A Novel of the Early Frontier

A sweeping saga of a family caught up in an epic struggle between empires, with the fate of North America hanging in the balance, written by the bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including High Country, Mountain Renegade, and The War Lovers.

With a flintlock rifle and a dream, Abel Cutter blazed a trail into the wild Allegheny forests to establish a settlement for others who wanted only to be left alone to grow their crops and raise their families-a place called Cutter's Reach. But France and England, with their Indian allies, are girding for war to secure their claim to America's first frontier, and Cutter's Reach turns out to be of strategic importance to both.

Reunited with his son, raised as a Tuscarora Indian, and his daughter, now wed to a British lieutenant, Cutter and his followers are willing to fight to live in peace. But the vengeful son of a man Cutter killed years ago takes advantage of the rising war fever to unleash an army of bloodthirsty Hurons and Canadian trappers determined to kill every man, woman and child at Cutter's Reach.