THE HIDDEN CODE

A girl sets out to find her long-vanished parents, tracing their path to a powerful artifact.

Hannah Hawkins’ geneticist parents disappeared 11 years ago. Since then, she’s lived with her Uncle Randall at his opulent estate in Boston. Then a mysterious letter arrives from her mother, and she learns that her parents and their friends once sought an artifact called the Deluge Segment and, in doing so, had assembled a map to the Code of Enoch, which could create life and cure disease. Hannah’s parents decided the Code was too dangerous and absconded to hide their piece of the Segment. Emboldened, Hannah sets out on a quest to find her parents, who she desperately hopes are still alive. But she isn’t the only one interested in the artifact; her parents’ old friend works for a nefarious pharmaceutical company that could benefit from the Code of Enoch, and his son, Ethan, will do anything to impress his father. Thrust together, Hannah and Ethan set out, trailed by dangerous men every step of the way. With nods to archaeological adventures like Indiana Jones, Hannah’s journey features intermittent excitement and dips into intriguing myths and history. However, her wealth, luck, and uncanny athletic prowess make for a low-stakes adventure until the end delivers a more satisfying reveal. Major characters are presumed white.

An uneven adventure too reliant on well-worn tropes and the protagonist’s privilege.