Shadow-Town — Duncan Thornton

Beware the Whisperers.

Cousins Jack and Rose have been sent to live on their grandmother's farm for the summer. Although he's never ventured beyond the dusty fields, Jack likes to terrify Rose with stories of Shadow-Town, where creatures called Whisperers force the zombie-like victims of the Sleeping Sickness to work for them.

These aren't just stories, however, and their grandmother warns them to stick to the road when traveling. But the bickering cousins, goaded by Jack's wild friend Tamlin, end up daring one another onto a much more dangerous path. Before they get very far, Tam disappears.

Soon Jack and Rose are matching wits with the Dickensian Speculators, bunking with the mysterious Red Man, and riding the rails with the inhuman Clatterfolk who run the coffin-train. At the end lies Shadow-Town, where Tam has been enslaved by the Whisperers. Everything builds to an exciting climax as the cousins discover the power of courage and loyalty. Still, the whistle of the coffin-train continues to blow.

An intensely atmospheric and sometimes dark novel, Shadow-Town is the first in a four-book series.