Hard Land - John Pagani

Riveting survival adventure and romance tale set along the rugged North American Pacific coast at the turn of the nineteenth century. John Daly, a severely injured US Army scout separated from the Lewis and Clark Expedition, encounters a lost, desperate young woman in a harsh, foreboding land. They unite, struggle to survive, and forge a lasting, loving bond. The two embark upon a perilous journey across the wilderness, battling nature, indigenous peoples, Mexican bandits, and predatory beasts as they fight against all odds for survival. Their travails are further complicated and challenged as they encounter mystical native shamanism and overcome the threats of a horrifying demon.

Descriptive panoramas of endless forests, towering mountains, running rivers, and tumbling waterfalls are woven through all facets of the book. The stirring beauty of the roiling ocean and rugged coastline provides stunning background imagery. The story is colored with Irish folktales and sayings as well as early American pioneering customs, skills, and ways of life.

This captivating tale begins as a harrowing, frightful adventure and ends as a loving romance, but not before a final battle is fought against evil in its many forms.