A novel that hits right to the heart of fans of Cold Mountain and True Grit. Set in 1837, this is the completely compelling story of 12-year-old orphan Thomas Walker and his treacherous journey home through the wide open lands of America.

Still only twelve years old, Tom Walker is convinced he is a man. Fate, it seems, thinks so too. Travelling west from New York to sell Samuel Colt's newly-invented revolver, the towns get smaller, the forests wilder, and the paths more unforgiving. When a devastating encounter cuts the journey tragically short, Tom is left alone in the wilderness.

The Road to Reckoning is a raw and tender novel about man and boy, and the friendship and fortitude that can spring from hardship.

About the Author

Robert Lautner was born in Middlesex in 1970. Before becoming a writer he owned his own comic-book store, worked as a wine merchant, photographic consultant and recruitment consultant. He now lives on the Pembrokeshire coast in a wooden cabin with his wife and children.

Reviews

'It's a thrilling, violent, dangerous piece of old-fashioned storytelling that is also humane and unshowily moving' THE TIMES

'A compelling read: wise, touching and with just the right amount of gun fights'
NATHAN FILER, author of The Shock of the Fall

'As simply told tales go, this is one of the best. It shares with its hero a plain eloquence and a determination and a grace rare in the world and in books. Give The Road to Reckoning to every man you know and they'll thank you for it' JOSHUA FERRIS, author of the Man Booker-shortlisted To Rise Again at a Decent Hour

'Compelling, gripping and beautiful ... a poetic page-turner with precision and heart. In Thomas Walker and Henry Stands Robert Lautner has created characters who live in the memory long after the book is closed'
STEPHEN KELMAN, author of Pigeon English

'This quiet triumph of a novel, a sad and impeccably nuanced tale set against a finely drawn landscape of early pioneer America, left me just amazed and delighted: it will surely establish Robert Lautner as a storyteller of the first order' SIMON WINCHESTER, author of Atlantic: A Vast Ocean of a Million Stories

'A twisty, gripping first novel from British author Lautner...a robust debut that wears its meticulous research lightly' KIRKUS REVIEWS

Book Information
ISBN 9780007511303
Author Robert Lautner
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint The Borough Press
Publisher HarperCollins Publishers
Weight(grams) 240g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 19mm