SOLID! Set in post-Revolutionary War America (Philadelphia, late 1700s) at a time where our Founding Fathers and entrepreneurial schemers ran the race to wealth, power, and molding the country’s destiny, this book had a definite parallel to the situation we now face today. His Excellency George Washington is president and Alexander Hamilton is the Secretary of the Treasury, and our 2 central figures (Ethan Saunders and Joan Maycott) soon embark on their individual paths to effect their respective plots. Once a valued spy for Washington’s army, Saunders has been stripped of all glory and honor by the accusation of selling vital documents of war to the enemy. He is later approached by Hamilton to investigate a scheme against the U.S. Treasury, but is reluctant to help the government that defaced his name. Only when Hamilton’s rival, Thomas Jefferson, tries to recruit Saunders’ skills does our fallen hero realize that something big is in the works.
Joan Maycott, in the meantime, has set out with her husband to the western frontier of Pennsylvania in hopes of finding a better life for themselves amidst the stretching territories. They are soon stacked against hardships and find unlikely friendships as well as a chance for prosperity with a new method of whiskey distillation, which, on the frontier is the main source of trade. As the business prospers, attention is quickly drawn from rival whiskey makers and also important figures within the U.S. government. Forced to pay an exorbitant tax which they cannot possibly afford, Joan comes to the startling realization that certain conspiracies are in play within the same government that these ex-patriots fought to protect.
Caught in a time where a newborn nation is torn between the Colonial upstarts and those still loyal to British rule, both Saunders and Maycott’s paths gradually intertwine as they plot their causes and find themselves on opposing sides of what is to become a daring scheme that will affect the immediate future of the country… as well as the rest of their lives.
I found this book a good read, albeit not overly exciting. Granted, a lot of that has to do with my ignorance of the banking industry and of times that are quite simply unfamiliar to me. It is a good story by any means, however, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who favors historical fiction. The entire book is set in alternating personal accounts from the 2 central figures as they trek through the potential downfall of the country, and we get a nice visual of how the back scenes actually operate. Pick up a copy, I’m sure you’ll like it.
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