Riders of the Tides

When the facts of a murder do not lead to a culprit people love to hypothesize and, if the creative stars are aligned, an exciting story is born. Such is the case with Pacific Northwest author Fredrick Cooper and his book, Riders of the Tides, a vivid novel that masterfully entwines a 150 year-old murder case with the present and delivers a stirring read.

Riders of the Tides is a family saga set in the Pacific Northwest, filled with adventure and mystery. Real life pioneer Ben Armstrong was one of the 44 men who petitioned the U.S. Congress to form the Washington Territory and was murdered. Due to a lack of evidence, the case was never solved.

Riders of the Tides begins with Ben, who he was and how he died. The story then leaps to the present where some of his personal belongings find their way to one of his descendants, Earl Armstrong, a tribal forester. Earl begins a journey into the past in hopes of solving the mystery but during his pursuit of the truth he angers someone also linked through time to Ben and his demise. Will Earl end up meeting a similar fate to his great, great grandfather?

Riders of the Tides seamlessly weaves together past and present, nature and humanity, Native American spiritualism and family. The entire novel is written beautifully, each character and scene so vibrant they become cinematic in the reader’s imagination. Historical fiction lovers, mystery connoisseurs, residents of the Pacific Northwest, those enthralled with the building of the Oregon Trail and the New West, all will relish every word of this captivating book.