The Wars of the Roses have torn England apart, and young Dick Shelton finds himself trapped between forces he barely understands. Warded to the treacherous Sir Daniel Brackley, Dick's world narrows to the forests of Tunstall where rival factions clash and an ominous society known as the Black Arrow leaves its mark on anyone who stands in their way. When a black-tipped arrow pins a warning to a dying man's chest, Dick is pulled into a conspiracy that will force him to choose between the man who raised him and the quest for justice for his murdered father. As he rides through a landscape thick with treachery, Dickinson must learn quickly: who deserves loyalty, and when does justice demand betrayal instead? What follows is shipwreck and ambush, forbidden love and cold-blooded murder, as England's crown hangs trembling and a boy becomes a man. Stevenson wrote this for a young audience, but what he created transcends the genre: a ripping adventure that asks what we owe to those who raise us versus what we owe to those we lost.
