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Historical FictionSheaf House books are now available from Amazon through Sheaf House Direct!
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By Bob Hostetler and J. M. Hochstetler
Based on the inspiring true story of the authors' ancestors
For complete information on the story behind the series, go to the Northkill website.
 Book 2
The Return
Book 2 Jakob Hochstetler’s refusal to take up arms against the Indians who attacked his Amish family’s home on the Pennsylvania frontier during the brutal raids of the French and Indian War cost the lives of his wife, a son, and a daughter. Carried away with his younger sons, Jakob is enslaved by the Seneca, while Joseph and Christian are adopted into different Lenape divisions and struggle to adapt to new lives. In spite of overwhelming odds Jakob plots a perilous escape . But even if he succeeds, can he survive a harrowing journey over the hundreds of miles of rugged terrain that lie between him and his Northkill community? Does home still exist? Are his older son and daughter, Johannes and Barbara, still alive? Will he ever find his boys and bring them home? “An absorbing sequel to Northkill, The Return concludes the story of the authors’ Amish ancestors, Jakob, Joseph, and Christian Hochstetler, as each contends with Indian captivity and wrestles with issues of identity, family, and spiritual truth. Skillfully researched detail—both the 18th century Amish world and that of Native America—heart-wrenching emotional journeys, and profoundly rendered themes of grace and God’s sovereignty combine to create a tale I couldn’t read fast enough, yet didn’t want to end.” —Lori Benton, Christy-award-winning author of Burning Sky, A Flight of Arrows, and other historical novels “The Return is frontier fiction at its finest, made all the more remarkable given it is the authors’ own family history. Compelling and heartbreaking yet always full of hope, with enduring spiritual truths woven by master wordsmiths, this story is not only difficult to put down, it has a timeless quality that leaves you pondering for days. Beautiful!” —Laura Frantz, bestselling author of A Moonbow Night “The Return is a marvel. With unflinching commitment to history and an artist’s palette of imagery, the authors have offered a rare and important tale that will break your heart and piece it back together again. My life is richer for having experienced this novel.” —Jocelyn Green, award-winning author of the bestselling The Mark of the King FICTION / Christian / Historical ISBN: 978-1-936438-44-0 Trade paperback, 5.5” x 8.5", 480 pp. with map, glossary, and appendix $16.99 |
Winner of the 2017 Interviews and Reviews Book of the Year Silver Award for Historical Fiction.
Shelf Unbound 2018
Notable Indie Award |
 Book 1
Northkill
Book 1 Drawn into the savage clashes of the French and Indian War, Jakob Hochstetler faces an impossible choice—and the irreversible consequences. Northkill is a fictional account closely based on the true story of Jacob Hochstetler and his family, who immigrated to this country in early 1738, seeking sanctuary from religious persecution and the freedom to live and worship according to their Anabaptist beliefs. By early 1739 they had settled with other members of their church in the Northkill Amish Mennonite community at the base of the Blue Mountains, near Northkill Creek, for which their community was named. Eighteen years later during the French and Indian War, early in the morning of September 20, 1757, their lives were forever changed when their home was attacked by a war party of Delaware and Shawnee. Three members of the family were killed, and Jacob and two of his sons were carried into captivity among the Indians. Based on the inspiring, true story of the authors' ancestors, Northkill will thrill and inspire readers with God's faithfulness to His children even in times of the deepest trial. FICTION / Christian / Historical ISBN: 978-1-936438-35-8 Trade paperback, 5.5” x 8.5", 320 pp. with map, glossary, and appendix $16.99 |
Winner of Foreword Reviews' 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Bronze Award for Historical Fiction!
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Bob Hostetler is an award-winning writer, editor, pastor, and speaker who traces his descent from two sons of Jakob Hochstetler: Johannes and Joseph. He has co-authored eleven books with Josh McDowell and won two Gold Medallion Awards, among others. Bob is a popular speaker at churches, conferences, and retreats.
J. M. Hochstetler is a descendant of Jakob Hochstetler’s oldest son Johannes. An award-winning author, editor, and publisher, she is the daughter of Mennonite farmers and a lifelong student of history.
J. M. Hochstetler is a descendant of Jakob Hochstetler’s oldest son Johannes. An award-winning author, editor, and publisher, she is the daughter of Mennonite farmers and a lifelong student of history.
By J. M. Hochstetler
A beautiful rebel spy. An enigmatic British officer. A dangerous love spanning
the tumultuous birth of a nation . . .
For complete information on the series, go to the American Patriot Series website.
The American Patriot Series sweeps readers into a tumultuous world of revolution. Beginning in April 1775, Daughter of Liberty and its sequels, Native Son and Wind of the Spirit, set in motion the thrilling saga that will follow Elizabeth Howard and Jonathan Carleton as they face the devastation and triumphs of war—from the American colonists’ first armed confrontation with the British, to the spreading inferno along the frontiers of Indian territory, through the battles raging in the Middle and Southern colonies and on the high seas, and at last to the final, decisive assault at Yorktown.
In this vivid retelling of our nation’s founding, the actual historical events, including the real British and colonial leaders who provided the catalyst for them and breathtaking moment-by-moment recreations of pivotal battles, converge with two compelling characters in a suspense-filled story of espionage, intrigue, and romance.
The American Patriot Series sweeps readers into a tumultuous world of revolution. Beginning in April 1775, Daughter of Liberty and its sequels, Native Son and Wind of the Spirit, set in motion the thrilling saga that will follow Elizabeth Howard and Jonathan Carleton as they face the devastation and triumphs of war—from the American colonists’ first armed confrontation with the British, to the spreading inferno along the frontiers of Indian territory, through the battles raging in the Middle and Southern colonies and on the high seas, and at last to the final, decisive assault at Yorktown.
In this vivid retelling of our nation’s founding, the actual historical events, including the real British and colonial leaders who provided the catalyst for them and breathtaking moment-by-moment recreations of pivotal battles, converge with two compelling characters in a suspense-filled story of espionage, intrigue, and romance.
Book 1
Daughter of Liberty
A beautiful rebel spy and a British officer in whose charm lies her greatest danger fight a war of wits and words—and a love that cannot be denied.
Eastertide, April 1775. In the blockaded port of Boston, Elizabeth Howard plays a dangerous game. As the infamous courier Oriole, she is hunted by the British for smuggling intelligence and munitions to the Sons of Liberty by night, while by day she flirts with British officers to gain access to information the rebels so desperately need. But she hasn’t counted on the arrival of Jonathan Carleton, an officer in the Seventeenth Light Dragoons. To her dismay, the attraction between them is immediate, powerful—and fought on both sides in a war of wits and words. When Carleton wins the assignment to ferret out Oriole, Elizabeth can no longer deny that he is not only her most dangerous foe, but also the possessor of her heart.
As the first blood is spilled at Lexington and Concord, Carleton fights his own private battle of faith. And headstrong Elizabeth learns the bitter consequences of following her impulsive heart when her dangerous role thrusts her into the carnage of Bunker Hill.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN: 978-1-936438-08-2
Trade paperback, 6” x 9", 432 pp.
$15.99
A beautiful rebel spy and a British officer in whose charm lies her greatest danger fight a war of wits and words—and a love that cannot be denied.
Eastertide, April 1775. In the blockaded port of Boston, Elizabeth Howard plays a dangerous game. As the infamous courier Oriole, she is hunted by the British for smuggling intelligence and munitions to the Sons of Liberty by night, while by day she flirts with British officers to gain access to information the rebels so desperately need. But she hasn’t counted on the arrival of Jonathan Carleton, an officer in the Seventeenth Light Dragoons. To her dismay, the attraction between them is immediate, powerful—and fought on both sides in a war of wits and words. When Carleton wins the assignment to ferret out Oriole, Elizabeth can no longer deny that he is not only her most dangerous foe, but also the possessor of her heart.
As the first blood is spilled at Lexington and Concord, Carleton fights his own private battle of faith. And headstrong Elizabeth learns the bitter consequences of following her impulsive heart when her dangerous role thrusts her into the carnage of Bunker Hill.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN: 978-1-936438-08-2
Trade paperback, 6” x 9", 432 pp.
$15.99
Book 2
Native Son
Caught between two worlds at war, he could lose everything—his country, his faith, and the woman who holds his heart captive.
Brigadier General Jonathan Carleton has pledged his allegiance to newly elected commander of the rebel army, General George Washington. But his heart belongs to fiery Elizabeth Howard, who charms British officers by day and by night delivers their secrets to the Sons of Liberty. Their plans to marry are put on hold, however, when Washington orders Carleton to undertake a perilous journey deep into Indian territory, while Elizabeth continues spying on the British. Within weeks she learns that Carleton has been captured by the Seneca. Despite all attempts to find him, his fate remains shrouded in mystery.
Enslaved by the Seneca, Carleton is finally rescued by a band of Shawnee and taken into Ohio Territory, where he is adopted as the warrior White Eagle and rises to become war chief. Drawn into a bitter war against white settlers who threaten to overrun Shawnee lands, he must walk a treacherous tightrope between a rival who will stop at nothing to destroy him, the seductions of a beautiful widow . . . and the longing for Elizabeth that will not give him peace.
Abandoning Boston, British General William Howe prepares to unleash an overwhelming invasion force against the badly outmatched American army at New York City. With battle looming, reports filter in that a new Shawnee war chief named White Eagle is leading devastating raids against British and American outposts in Ohio Territory.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN: 978-1-936438-09-9
Trade paperback, 6” x 9", 368 pp.
$15.99
Caught between two worlds at war, he could lose everything—his country, his faith, and the woman who holds his heart captive.
Brigadier General Jonathan Carleton has pledged his allegiance to newly elected commander of the rebel army, General George Washington. But his heart belongs to fiery Elizabeth Howard, who charms British officers by day and by night delivers their secrets to the Sons of Liberty. Their plans to marry are put on hold, however, when Washington orders Carleton to undertake a perilous journey deep into Indian territory, while Elizabeth continues spying on the British. Within weeks she learns that Carleton has been captured by the Seneca. Despite all attempts to find him, his fate remains shrouded in mystery.
Enslaved by the Seneca, Carleton is finally rescued by a band of Shawnee and taken into Ohio Territory, where he is adopted as the warrior White Eagle and rises to become war chief. Drawn into a bitter war against white settlers who threaten to overrun Shawnee lands, he must walk a treacherous tightrope between a rival who will stop at nothing to destroy him, the seductions of a beautiful widow . . . and the longing for Elizabeth that will not give him peace.
Abandoning Boston, British General William Howe prepares to unleash an overwhelming invasion force against the badly outmatched American army at New York City. With battle looming, reports filter in that a new Shawnee war chief named White Eagle is leading devastating raids against British and American outposts in Ohio Territory.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN: 978-1-936438-09-9
Trade paperback, 6” x 9", 368 pp.
$15.99
Book 3
Wind of the Spirit
Book 3
Can her love bridge the miles that separate them—and the savage bonds that threaten to tear him forever from her arms?
Elizabeth Howard’s assignment to gain crucial intelligence for General Washington leads her into the very maw of war at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, where disaster threatens to end the American rebellion. Yet her heart is fixed on Jonathan Carleton, whose whereabouts remain unknown more than a year after he disappeared into the wilderness.
Carleton, now the Shawnee war chief White Eagle, is caught in a bitter war of his own—against the white settlers encroaching on Shawnee lands, the seductions of a beautiful widow, and the schemes of a vengeful shaman. But as unseen forces gather to destroy him, his most unyielding foe is the love for Elizabeth that holds his heart captive..
Fiction / Historical
ISBN 13: 978-1-936438-21-1
Trade paperback , 6 x 9, 368 pp.
Retail $16.99
Book 3
Can her love bridge the miles that separate them—and the savage bonds that threaten to tear him forever from her arms?
Elizabeth Howard’s assignment to gain crucial intelligence for General Washington leads her into the very maw of war at the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, where disaster threatens to end the American rebellion. Yet her heart is fixed on Jonathan Carleton, whose whereabouts remain unknown more than a year after he disappeared into the wilderness.
Carleton, now the Shawnee war chief White Eagle, is caught in a bitter war of his own—against the white settlers encroaching on Shawnee lands, the seductions of a beautiful widow, and the schemes of a vengeful shaman. But as unseen forces gather to destroy him, his most unyielding foe is the love for Elizabeth that holds his heart captive..
Fiction / Historical
ISBN 13: 978-1-936438-21-1
Trade paperback , 6 x 9, 368 pp.
Retail $16.99
Book 4
Crucible of War
Book 4
She rescued him from the hangman's noose. Now, in the patriots' darkest hour, can he save her from an even more desperate fate?
Returning from the Shawnee, Brigadier General Jonathan Carleton rejoins General George Washington’s army to find the patriot cause on the verge of extinction. In a daring gamble the American force crosses the Delaware on Christmas night 1776, to defeat outposts at Trenton and Princeton before vanishing into the mountain bastions around Morristown.
When she returns to New York, Elizabeth Howard is drawn ever deeper into the intrigues that swirl around British General William Howe. She and her Aunt Tess, move to Philadelphia in summer 1777 to gather intelligence while waiting for a rumored British attack. Ambushed and almost captured as the Americans dig in at Brandywine Creek, Carleton is transferred to General Horatio Gates’s army in the upper Hudson Valley where his old nemesis, British General John Burgoyne, closes in on Saratoga. With decisive battles looming on both fronts, Elizabeth and Carleton face a crucible of war that tests their mettle, faith, and love to the very limits—and beyond.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN 13: 978-1-936438-07-5
Trade paperback, 6” x 9", 424 pp.
$16.99
Book 4
She rescued him from the hangman's noose. Now, in the patriots' darkest hour, can he save her from an even more desperate fate?
Returning from the Shawnee, Brigadier General Jonathan Carleton rejoins General George Washington’s army to find the patriot cause on the verge of extinction. In a daring gamble the American force crosses the Delaware on Christmas night 1776, to defeat outposts at Trenton and Princeton before vanishing into the mountain bastions around Morristown.
When she returns to New York, Elizabeth Howard is drawn ever deeper into the intrigues that swirl around British General William Howe. She and her Aunt Tess, move to Philadelphia in summer 1777 to gather intelligence while waiting for a rumored British attack. Ambushed and almost captured as the Americans dig in at Brandywine Creek, Carleton is transferred to General Horatio Gates’s army in the upper Hudson Valley where his old nemesis, British General John Burgoyne, closes in on Saratoga. With decisive battles looming on both fronts, Elizabeth and Carleton face a crucible of war that tests their mettle, faith, and love to the very limits—and beyond.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN 13: 978-1-936438-07-5
Trade paperback, 6” x 9", 424 pp.
$16.99
Book 5
Valley of the Shadow
Can he save them both from the Valley of the Shadow?
Following a humiliating defeat at Philadelphia and a rival's stunning victory at Saratoga, Washington’s army faces yet another bitter winter, this time at Valley Forge. Meanwhile, General Jonathan Carleton races to save Elizabeth Howard from the horrors of the prison ships in the British stronghold at New York, while British General William Howe plots to execute them both.
From heart-pounding battles on the high seas, to the rigors of Valley Forge and the Shawnee’s savagely fought wars to preserve their ancestral lands, Valley of the Shadow continues the thrilling saga of America’s founding in an inspiring story of despair, courage, and triumph.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN: 978-1-936438-26-6
Trade paperback, 6” x 9", 432 pp.
$16.99
Can he save them both from the Valley of the Shadow?
Following a humiliating defeat at Philadelphia and a rival's stunning victory at Saratoga, Washington’s army faces yet another bitter winter, this time at Valley Forge. Meanwhile, General Jonathan Carleton races to save Elizabeth Howard from the horrors of the prison ships in the British stronghold at New York, while British General William Howe plots to execute them both.
From heart-pounding battles on the high seas, to the rigors of Valley Forge and the Shawnee’s savagely fought wars to preserve their ancestral lands, Valley of the Shadow continues the thrilling saga of America’s founding in an inspiring story of despair, courage, and triumph.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN: 978-1-936438-26-6
Trade paperback, 6” x 9", 432 pp.
$16.99
Book 6
Refiner's Fire
Will the promise their hearts cling to finally find its joyful fulfillment, or will war’s refining fire separate them forever?
With Americas’ fierce fight for independence hanging in the balance, Elizabeth Howard and Jonathan Carleton are driven thousands of miles and a vast ocean apart. While the Continental Army endures a desperate winter at Valley Forge, le comte de Caledonne secretly sweeps Elizabeth away to France out of the reach of British assassins. Meanwhile General Jonathan Carleton, the Shawnee war chief White Eagle, returns to his people as General George Washington’s emissary, doubting that he will ever return to the white world. But as the war between America and Britain shifts into the fragile republic’s heartland at Monmouth Court House, sinister schemes draw Jonathan and Elizabeth into their own separate maelstroms. Can they survive the refining fire of war to find each other again?
From the flames of war exploding across land and sea to the dangerous intrigues of the French court and the Shawnee’s bitter resistance to the Long Knives, Refiner’s Fire continues the breathtaking saga of America’s founding in a gripping story of heartbreak, redemption, and the unyielding constancy of love.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN-10: 1936438461
ISBN-13: 978-1-936438-46-4
Retail $16.99
Will the promise their hearts cling to finally find its joyful fulfillment, or will war’s refining fire separate them forever?
With Americas’ fierce fight for independence hanging in the balance, Elizabeth Howard and Jonathan Carleton are driven thousands of miles and a vast ocean apart. While the Continental Army endures a desperate winter at Valley Forge, le comte de Caledonne secretly sweeps Elizabeth away to France out of the reach of British assassins. Meanwhile General Jonathan Carleton, the Shawnee war chief White Eagle, returns to his people as General George Washington’s emissary, doubting that he will ever return to the white world. But as the war between America and Britain shifts into the fragile republic’s heartland at Monmouth Court House, sinister schemes draw Jonathan and Elizabeth into their own separate maelstroms. Can they survive the refining fire of war to find each other again?
From the flames of war exploding across land and sea to the dangerous intrigues of the French court and the Shawnee’s bitter resistance to the Long Knives, Refiner’s Fire continues the breathtaking saga of America’s founding in a gripping story of heartbreak, redemption, and the unyielding constancy of love.
Fiction / Historical
ISBN-10: 1936438461
ISBN-13: 978-1-936438-46-4
Retail $16.99
Forthcoming in the Series
Book 7
Book 7
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Forge of Freedom
Releases October 2022 |
An award-winning author and editor, J. M. Hochstetler is the daughter of Mennonite farmers, a graduate of Indiana University, and a lifelong student of history. Northkill, Book 1 of the Northkill Amish Series written with Bob Hostetler, is the 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Bronze Award winner for historical fiction. Her contemporary novel One Holy Night was the Christian Small Publishers 2009 Book of the Year and a finalist for the 2009 American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award.
