Against a backdrop of greed and ambition, lives collide and unravel in the rough-hewn streets of Kansas City’s West Bottoms. A reckless young couple, a gang of hardened detectives, and infamous gangsters become irrevocably entwined in a deadly, high-stakes struggle.

Co-authored by Rogers Brazier & Mace Thornton, this gritty 1930’s crime thriller merges real Kansas City history with an original story that spans generations.

The great-great-grandson of a pirate, Perry desires a fresh start far from the clutches of his abusive father. His dash for freedom brings him to the Kansas Territory, where his perils only compound.

This historical fiction novel explores the thick tension leading up to the Civil War, the tipping point of the war’s declaration, and the complex impacts the war had on everyday people across what would become the American Heartland.

Ghosts of betrayal don’t stay buried in Gumbo Flats. Moses, a freedman farmer in Kansas, is obsessed with returning to the South to rescue his wife and children torn from him by slavery.

From the river bluffs of northeast Kansas to the haunted cotton fields of the Deep South, Moses and his allies must traverse a nation forever changed in the wake of the Civil War. Mace Thornton’s newest historical fiction novel releases in October 2025.