Wednesday, February 19, 2020

The Blue Cloak: an interesting retelling of a notorious crime in American history


The Blue Cloak by Shannon McNear is the new title in the True Color historical story of American crime series. It is the year 1797 in Know County, Tennessee when the US was young, and the west was still wild. Rachel Taylor attends the wedding of her friend, Sally, to Wiley Harpe. Something about the groom and his brother, Micajah, gives her the creeps but her friend seems so happy and she tries to shake it off. One year later, Rachel notices a group, two men and three women, come into town. One woman is her friend, Sally, who hadn’t been seen in a year since whispers of the brothers’ “business” practices started and they disappeared. December 1798, along the Wilderness Road in Kentucky, a young man is found murdered. It is the fourth along the road and it has been linked to the Harpes. A young lawyer, Benjamin Langford, from Virginia comes looking for his cousin, Thomas, and quickly joins the search for the group. Will they find the brothers before they kill again? How is Sally involved? Will Rachel see her friend again?


The Blue Cloak is the third book I’ve read in the True Colors series and this one was creepy. Creepy but I was unable to put it down. Featuring the real-life case of Wiley “Little” Harpe and Micajah “Big” Harpe, the two would begin a horrifying crime spree through Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois from 1797 until 1799 when Micajah was captured and killed. Wiley would continue his killing spree as a part of the Samuel Mason gang until 1803 when he was captured and later hanged in 1804. I was fascinated by this story from history that I have never heard before. It was hard to read at times especially when these men seemed to enjoy their crimes; but I was fascinated how they were eventually caught and what became of the women who were with them. I highly recommend The Blue Cloak, especially if you have enjoyed the other titles in this series.

The Blue Cloak
is available in paperback and eBook

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