AustLit

'Spring, 1885. The conclusion of Cheyenne’s famous murder trial brings with it a desperate aftermath. As justice is within reach, a suspicious fi re inside the courthouse has created a dangerous set of circumstances, particularly for heart-broken sheriff Cliff Ryan. Foremost, a key decision regarding the trial’s outcome will test the resilience of the Alliance to the limit.

Who will rise, who will fall?

Some face their prospects with fearless resolve, others with resignation. And while Luke grapples with an increasingly uncertain faith in a future he has worked so hard for, how can Jennifer rise above her past and a promise she can’t keep to find the closure she needs and deserves?

Out of the remnants of the troubled past, striving to find their place in a new reality, the heroes of the Alliance must brave the journey to where their destiny is calling them.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Chicago, 1886. With anarchists on the march, bloody riots erupt at McCormick Reaper Works and Haymarket Square with tragic consequences. The aftermath claws at the very fabric of democracy as the city panics. Taking sides is not an option. Yet despite his particular involvement, Ashcliff Ryan is determined that his newspaper, The Globe, will not surrender the truth for the sake of either side of the conflict. But all of it will take a back seat to the arrival of a significant figure from his Cheyenne days, bringing with them a life-changing revelation.

'For ambitious freelance journalist Emmaline Roberts, the chance to work as a reporter for a big city newspaper is too good to resist. But is this where she truly belongs? The events that follow shape a deeply personal adventure.

'As each negotiates the unyielding crossroads of their lives, the only signposts left standing are truth and forgiveness.'(Publication summary)