In the years following the Civil War, as Manhattan experiences a surge in prosperity, Joshua Turner aspires to become a real-estate titan while Mollie Brannigan, raised by her aunt in a bordello, sees her life change after a chance encounter with Joshua in Macy's.

It was 1798 when the Morningstarr twins arrived in New York with a vision for a magnificent city: towering skyscrapers, dazzling machines, and winding train lines, all running on technology no one had ever seen before. Fifty-seven years later, the enigmatic architects disappeared, leaving behind for the people of New York the Old York Cipher -- a puzzle laid into the shining city they constructed, at the end of which was promised a treasure beyond...

Avi has penned over 50 novels for children and young adults. His historical fiction, in particular, is often singled out for glowing praise thanks to his engaging characters and carefully researched period details. In City of Orphans, Avi transports listeners to the streets of 1893 New York City for an adventure starring young newsboy Maks Geless. Amongst the grime and filth of the streets, Maks and his new friend Willa make a stand against a gang...

"Reformed gangster Jack Robinson is working hard to bolster his image in Gilded Age New York City society as he prepares to become a new father. But when Hayden Norcross, the man who nearly ruined his wife, is shot in cold blood, Jack knows the police will soon come knocking on his door. Frank Malloy has to agree ... things don't look good for Jack. But surely a man as unlikeable as Hayden had more than a few enemies. And it's soon clear that plenty...