The Deserter

Imagine you're on a British man-o'war, anchored in an estuary of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, around 1800. Behind the high red cliffs lie hundreds of miles of uncharted wilderness. If you jump ship and are caught, you will be branded a deserter - subject to death by one hundred lashes. If you jump, the icy waters could freeze your body and claim your soul. This is your one chance for a life in the New World. Do you jump? Thomas Manning did, and his leap into uncertainty begins the epic tale of a pioneer family. The Deserter is Book One of the Alford saga, a series chronicling two hundred years of North American history.