Claude Walker

Seminole Smoke: an Odyssey of Power, Love and Blood in the Seminole Wars Claude Walker

"Seminole Smoke: An odyssey of power, love and blood in the Seminole Wars" tells the tale of Paul Turtle ("Yok-che"), a bicultural, bilingual 19th Century Seminole who rises from translator to guerrilla strategist to diplomat. Paul Turtle has special gifts: stealth, inhumanly quick hands and an ability to create toxic smoke for any occasion. The story spans 54 years, taking the reader to the swamps of Florida, arid hills of Mexico and corridors of Congress. Through Paul's eyes, the reader witnesses such pivotal events as the Negro Fort bombing, Andrew Jackson's invasion, Dade Massacre, Osceola's capture and the Black Seminoles' trek to Mexico. Paul wrestles with such issues as use of force, slavery and land ownership. The Seminole Wars mirrored the turmoil of a young United States struggling with identity, expansion and slavery. A war novel, love story and easy-to-swallow history, "Seminole Smoke: An odyssey of power, love and blood in the Seminole Wars" is the first novel which spans the entire 50-year sweep of the Seminole Wars.