Zloději řek – Crummey Michael (2023)

It is the year 1810, and naval officer David Buchan arrives in the Bay of Heroic Deeds with orders to establish contact with the Beothuks, or Red Indians, the indigenous people of Newfoundland, who face extinction. When Buchan seeks advice and assistance from the Peytons, the most influential white settlers on the northeastern coast, he is drawn into a dark world of blind devotion and long-standing grudges. His closest ally, John Peyton Jr., maintains a fragile balance between duty to his father—a domineering old man with a reputation as a relentless pursuer of the Beothuks—and his own clear conscience. However, when Buchan's peaceful expedition into Indian territory goes awry, the rift between father and son deepens, beginning to divide their closest ones as well. Years later, during another expedition, an Indian woman is kidnapped and her husband is murdered, prompting Buchan to return to investigate the case. The officer attempts to uncover what truly happened at the Lake of the Red Indians and slowly begins to unravel a web of lies and ancient secrets. A gripping story full of passion and tension set against the harsh Newfoundland landscape. The novel Thieves of Rivers captures both grand history and the intimate lives of those caught in its wake. – Published with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.