The Yonker - Lost Treasure of Esopus Creek (the Devar-Garrison Historical Mystery Series) Book 4

Will Garrison's nightmares from a traumatic childhood event reawaken after an assassination attempt at the Brooklyn Museum during the grand opening of an exhibit dedicated to the discoveries made in Afghanistan by Annah Devar's brother, Thomma. At Annah's suggestion, they retreat to the Garrison farm, Will's ancestral home in the Catskill Mountains. Will and Annah unearth important artifacts left behind by Will's pioneering Dutch ancestors, a discovery that brings to life the world of seventeenth century New Netherlands (most of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Connecticut).

It was there in the fledgling port city of New Amsterdam (Manhattan) that Adriaen van der Donck, an enlightened young Dutch lawyer and newcomer to this vast frontier, opens the first private law practice. He becomes a champion of freedom of conscience and home rule which soon puts him at odds with the autocratic corporate overlords who rule this fledgling colony as if it were their own kingdom.

As the story moves between the past and the present, Adriaen's destiny, like whispers spanning the centuries, becomes inextricably linked to Will and Annah's, and a discovery that could alter the course of history.