New Madrid explores several themes against the backdrop of action and adventure in the early 1800s in the United States. First and foremost, the book is a Western, told in the sparse direct style that best suits the genre. However, on a deeper level the book explores the struggle of free will versus rigid religious doctrine, the need to face and understand one's past to properly move forward, and how the rush to judgement without evidence or understanding threatens everyone. New Madrid explores new territory and an example of alternative history. The book wonders what would happen if the Salem witch trials never ended. What would happened in the wild west if witchcraft were punishable by death? Jack Ellard, the reluctant lawman of the growing river town of New Madrid, Missouri, must learn these lessons. Expelled from the army for his role in a brutal Native American massacre, Jack has carved out a solitary life as sheriff and rebuffed several offers to become marshal. Despite his desire to avoid controversy and conflict, trouble follows him out west. When a young girl named Abigail Duncan goes missing, everything changes. Jack is forced to delve into the town's secrets and confront his feelings for the girl's mother, Sarah. But when a firebrand preacher named Elijah Prescott, and a city-raised Native American named Chata, arrive and offer to help find the young girl, Jack is unsure of their motives. Neither is who they claim to be. Even Sarah seems to be hiding things from him, and Jack begins to fear the preacher's criticism of her bold and uncompromising demeanor. The extraordinary events of 1811 serve as a backdrop to the book and paint a picture that parallels the startling events of 2020. The country experienced the largest earthquake in the history of the continental U.S. centered near New Madrid; the longest (at the time) continually-sighted comet appears in the skies, visible to the naked eye for 260 days; the largest slave revolt in U.S. history occurred in Louisiana; three hurricanes that blasted the southeast U.S.; a tornado kills 500 in South Carolina; a Congress that pushed for war with Great Britain; and ongoing hostilities with Native Americans. Jack must work to solve the mystery of Abbie's disappearance, fend off Prescott's growing influence in the town, keep law and order in the face of wanted gunslingers, discover the truth behind Sarah's secrets... and prove that people are not always ruled by their past.