Promise

It is the mid-1800s amid a land of gently rolling hills and fields as Jacob Calhoun urges his buckskin stallion along the trail leading to his home. Calhoun and his nearest neighbors, Henry and Hilda Brandt, are among the first to establish a presence living among the Native Americans. As their families grow, one fact remains certain: Calhoun and Brandt do not like each other. Change begins when immigrants like thirty-year-old Johann von Gruden begin infiltrating the land, fueling growth despite their varied backgrounds, languages, and lifestyles. It is not long before the town of Promise is founded in the middle of the heartland. Through collective efforts, the town’s determined citizenry labor long and diligently to build a brickyard, erect a water tower, and drill a well. As the Civil War concludes, the pride of Promise’s citizens not only defines their new community but also helps them overcome economic depression, natural disasters, long-standing feuds, and an unsettling mystery as someone in Promise secretly seeks revenge. In this historical novel, a town rises in the aftermath of the Civil War as its citizens persevere through adversity, obstacles, and a mystery that begs to be uncovered.