Home Sweet Home

Book excerpt: From the widely praised author of the FBI Special Agent Ana Grey series and A Star for Mrs. Blake, this riveting epic drama follows the Kusek family from New York City to America's heartland, where they are caught up in the panic of McCarthyism, a smear campaign, a sensational trial, and, ultimately, murder. In the spring of 1950, Calvin and Betsy Kusek load their family in the station wagon and head west from New York City to relocate to a close-knit town in South Dakota. They settle on a ranch and begin a life in their new state. Betsy becomes a visiting nurse, befriending a quirky assortment of rural characters, and Cal jumps at the chance to serve his community when a seat opens up in the state legislature. Their children, Jo and Lance, grow up caring for animals and riding rodeo. But things change when Cal runs for the U.S. Senate. The FBI investigates Betsy, and a youthful dalliance with the Communist Party surfaces to haunt the Kuseks. Communist hysteria takes over their small town, inflamed by Cal’s political enemies. Driven by fear and hate, their neighbors turn on them. Decades later tragedy again strikes the family as the ghosts of their past come back to haunt them.