Violent Hearts

They call me a prodigy in the business world. Rich, powerful, and cunning. At 29 years old, I'm running an empire, built from scratch. The political realm is next. I want my voice heard and my name on the ballot. But my character credentials are lacking. I need a woman at my side, under contract. Someone with a pretty smile for the public eye, to make me look like a trustworthy, loyal man. Ann Porter is the woman I want for the job. Her heart is just as violent as mine, her mind sharp and cunning. Her body willing and begging to be broken - ready to bend at my will.

It started that cold night spent in the woods, all those years ago. Owen and Chloe had wakened something, something inside them both. But, for a while at least, they’d thought they could live normal lives.…

From Lewis and Clark's 1804 expedition to the 2014 uprising in Ferguson, American history has been made in St. Louis. And as Walter Johnson shows in this searing book, the city exemplifies how imperialism, racism, and capitalism have persistently entwined to corrupt the nation's past. St. Louis was a staging post for Indian removal and imperial expansion, and its wealth grew on the backs of its poor Black residents, from slavery through redlining and urban renewal.