Flying Stingaree

On the waters of Chesapeake Bay, something deadly is gliding beneath the surface. Teenager Rick Brant and his scientist father have stumbled onto something far more dangerous than a routine research project: sting ray-shaped drones, silent and invisible, vanishing fishermen and scientists without a trace. As Rick investigates the mysterious disappearances, he finds himself drawn into a web of Cold War intrigue that reaches deeper than the bay itself. The 1960s setting lends this adventure a particular tension, before cell phones, before modern surveillance, when a young person could stumble into genuine peril and have only his wits to rely on. Goodwin knows how to balance scientific curiosity with genuine suspense, and the Chesapeake Bay setting becomes almost a character itself, its marshes and inlets hiding secrets. This is the kind of book that made generations of young readers feel that science and adventure were natural partners.