Bound for Gold

July 30, 2018
Bestseller Martin’s engrossing sixth Peter Fallon novel (after 2012’s The Lincoln Letter) takes the Boston-based historian and rare book dealer to San Francisco, where his lawyer son is handling the last will and testament of wealthy Maryanne Rodgers. A codicil in her will states that before her estate can be liquidated, all seven original sections of a journal written by Maryanne’s pioneer great-grandfather, James Spencer, must be gathered together and digitized. These are in the hands of various far-flung relatives and include an account of Spencer’s voyage from Boston to California’s gold fields in 1849. What seems like a straightforward job for Fallon is, of course, anything but. International gangsters, the FBI, assorted fraudsters, and even a vintner or two keep things jumping. Sections of Spencer’s vividly written journal alternate with the contemporary action and bring the adventures and heartaches of the California gold rush to life while shedding light on the era’s racism, rough justice, and occasional kindness that forged friendships to last a lifetime. Martin provides a thought-provoking view of American history along with plenty of thrills. Agent: Robert Gottlieb, Trident Media.

Starred review from May 15, 2018
Martin's sixth Peter Fallon novel centers on a stolen Gold Rush journal in which James Spencer documents his quest for fortune and rhapsodizes about a mythical river of gold. The diary is believed to reveal the location of an actual river, which could set off a modern gold rush, and certain San Franciscans want to control the flow. The links connecting Fallon (a rare-book dealer in Boston) and a present-day search for the journal, which was split into seven sections among Spencer heirs, seem a bit of a stretch, but the plot is so captivating that readers will happily overlook the shakiness of the premise. As Peter and his sometime girlfriend, Evangeline, race to find the journal, sections begin to turn up, adding engrossing details of gold excavation and of historical San Francisco and its multiethnic citizens. Spencer's original company of gold chasers?a Chinese family panning for gold downstream from where Spencer hunts?and the various bigwigs who conspire to take over all play roles in the historical saga, which is smoothly entwined with the contemporary story. Fascinating and surprisingly fast-paced, this adrenaline-packed adventure is sprinkled with love, betrayal, and violent death: old-fashioned storytelling at its best, in the style of Peter Carey's True History of the Kelly Gang (2001) and Wilbur Smith's Courtney novels.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)