Wurth’s riveting second installment of her River Saga (after Seven Kinds of Rain) is carried by the distinct voices of Margaret Rose, Jack Hollingwood, and Pawnee Kuruk Sky Seeing the Medicine Bear in early 1900s Darkwater Creek, Neb. Kuruk and Jack have been in love with Margaret Rose since the three were teenagers, but it’s now 1934 and Margaret hasn’t seen her “boys” for 15 years; she’s been secretly living in the next town over, “a kettle on a low flame simmering,” due to the traumatic events of the previous book. Jack’s been away from home, too, and Kuruk draws his friends back to Darkwater Creek to fight corrupt town leaders (including Jack’s father). Each of the characters has their own distinctive voice that highlights their struggles: Kuruk is good man but the townspeople see him as “Indian trash”; Jack is wealthy but mentally ill; and Margaret Rose is as “damaged” as the mistreated women she tries to help—she laments “I take them too much to heart, yet how can I not? They are myself.” The historical accuracy and enthralling prose (“His oily-smelling knuckles crack lightning bolts through my cheekbones and jaw”) fill out this arresting portrait of an era shaped by corruption and bigotry. The result makes for a gripping story of love, truth, and good vs. evil. (Self-published)