A road can look like a way out right up until the moment you cannot use it.
In The Lost Claim, releasing Tuesday, September 29, Noah Mercer and Lori Callahan have evidence to find and people trying to stop them. The ground they must cross makes every decision harder.
A pickup bears down on them along a one-lane track. Floodwater cuts the roads. Abandoned mine workings offer somewhere to investigate, but getting in is only part of the problem.
Distance changes the choices
In a city, a blocked route might mean trying the next street. On remote ground, the alternatives can be far less convenient. A delay matters when the proof you need is already disappearing.
That is part of the pressure surrounding Noah and Lori. They need time to establish what happened to a mining claim belonging to Lori’s father. They also need access to places where someone would rather they never look.
A court order seals the ground. A workshop burns. Each obstacle affects what they can do next, and waiting for the proper permission may cost them the evidence.
The tension comes from having to make a decision with the options still available. Staying put has consequences. Moving forward has them too.
A case with something personal at stake
Lori’s work with mining records has led her to an altered date in her own family’s history. Noah brings a receipt that connects the Callahan ground to the Mercer family’s loss.
They have reasons to keep going even as the route becomes more difficult. Finding the truth will mean more than identifying an error and asking someone to correct it.
The Lost Claim is Book 2 in The Mercer Files, with a complete case that can be read as a standalone.
Preorder The Lost Claim for September 29, or explore The Mercer Files here.
Which makes you more nervous in a thriller: a locked door or miles of open country with no easy way home?