Sybil Downing gives us a fast-paced novel that exposes a little-known part of Colorado history. Out of the ashes of disillusionment following World War I, the Ku Klux Klan rose to new heights, its four million members spreading racial and religious hatred across the nation. Colorado was one of the Klan's strongest enclaves, and Downing perfectly captures the subtle, clandestine terror inspired by its tactics of intimidation and violence as well as the power of the fear felt by the people it menaced. Downing creates in Liz O'Brien an adroit and tenacious sleuth who, with the help of her family's former maid Greta Kuhlmann and airmail pilot Frank Capillupo, unravels a treacherous plot to undermine freedom and cover up bootlegging, blackmail, and murder. Suspenseful and filled with meticulously researched historical detail, "The Binding Oath" is a thrilling tale of mystery and intrigue.