by David Liss
First published 2008
Ethan Saunders once served as one of General Washington's top spies, but now he drinks away his days in Philadelphia taverns. A treason accusation destroyed his reputation and cost him his fiancée, Cynthia Pearson. When Cynthia's husband disappears, she asks Saunders to find him. The search forces Saunders to work with Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, his old enemy locked in a power struggle with Thomas Jefferson over the new Bank of the United States. Meanwhile, Joan Maycott and her veteran husband stake their future on the Pennsylvania frontier, where they discover a profitable new whiskey distilling method. On the frontier, whiskey functions as both currency and power. The Maycotts' success draws dangerous attention from Hamilton's associates, who threaten to destroy everything Joan values. As political tensions escalate around Hamilton's financial policies, Saunders and Joan find themselves on opposite sides of a conspiracy that will reshape their lives and their fragile nation.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, mystery, 19th-century
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Period: 18th-century
519 pages · Hardcover · Random House