The Shadow of E. Z.'s Fear (Fighting Devil's Backbone)

When his widowed mother decides to move E. Z. Perkins and his younger brother to the new Mississippi Territory in 1809, the boys are thrown into a dangerous new world. Their new home lies somewhere along the bloodiest road in American history—the Natchez Trace. Filled with cutthroat bandits, angry Indian warriors, and monstrous creatures, the road has earned the name “The Devil’s Backbone.” Bandits target E. Z. from the moment he begins the journey as he discovers one of their secrets. Throughout the chase, survival depends upon E. Z. learning which of his fears are real and which are imagined.

Tony L. Turnbow is the author of the non-fiction Hardened to Hickory: The Missing Chapter in Andrew Jackson's Life. He has studied the history of the Old Natchez Trace for more than 30 years. He practices law in Franklin, Tennessee. With a Bachelor of Arts and a concentration in southern U.S. history from Vanderbilt University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Tennessee College of Law, he has continued to use his training to explore unpublished primary sources about the Natchez Trace. He authored The Natchez Trace in the War of 1812 in The Journal of Mississippi History, and he has published articles in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly and the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation journal We Proceeded On. He also wrote a full-length play Inquest on the Natchez Trace about the mysterious death of explorer Meriwether Lewis. In the course of writing a book about Lewis's death. Mr. Turnbow represented the Natchez Trace Parkway Association on the Tennessee War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, and he was the recipient of the Tennessee Society U.S. Daughters of 1812 Spirit of 1812 award. He enjoys telling the stories of the old Natchez Trace.