This is a book that combines history with a modern thriller. I had the quaint idea years ago that perhaps the USA never actually achieved independence, not because they did not win the fight, but because sufficient numbers of the the founding fathers were too involved with Britain to let the connection go. Then, the second half, the modern element, came to me when I read about a woman given an impossibly long prison sentence and it set me wondering how people cope with a forty year sentence. The dual protagonist in this novel, Dakota, coped with it by studying hard for the education she had hoped to pursue and by staying true to herself. The connection between the two stories isn't just the research she was doing for her masters, but also the concept of redemption, that people are a curious mixture of good and bad and that bad people can do good things, just as good people can do bad. One reader said, "I couldn't put it down, not even for the superbowl.' I hope you'll try it and see for yourself.