Hero

Zach lives with his mother, housekeeper Alba, and Alba’s daughter, Kate, in a luxurious three-story apartment at the top of a building on Fifth Avenue with a view of Central Park in New York City. Zach lives upstairs and has his own balcony, where he sometimes goes to unwind and gaze out at the city. The living room is where Zach’s mom holds a campaign party and where Uncle John often visits. The apartment serves as a refuge for Zach, a place where he feels safe and where the people he loves also dwell. It’s also a symbol of the wealth and power of his parents—which, in turn, partly shape Zach’s future destiny as the hero, as he picks up where his father left off in protecting America’s leaders. 

Most of the book’s action takes place in Central Park, a large urban recreational area in the middle of New York City’s Manhattan borough. Across Fifth Avenue from Zach’s apartment, “Central Park was his own backyard” (16); his mom calls it Zach’s “playground.” Indeed, Zach loves to go running there, enjoy walks among the trees, and even studies in the park’s quiet beauty. As Zach’s powers appear, so do his opponents, who confront him or Kate on several occasions in the park.