Appomattox ended the war with a penstroke... but the struggle for freedom had only begun. 1865. After the Civil War, 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? In this concluding chapter of Ed Protzel’s DarkHorse Trilogy, Something in Madness illuminates Reconstruction, the least understood epoch in American history, exposing the origin of America’s ongoing racial divide. WHAT LED TO THIS UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP? Read The Lies That Bind , book 1, and Honor Among Outcasts , book 2. PRAISE FOR SOMETHING IN MADNESS “Despite the dark forces at work in Something in Madness, it is ultimately a tale of hope and determination against seemingly insurmountable odds. It is also a timely tale for these troubled times in our divided nation.” —Terry Baker Mulligan, author of Sugar Hill “...an engrossing story not just for historical fiction readers, but for anyone who would better understand the roots of modern racism... Something in Madness stands out as a powerful saga of ongoing strife.” —D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review Praise for The Lies That Bind “…a deftly crafted and consistently compelling read...” - MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW “…a gripping tale…of deceit, slavery, and dangerous complicities...” - READERS’ FAVORITE, 5 STARS Praise for Honor Among Outcasts “...a pulse-pounding journey of desperate men and women caught up in the merciless forces of hatred and fear that tear worlds apart…” - MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW Something in Madness, Book 3 of the DarkHorseTrilogy, is set in 1865 after the Civil War, when Durksen Hurst, a half-Seminole, and three black soldiers return to their Mississippi home, only to find that the battle for freedom has not yet ended in that region. Durksen Hurst built a plantation shared with slaves hiding in the swamp on land he swindled from a Chickasaw chief. Eventually forced to flee the town with his silent partners during the war, Durk and his band establish a colored regiment within the Union army, name it DarkHorse (after the bygone plantation), and eventually return home with the hope of resurrecting the plantation after the war. Their homecoming to Turkle, Mississippi and the newfound conflicts they face there form the foundation of Something in Madness, which illuminates a deadly truth: "The slaughter on the battlefield had come to an end, but a scourge more insidious and enduring now descended upon the shattered land." Whether he's describing unrequited love or battles, Protzel does a fine job of capturing the underlying nuances of interpersonal relationships against all kinds of backdrops: "So Durk's back in Turkle! Her mood sank, hitting bottom faster than a boulder dropped into a shallow creek. Durk, the man she'd wanted from the first moment she'd seen him, who she'd pursued throughout Missouri, who'd cost her so much, even her freedom. Durk, who she must have but knew she never would -- because of Antoinette." From brutal treatments and relationships between generals, employers, and ordinary men and women to the continuing conflict between those free and others only recently freed, even after the war, Protzel's story follows a delicate dance between personalities, options, and different ways of coping with conflict. Durk's struggle with rigged systems and the ongoing legacy of slavery pits him against people and systems alike as slavery continues to exert its insidious force against everyone despite the war's outcome and seeming conclusion. This aspect of ongoing battle and confrontation is a seldom-explored result of the Civil War.The story offers invaluable lessons on the real roots of modern racial strife which never entirely left American soil and not only lay in wait for future generations, but emerges from dormancy like a living legacy of ever-present adversity. The motivations,lives, perceptions, and challenged social structure of the South is deftly covered through the eyes and experiences of characters who juxtapose personal interests with bigger-picture thinking. The result is an engrossing story not just for historical fiction readers, but for anyone who would better understand the roots of modern racism and the choices and impact it brings to all sides of the equation. Highly recommended for civil war fiction readers and those with an interest in modern racial discord