A simple task to retrieve some artifacts turns into a nightmare of
deceit when Duncan McCallum finds himself the target of those obsessed
with keeping America under British rule in this thrilling historical
novel from an Edgar Award-winning author.
When Duncan McCallum is asked by Benjamin Franklin to retrieve an
astonishing cache of fossils from the Kentucky wilderness, his
excitement as a naturalist blinds him to his treacherous path. But as
murderers stalk him Duncan discovers that the fossils of this American
incognitum are not nearly as mysterious as the political intrigue
driving his mission. The Sons of Liberty insist, without explaining why,
that the only way to keep the king from pursuing a bloody war with
America is for Duncan to secretly deliver the fossils to Franklin in
London.
His journey becomes a maze of deceit and violence as he seeks the
cryptic link between the bones and the king. Every layer that Duncan
peels away invites new treachery by those obsessed with crushing
American dissent. With each attempt on his life, Duncan questions the
meaning of the liberty he and the Sons seek. His last desperate hope for
survival, and the rescue of his aged native friend Conawago―imprisoned
in Bedlam―requires the help of freed slaves, an aristocratic maiden, a
band of street urchins, and the gods of his tribal allies.
