When a ship arriving from London explodes in Boston Harbor, both the peace of the colonial city and Duncan McCallum’s life are shattered.

Summoned by his new friend John Hancock to a beach awash with bodies, Duncan discovers that the ship was deliberately sabotaged — apparently to cover the theft of a secret document being carried to the Sons of Liberty. Hancock refuses to let him take this evidence to the authorities, however, because relations with the government are so sour that officials are being hanged in effigy.

Fearing that the intrigues of Hancock and the Sons might set the colonies ablaze, Duncan relentlessly pursues the truth, only to be falsely charged with treason and murder. To escape the hangman’s noose and restore his honor, Duncan has no choice but to follow a northbound trail of violence and deception while being relentlessly hounded by bountymen and vengeful soldiers.

Praise for the Bone Rattler series:

“The Last of the Mohicans meets Braveheart, with a curious dash of CSI.” — Entertainment Weekly

“If this were a movie, we’d marvel at the set decoration that splendidly evokes the period. The excellent prose narrative goes right to the matter in question, the state of the (pre-Colonial) human heart.” — Chicago Tribune

“Pattison’s moving characters, intricate plot and masterful evocation of the time, including sensitive depictions of the effects of the European war on Native Americans, set this leagues beyond most historicals and augur well for future entries in this series.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)