Tom Gnagey

Encounter at 4422 Oak Street Tom Gnagey

A story of childhood intrigue retold for grownups and young adults. Eleven-and-a-half-year-old Danny - an orphan - is a thoroughly delightful youngster determined to spend the summer scouring the city to locate his grandfather and find out why his father had refused to speak about him. His best friend, Emily, assists. Danny is a good deal brighter than most and delights in using big words and making up new ones when he finds none that fit his fancy. A second, unexpected, mystery unfolds, and Danny follows the clues that inch him ever closer to great danger as he begins putting things together - things that threaten everything he ever believed about himself. The story weaves a complex psychological drama that keeps the reader fully engaged from the boy's initial simple premise - find grampa - to the thrilling, climatic scene in which he alone must confront and outwit the psychopathic killer.