Big Hill by C.J. Friend

A desperate journey west turns into a slow, merciless unraveling where grief, suspicion, and something far darker claim everything. 1851. A struggling Missouri family risks everything for the promise of free land in the Oregon Territory—fertile soil, a fresh start, a future worth fighting for. They join a wagon train bound for the West, led by a hardened guide and filled with quiet, insular travelers who keep to themselves. At first the journey is merely harsh. Then it becomes something else entirely. Illness strikes. Accidents happen. One by one, their children die. Each loss is explained away—bad luck, the dangers of the trail, the cost of chasing a dream. But the tragedies don’t spread across the group. They fall only on one family. As grief twists into suspicion, husband and wife begin to question everything: their fellow travelers, their son, even themselves. And as they near the treacherous descent known as Big Hill, the line between misfortune and intent begins to blur. Because on the Oregon Trail, survival isn’t just about enduring the land. It’s about the danger that travels with you—and what you’re willing to do when hope dies.