Brooklyn College holds an annual event to honour faculty who have published books each year. G.B. Gurland, author of The Secret Files of Phineas Foster was among several faculty honoured at the annual Faculty Book Awards Ceremony on 9th May, 2017. The event was hosted by the Brooklyn College Library where each honoured book was displayed. Each author was acknowledged and asked to sign his/her book, and this book is now featured in the college library's collection.

Almost thirteen-year-old Gabriel Marx struggles with just about everything, from school, to relationships, to navigating between his divorced parents. He arrives in New York City for his annual summer visit with his attorney father who finds himself caught up in the mystery surrounding the murder of one of his clients. It is not long before Gabe finds himself smack in the middle of the intrigue and more determined than ever to prove himself to his dad.

Gabe encounters various players in the unravelling mystery, learns to trust the friendship of eleven-year-old Alex, and that of the renowned, but now discredited, Professor Phineas Foster. Twists and turns and seeming coincidences reveal previously unknown family history and harrowing choices for Gabe.