In The Comet's Shadow

By: Jean Hackensmith

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

In April 1910, the "Iron Age" of the Wachsmann dairy farm is being buried under the wet concrete of progress. Following a tragic autumn that fractured the family, Cole’s uncle, Wyatt, has returned from California to help hold the homestead together—but the land itself seems to be rejecting the new century.

With their former pasture now flooded for the new reservoir, eerie "ghost lights" begin to dance over the drowning grasslands, fueling local superstitions that the ghosts of past are rising with the water. In the skies above, a greater omen approaches: Halley’s Comet is nearing its peak, bringing a global hysteria that the Earth will soon be choked by poisonous gas.

Navigating this world of scientific wonder and ancient fear is Rachael Dunlap, a former "computer" from the Yerkes Observatory. While she relies on the cold mathematics of the stars to debunk the "Cyanogen Panic," the rest of the valley remains caught in the grip of the unknown. Amidst the mounting panic, Cole and his brother Evan head to a federal courtroom in Superior to finalize a bitter legal battle over the 1906 Interstate Bridge collapse.

With the spirited Charlie Davenport by his side, Cole must decide if he is truly building a future for the Wachsmann’s—or if he is simply pouring concrete over a history that refuses to stay submerged.