Eddie Parks is a resident at Harmony House, a government-funded think tank for autistic savants who can't care for themselves. Eddie is working on the echo box, a device that uses acoustic archaeology to reconstruct sounds that were never recorded. Eddie only wants to hear the voice of his dead mother, a singer. But various intelligence organizations want the echo box, particularly the American Heritage Foundation, a shadowy organization that has successfully backed thirty-seven candidates for various political offices. Eddie is forced to go on the run with Dr. Skylar Drummond, one of Harmony House's staff members.
The books in the series:
- The Speed of Sound (June 1, 2018)
- The Sound of Echoes (June 4, 2019)
The Speed of Sound contains examples of:
- Bathroom Break-Out: Skylar and Eddie are separated in New York City, and Skylar looks for him in a bird shop, since he loves birds. While she's in the shop's bathroom, Homeland Security Agent Raines enters the store and is told by an employee that she's in the bathroom. When Raines kicks down the bathroom door, though, he found that Skylar has escaped through the window by bending one of the rusted security bars enough to squeeze by. Raines is much bigger than Skylar and doesn't have a chance of making it.
- Bavarian Fire Drill: In The Sound of Echoes, Stenson gets the echo box past White House security simply by calling the president to say that hostiles have been spying on the West Wing from satellites, and his team is needed to scan the Oval Office.
- Blackmail: When the American Heritage Foundation offers to back Senator Corbin Davis, they show him a folder full of evidence of things that include bribes he's taken, his affair with a twenty-three-year-old staffer, and his drunk driving arrest that he's had expunged from the records to make sure he never tells anyone about all the illegal stuff they're doing.
- Blinded by the Light: When McHenry rescues Skylar from her kidnapper in The Sound of Echoes, he throws a flashbang grenade into the room, blinding and deafening Skylar along with the kidnapper.
- Bringing Running Shoes to a Car Chase: Skylar and Eddie see the assassin Lutz as they're walking through New York City. Skylar quickly hails a cab. Lutz runs after the cab, coming within eight feet of it at one point and managing to keep up the chase for two blocks, but he eventually falls behind.
- C.A.T. Trap: The staff of Harmony House haven't been able to study Eddie's brain because he does so badly with these kinds of tests. He once had such a severe panic attack in an MRI that he broke the machine.
- Death by Childbirth: Eddie's mother, Michelle, bled to death during an emergency C-section. It was almost three days before his father, Victor, was willing to hold him.
- Disappeared Dad: When Eddie was eleven, his dad dropped him off at Harmony House and told him, "Never forget I love you, and I always will." Then he drove away. Eddie never saw him again.
- Dramatic Sitdown: When a police detective goes to Skylar's apartment to break the news that Jacob is dead, he suggests that she sit in a chair first. Skylar, who is already freaked out by the detective's cryptic behavior, says, "I don't want to sit down."
- Forced to Watch: In The Sound of Echoes, the Foundation realizes that Eddie has reprogrammed the echo box to not work in order to keep it out of the hands of people who might abuse it. They take Skylar prisoner, send Eddie a video stream of her Bound and Gagged, and tell him that they'll torture her if he doesn't fix the box. Eddie severely self-inures for several minutes, making the torture mutual. Then he gets to work.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: A self-inflicted version. Eddie slaps himself in the face to prevent himself from having upsetting thoughts.
- Handshake Refusal: Detective McHenry extends his hand towards Eddie, who stares awkwardly at it. Skylar explains, "Eddie doesn't shake hands. He's not comfortable with most forms of physical contact."
- Horrible Housing: Caitlin's kids are dismayed to see their new home in Harvey, North Dakota - a small, run-down house with no dishwasher, the washer and dryer crammed into one of the bathrooms, cracks on the ceiling in almost every room, and stains on the carpet combined with a smell that leads the kids to think someone died in there.
- How Many Fingers?: In The Sound of Echoes, Caitlin talks to her husband Peter on the phone while spying on him and their kids through security cameras. When he realizes she can see him, he says, "How many fingers am I holding up?" Caitlin says, "Three. Don't you dare hold up one."
- Human Shield: In The Sound of Echoes, Skylar's kidnapper hides behind her when McHenry comes to rescue her to prevent her from shooting him.
- Living Lie Detector: Eddie can always tell when someone is lying. He makes a buzzer sound at people who lie, although Dr. Fenton tries to discourage him from doing it.
- Make It Look Like an Accident: This is how the assassin Michael Barnes kills Jacob Hendrix. He releases a canister of tear gas in a subway station, causing everyone to think there's a chemical attack. In the commotion, he pushes his target in front of an oncoming train, which instantly cuts him in half. Everyone thinks he blindly fled in front of the train to escape the gas.
- Married to the Job: Skylar keeps her boyfriend, Jacob Hendrix, at a distance. Her first priority is her career ambitions, meaning Jacob can never be more than a mistress.
- Missing Mom: Skylar's parents divorced when she was young, after which her mother essentially abandoned her, leaving her and her younger autistic brother Christopher to be raised by their dad.
- My Parents Are Dead: Jerome, who works in Harmony House's cafeteria, tells Eddie, "Your mama done raise you right." Eddie says, "No, she didn't. She died when I was born."
- Never a Self-Made Woman: Caitlin McCloskey, the only high-ranking woman in the Foundation to be mentioned, is the daughter of one of the Foundation's founding partners.
- No Dead Body Poops: Averted. In the first book, Dr. Fenton poops after he commits suicide. In the second book, Carla's killers wrap her face in a plastic sheet to suffocate her, and put her on top of another sheet to prevent her from making a mess when she pees herself.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Eddie doesn't like being called Edward.
- Out with a Bang: Henry Townsend, a congressman backed by the American Heritage Foundation, accidentally strangles a hooker during sex, and calls the Foundation for help getting out of trouble. Instead, the Foundation sends two assassins who force him to shoot himself to protect their reputation.
- Recognizable by Sound: Eddie can recognize the footsteps of every resident and staff member at Harmony House.
- Scatterbrained Senior: In The Sound of Echoes, Caitlin visits her father, Lawrence, in the nursing home, where she finds that he doesn't remember her name, her relationship to him, or what the Foundation is. This is a problem, because years ago he told her that if she felt that his successors were letting power corrupt them, she should go to him immediately. He had a plan for that eventuality, but he's long forgotten what it was. He at least remembers to give her a key around his neck, which opens a safety-deposit box that has something to do with his plan. He tells her, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Caitlin. I wish I could remember. I really do."
- Secret Room: Lawrence has a house in rural Virginia with a secret door activated by a retinal scanner that leads into a secret underground control room in case he or Caitlin needs to go to war with the Foundation.
- Self-Harm: This is Eddie's main way of expressing negative emotions. He usually sticks to slapping himself, but uses sharp objects if he's particularly upset. He still has scars on his cheek from his childhood, when he used to self-harm regularly. Once when he was a kid he slapped himself so many times that his dad had to take him to the emergency room, leading the ER staff to suspect abuse until Eddie started hitting himself in front of them.
- Sensory Overload: Eddie is so sensitive to sound that the staff of Harmony House wonder how he survived for eleven years before he moved in. He's had expensive acoustic tiles installed all over his room that keep out almost all sound. Whenever he eats lunch, he keeps tissue paper stuffed in his ears to keep from being overwhelmed by the noises of the cafeteria.
- Supreme Chef: The Sound of Echoes has Lolo, a mentally disabled woman living in a run-down institution who happens to be a phenomenally good chef. She started cooking out of necessity because she couldn't stand the food they served, and now cooks for most of the residents and staff. Skylar, McHenry, and Eddie all agree that her breakfast is the best they've ever had.
- Torture Technician: The assassin Mr. Elliott kills his victims as slowly and painfully as possible, then uploads the videos to a dark web site to advertise his business.
- Use Your Head: In The Sound of Echoes, Skylar snaps her head into her kidnapper's face, breaking his nose, while she's tied up.
- Wicked Cultured: Mr. Elliott is an educated and cultured man who listens to Classical WETA
whenever he's in the DC area. - Witness Protection: In The Sound of Echoes, Caitlin arranges for her husband and kids to go into hiding under the last name Montgomery in Harvey, North Dakota with a Briefcase Full of Money in order to protect them from the Foundation.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Foundation plan to kill Eddie once they get their hands on the echo box because he'll be a liability.
