1887 the Day They Turned off the Water

Spring 1887. Melting snowpack from the high Sierras will soon turn California’s Central Valley into lush fields, but an armed man with a Sharps rifle shut off a headwater gate to a water-ditch and stood guard. After an unexpected confrontation with Double B Ranch owner, Jake Sanders, along with ranch-hand Kacha, this gunman now lies dead and Jake along with wounded Kacha, are both jailed for murder.

The unscrupulous lobbyist who ‘steals to get the office and who gets the office to steal,” Billy “Boss” Carr, claims to know nothing about the man or the situation, in spite of owning the land where the headwater gate is. Water is profitable for Carr, however, and he is aligned with both the prosecutor and judge. It is up to Jake’s wife, Sally, to find a way to prove Jake and Kacha’s innocence; the truth of the matter. But with these powerful men stacking the odds against her, can she? Or will she watch both men hanged?

“Few writers can do what Wasserman has done: weave a historical thriller around the early battles over California water rights and the entrenched racism toward Blacks and the region’s Native Americans. Authentic characters enrich this crisp, exciting legal/thriller.”
Pamela Sheppard, Publishing Consultant

“A thrilling read, with twists and turns up until the very end.”
Will Klipstine, Hollywood Screenwriter/Producer