Alta: A Collision of Four Cultures: Book Three, is a richly layered historical novel that blends frontier survival, political tension, cultural conflict, and deep human experience.
Unstopped Tide, 1839 through 1851, seamlessly continues to expand the world of Alta. The reader is transported across oceans, mountain passes, battlefields, trading posts, gold mining camps, and the rapidly changing landscapes of early North America.
Book three captures the complexity of the 19th century with vivid realism, from brutal sea voyages, deadly treks across the Ismith of Panama, harsh realities of westward expansion, shifting political powers, Indigenous displacement, the growing tensions surrounding slavery, and national identity, and the massive transformation and cultural shock to High California brought about by the gold rush.
Characters from vastly diverse backgrounds, Indigenous leaders, settlers, soldiers, sailors, ranchers, and political figures all move through the story with distinct voices and believable motivations. The emotional weight carried by Huyana, Muata, Marcel, Mariano Vallejo, Augustas Sutter, James Marshall, and John Fremont adds depth to the larger historical events unfolding around them.
