This saga about the building of an oil empire and one man's personal journey is "wonderful . . . A truly exciting novel" (Orlando Sentinel).   After Sam Sheridan returns home from the World War I battlefront, he receives an odd inheritance from a man he's never met: a parcel of land in east Texas. With little to lose, he and his wife set off from Kansas City and find themselves in the dusty town of Dane--where they're met with inexplicable hostility.   When a wealthy local rancher attempts to buy Sam's hundred acres for an impressive sum, Sam decides to hold on to it instead. And in the years and decades that follow, he'll find himself dealing with a brutal rivalry, a growing fortune, and a number of shocking secrets.   "Conflict, emotion, sex, suspense, joy, sorrow, surprise . . . It's a truly exciting novel, and the author's talent and attention to even the smallest detail serve to make it even more satisfying. From the provocative first chapter on, the reader is totally caught up in Sam Sheridan's world, in his quest for his past, his present and his future." --Orlando Sentinel   "Fast-paced . . . absorbing and real." --Chicago Tribune   "Entertaining and well-written." --Library Journal   "A winner." --Houston Chronicle