Book detail

Henry David Thoreau's life has been well documented by himself and others but never before has this story been told:

Thoreau is twenty-nine and living at Walden Pond when he discovers the body of a young black man at the bottom of a cliff. Town officials, assuming the youth to be a run-away slave, promptly dismiss his death as accidental despite strong evidence that he was murdered.

Angered by this injustice, Thoreau is compelled to seek out the truth, aided by his friends Dr. Adam Walker and the artist Julia Bell. Their murder investigation involves a womanizing army captain and his brutal sidekick, a displaced Cherokee accused of a vicious slaying, and an affable yet ruthless French engraver of pornography.

Before Thoreau can return to his quiet contemplations at Walden Pond he must follow evidence to Victorian Boston's most disreputable district and chase down a merciless serial killer who threatens the lives of Adam and Julia.