Charlie Ryan’s new novel, The Pullman Hilton, is a fast moving winter’s tale that centers on the escapades of seven youngsters as they seek adventure and encounter mystery and the unknown during a Depression-era Christmas.
The seven, who call themselves “The Maple Avenue Gang,” seek to divert their attention from the prospect of few presents under the tree on Christmas morning, 1938. Six ten year old boys and one precocious eleven year-old girl consider several forays to inject danger and apprehension into their hard scrabble existence – and finally settle on
exploring a railroad graveyard where vagrants and hoboes are known to reside.
The graveyard is not a traditional one. It consists of more than 200 wooden railroad Pullman cars, abandoned to rot as new steel cars replace them. It is a graveyard that holds the allure of the unknown, desperate hoboes, and, perhaps, hidden treasure.
The Maple Avenue Gang’s exploration brings them face to face with two hoboes and a mysterious figure who comes and goes—is he a ghost, spirit, good or evil? The gang moves through dusty, abandoned Pullman cars, finally finding one that is somehow as luxurious as it once was when it rode the rails.
Those who read The Pullman Hilton will enjoy a wild Christmas ride with Charlie, Jazz Man, Tank, Munch, Randy and one very special girl, MV, as they spend a holiday they will never forget. The novel is written for young adults but appeals to an audience of all ages, especially at Christmas and the holidays.
Charlie Ryan will be signing books at the Beaufort Library on Saturday, December 20 from 10 am – 2 pm during the annual display of model trains, presented by the Beaufort Railroaders. (The display opens December 17th and runs through the 20th.) The Pullman Hilton is also available at Beaufort Bookstore in Beaufort, Pretty Papers on Hilton Head, The Store in Bluffton, www.amazon.com and www.singstar.us
