1924: Two teenagers ride the Orphan Train for a new life, but find only hardship on a Michigan farm. Mercy, a girl of mixed race, and Rope, a boy maimed in a factory accident, become virtual prisoners of Harlan and Estelle Nau, whose own children died of the Spanish flu.

Mercy and Rope flee to the Straits of Mackinac, where Mercy believes she will find her aunt. The two are relentlessly pursued by police, members of the Ku Klux Klan, and local bootleggers.

Full of history, suspense, and closely drawn historical and fictional portraits, A Cold, Hard Prayer grips readers from the first page to the last.

John Smolens has published twelve works of fiction, eleven novels and a collection of short stories.  His most recent novel is Day of Days, which has been selected as a Library of Michigan Notable Book for 2022.  His novel Wolf’s Mouth was selected as a Library of Michigan Notable Book for 2017.  His earlier novels, Cold, Fire Point, The Invisible World, The Anarchist, The Schoolmaster’s Daughter, and Quarantine have been reissued in paperback and as e-books by Michigan State University Press.  His work has appeared in publications such as The North American Review, The Southern Review, The Massachusetts Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Columbia Journal of Literature and Art, The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post.  He was educated at Boston College, the University of New Hampshire, and the Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa.  He has taught at Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, and is professor emeritus at Northern Michigan University, where he taught in the English Department and served as the director of the Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing. In 2010, he was the recipient of the Michigan Author of the Year Award from the Michigan Library Association.  He lives in Marquette, Michigan.