Book excerpt: "It's a great country, but never trust it, son. It's beautiful but it's treacherous." Adam Ross had seen the way his country could destroy a man. Growing up in the Australian outback in the first half of the twentieth century with no formal education, no parents and no one to love him, he learned to fend for himself. But when he forms an unlikely friendship with Jimmy, who works in the Opal mines, his luck begins to change. The land that stole Adam's father gives him an opportunity to start anew. Armed with determination and ambition, Adam treks west to carve himself an empire. However, success doesn't come easy and Adam, a man who spent much of his life devoid of love, soon finds himself caught between two women. Torn between his love for his cold-hearted wife and his mistress, Adam must make decisions about his future and the type of man he wants to be.