

J. Marshall Freeman is a writer, musician, and graphic designer. He is a two-time winner of the Saints+Sinners fiction contest (2017 and 2019). His self-published YA adventure novel Teetering came out in 2016, and in 2019, he released Arthropoda, a chapbook of his poetry. Upcoming work includes the climate change SF novel, Cicada Climbs into the Light. He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his husband and dog.

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