First published 2012
Marcus Mansfield, a Civil War veteran turned charity scholar at the new Massachusetts Institute of Technology, watches ships spiral out of control in Boston Harbor as their instruments fail without explanation. The fiery disaster throws the city's commerce into chaos, and soon another catastrophe strikes downtown Boston. The mysterious events cast suspicion on MIT itself, drawing attacks from Harvard, labor unions, and hostile newspapers. As their first graduation approaches and the college's survival hangs in doubt, Mansfield secretly joins three fellow students to uncover the truth. Robert Richards brings his Beacon Hill connections, Edwin Hoyt contributes his scientific brilliance, and Ellen Swallow, the school's only female student, adds her own expertise despite facing constant ostracism. The four students must use their scientific training to stop whoever is terrorizing the city. They face resistance from Boston's rigid social hierarchy and a hidden enemy determined to destroy everything they're trying to protect. Their investigation becomes a fight for the future of technology itself in an America torn between tradition and progress.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, adventure, 19th-century, academic
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Boston, Massachusetts, Beacon Hill
Period: Civil War, 19th Century
480 pages · Hardcover · Random House