Something in Madness takes readers to 1865 Mississippi during early Reconstruction, one of the darkest and least understood periods in American history, when unregenerate Confederates still ran the South as newly freed Blacks were trying to begin their lives anew. In the story...

Abolitionist 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?

The author utilized real events and attitudes from the era, as well as varied points of view — black, white, mixed-race, Native American, male and female — to ground the characters and the story in reality. The book was written as a stand-alone work, as well as the gripping conclusion to the DarkHorse Trilogy.