The Reckoning
Harriet Mitchell is in her third year at Vassar College in late November of the year 1873 when she receives news that will change her life forever. Her beloved parents have been the victims of a late-night break-in and murderous attack at their Brooklyn, New York residence. Confused and grief-stricken, she is determined to see the killer brought to justice. The police, however, seem either unwilling or unable to pursue the investigation to a satisfactory conclusion. She joins forces with Andrew McPherson, a reporter for the New York Times who has chronicled the recent fall of William M. Tweed, the corrupt Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall who has been controlling the City of New York along with his ring of fellow conspirators for years. She and Andrew manage to identify the attacker as a thug who is employed by the Tweed Ring and goes by the nickname of Reb. Did her father’s small role in facilitating Tweed’s downfall motivate his murder? Before that question can be answered, Reb flees the city and is on the run.
Meanwhile, Harriet has discovered that the murderer’s motivation might lie instead in her parents’ distant past, a dark period seldom spoken of but rooted in the pre-Civil War South and the evils of slavery. Armed with information from people close to her family who know the secrets from that black time, Harriet and Andrew appeal to Times publisher George Jones for the resources to pursue Reb and bring him back to stand trial for his crimes. After facilitating Andrew’s appointment as a United States Deputy Marshal, Mr. Jones sends them on their way. They follow their quarry from Canada to South Carolina, Reb always staying a step or two ahead of them. When they finally confront him in Charleston, they must set aside their growing attraction for each other and utilize every resource of cunning and resolve to stay alive. In this final crucible, Harriet comes face to face with her foibles and learns valuable lessons in humility and kindness that will broaden her perspective in the journalistic profession she hopes to pursue.
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