Ed Protzel's Something in Madness Illuminates Reconstruction, the Roots of America's Racial Divide
Novel Being Released Oct. 23 Concludes Author's Southern DarkHorse Trilogy
ST. LOUIS, Aug. 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Something in Madness, the gripping new historical novel by Ed Protzel, illuminates Reconstruction, one of the darkest and least understood periods in American history and the roots of America's ongoing racial divide. The book, which works as a stand-alone as well as the conclusion to Protozel's DarkHorse Trilogy, will be released in print and ebook formats on Oct. 23, 2020, by TouchPoint Press. The Kindle edition is available for preorder on Amazon.
Protzel utilizes real events and attitudes from the era, as well as varied points of view — black, white, mixed-race, Native American, male and female — to ground both the characters and the story in reality.
"Sadly, the struggle for social justice depicted in this fictional story still reverberates today," notes Protzel. "But hope for a better future is strong in the human spirit, and that's what I wanted to convey in writing the trilogy."
Story Summary:
1865. Abolitionist Durksen Hurst and three black friends return home to a devastated Mississippi, the sole survivors of a Union colored cavalry regiment. But instead of peace, they find unregenerate Confederates who reject emancipation still in charge. Undeterred, Durk opens a law practice to help disenfranchised freedmen — only to be threatened by powerful planters and nightriders. A black school is burned; a petition march to Jackson is terrorized. And when one of his friends goes missing, Durk is horrified to discover Black Codes being used to force freedmen into brutal servitude. Clever Durk schemes to liberate them, but must contend with armed ruffians — and a rigged court system. Will fire and bullets prevail?
About the Author: Screenwriter turned novelist Ed Protzel is the author of the Southern historical DarkHorse Trilogy (The Lies That Bind, Honor Among Outcasts, Something in Madness), and sci-fi thriller The Antiquities Dealer. A graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in English, Ed lives in St. Louis.
Publisher's ARC, sell sheet, cover art available. Contacts:
Ed Protzel, (314) 721-0035 / cell: 314-239-5468 / [email protected]
TouchPoint Press, (662) 595-4192, [email protected], https://touchpointpress.com/
Jeanie Loiocano, Loiocano Literary Agency, (912) 230-2207, [email protected], https://loiaconoliteraryagency.com/
SOURCE Ed Protzel
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