• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

When Adam's grandfather first suggests taking him on a quick trip to Sweden to celebrate his upcoming thirteenth birthday, visions of being in one of the coolest places on earth—and he's not thinking of the temperature—dance in Adam's mind. But on his way there he reads that Swedes have a darker past, and present, than he ever imagined. Then he finds himself alone and separated from his grandfather in busy Stockholm. He is followed by unsmiling strangers, chased by ghosts down alleyways and constantly watched by the strangest girl he's ever seen. And then another terror, perhaps bigger than the terror of being lost, begins to overwhelm him.

In this fast-paced prequel to Last Message and Double You, the outwardly confident but often secretly anxious Adam wanders the streets of Stockholm.

Shane Peacock is a novelist, playwright, journalist, and television screenwriter. His first book was a biography of the spectacular Canadian personality “The Great Farini,” his plays have been produced by the acclaimed 4th Line Theatre, and his documentaries have included Team Spirit, aired on the CTV national network. His best-selling series for young adults, The Boy Sherlock Holmes, has been published in ten countries in twelve languages and has found its way onto more than forty shortlists. It won, among other honors, the prestigious Violet Downey Award, The Arthur Ellis Award for crime fiction, the Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Award, a Moonbeam Children’s Book Award Gold Medal, the Geoffrey Bilson Award for Historical Fiction and The Libris Award. Each novel was also named a Junior Library Guild of America Premier Selection. The Ottawa Citizen said of the series, “More than just right, dazzlingly right for teen readers, is a new series by Ontario writer Shane Peacock. The vitality of Peacock’s creation of Sherlock is so inspired it feels like the writer is possessed, channeling Sherlock’s spirit.”

Shane Peacock's profile page

• Commended, CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens

"Fans of The Seven will find Adam's adventure satisfying."

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"Adam's first-person narration nicely captures the heart-pounding, sweaty-palms terror of being a kid lost in a huge foreign city."

Kirkus Reviews