Espionage, Survival, and the Fight for Texas Independence
From the author of the French Letters trilogy comes a sweeping historical adventure full of unforgettable Texas legends. Laced with exuberant, historical figures such as Sam Houston, Mirabeau Lamar, and Jack Hays, Dangerous Latitudes is a quest across a war-torn frontier that becomes a race to save two hundred captured Texans who the Mexican army has marked for death.
Six years after the fall of the Alamo, Mexican armies invade freely across the Rio Grande, and Texas is but one skirmish away from losing its hard-won independence.
Against this backdrop, naïve surveyor Alexandre LaBranche accepts a dubious commission to map the Rio Grande boundary between Texas and Mexico but soon finds himself far out of his depth.
Laced with exuberant, Texas-sized historical figures such as Sam Houston, Mirabeau Lamar, and Jack Hays, Dangerous Latitudes is a quest across a war-torn frontier that becomes a race to save two hundred captured Texans who the Mexican army has marked for death.
Category: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: February 18, 2025
ISBN (paper): 979-8-9901289-6-5
ISBN (ebook): 979-8-9901289-7-2
Pages: 326
Trim size: 6 x 9
Kirkus Reviews"The underlying events in this engaging novel are true. There are nice twists, enjoyable main characters, and rich local color. Fans of historical fiction will love this one!"
Carlton Stowers, two-time Edgar Award winner“Espionage meister John LeCarre be aware: There's a new breed of spy on the literary scene. And while protagonist Alexandre LaBranche goes about his role unwillingly and often with minimal success -- George Smiley he's not -- readers will root for him with the turn of every page. Award-winning author London's fast-paced tale, set in the infant days of the Texas Republic, has it all -- the troubled young surveyor who's only desire is to chart Texas' southern border, his horse thieving partners, self-serving politicos, vengeful Mexican soldiers, and, for good measure, a moving love story. Saddle up. DANGEROUS LATITUDES is a wild ride.”
Frank de la Teja, Former Texas State Historian“Just as in real life, Jack Woodville London's territory in Dangerous Latitudes is a land of spies, rough frontiersmen, Mexican military figures, Indians, and men seeking opportunity, redemption, or both. London has woven a clever spy story with historical events and some of the larger-than-life people who inhabited the Texas-Mexico borderlands to create a colorful novel of the Republic Era.”
Kirkus Reviews"The underlying events in this engaging novel are true. There are nice twists, enjoyable main characters, and rich local color. Fans of historical fiction will love this one!"
Carlton Stowers, two-time Edgar Award winner“Espionage meister John LeCarre be aware: There's a new breed of spy on the literary scene. And while protagonist Alexandre LaBranche goes about his role unwillingly and often with minimal success -- George Smiley he's not -- readers will root for him with the turn of every page. Award-winning author London's fast-paced tale, set in the infant days of the Texas Republic, has it all -- the troubled young surveyor who's only desire is to chart Texas' southern border, his horse thieving partners, self-serving politicos, vengeful Mexican soldiers, and, for good measure, a moving love story. Saddle up. DANGEROUS LATITUDES is a wild ride.”
Frank de la Teja, Former Texas State Historian“Just as in real life, Jack Woodville London's territory in Dangerous Latitudes is a land of spies, rough frontiersmen, Mexican military figures, Indians, and men seeking opportunity, redemption, or both. London has woven a clever spy story with historical events and some of the larger-than-life people who inhabited the Texas-Mexico borderlands to create a colorful novel of the Republic Era.”
James Wade, Spur Award-winning author of Beasts of the Earth“In his historical spy thriller, London cuts a spirited trail through mid-19th century Texas with a rousing blend of espionage and romance. Dangerous Latitudes brings to life titanic figures of the state's history like Sam Houston and Jack Coffee Hays, as the battle for the Texas border intensifies in the years before the Mexican-American War. London uses a wealth of historical research and a strong sense of setting to explore themes of race, morality, and manifest destiny in a novel that should find a home with fans of James L. Haley and Doug Swanson.”
William Jack Sibley, Critically Acclaimed Screenwriter and Playwright, Officer of The Texas Institute of Letters, and Author of Here We Go Loop de Loop“An expansive historical saga, progressing from Louisiana to Texas and the vast 19th century frontier. A vivid reexamination of a legendary southwestern chronicle, London captures all the fabled boldness and tenacity of the region with skill, assurance and invigorating perspective.”
Mike Vance, Texas Historian, Documentary and Filmmaker, and Author of Getting Away with Bloody MurderJack Woodville London has tackled a little-touched-upon part of Texas history in Dangerous Latitudes, life on its murky frontier after the victory at San Jacinto. Texas in those days was overrun by factions, brigands and intriguers, and London’s protagonists seem to encounter all of them. Throughout its pages, the reader is entertainingly reminded of a solid historical truth — Texas in its Republic days was not for the faint of heart.
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