Bodie and Brock Thoene, a husband and wife author team, usually write novels about Israel. "The Wayward Series" is a departure with a setting in America. The books are three stories with different characters but in chronological order.

Winds of Promise begins in New York harbor in 1849 and involves an adventure on the steamship "New world" around cape Horn to San Francisco. The adventure for some of the characters continues on up to the gold country.

The second book, To Gather the Wind, starts in gold country with a stagecoach holdup injuring a young man. He didn't bargain for the excitement and danger when he signed up to be a lawyer for Wells cargo. Before he reaches San Francisco, his place of employment, he finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation, lynch mobs, wild animals, drunken miners and outlaws.

The third book, Winds of the Cumberland, takes place in 1862-64 in the Cumberland Mountains, Tennessee. This novel is based on the true story of Jesse Dodson. Jesse and his wife Alcie want to farm the land and raise their children in peace. But the Civil War tears their family apart.

Their 16-year-old son left home to join the Union Army because he was so opposed to slavery. Jesse is determined to find him and bring him home. In the process of looking for his son, he is conscripted to fight in a battle he does not believe in. Finally, he manages to get to the Union Army will still looking for his son. He is injured in one of the bloodies battles of that war.

The novel also highlights Alcie's courage and faith, as she takes care of their other young children by herself. Jesse and Alcie have a strong faith and relationship with God and a hope for healing in their land. Their story comes down through the family, generation by generation, and now is shared with us, because Brock Theone is their great, great grandson

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