The Rush

By Beth Lewis

In a lawless land stricken with gold fever, the struggle for survival and fortune takes a turn towards murder in this gripping western crime novel from the author of The Wolf Road.

Gold fever has taken him. I believe he means to kill me...

Canada, 1898. The Gold Rush is on in the frozen wilderness of the Yukon. Fortunes are made as quickly as they're lost, and Dawson City has become a lawless settlement.

In its midst, three women are trying to find their place on the edge of civilization. Journalist Kate, along with her dog Yukon, has travelled hundreds of miles after receiving a letter from her sister warning that her husband means to kill her. Martha's hotel and livelihood are under threat from the local strongman, who is set on buying up the town. And down by the river, where gold shimmers from between the rocks, Ellen feels her future slip away as her husband fails to find the fortune they risked so much to seek.

When a woman is found murdered, Kate, Martha and Ellen find their lives, fates and fortunes intertwined. But to unmask her killer, they must navigate a desperate land run by dangerous men who will do anything for a glimpse of gold...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1639369791
• ISBN13: 9781639369799
• Release Date: October 2025
• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Absolutely Fantastic!

Although this is historical fiction with a few major true events moved to slightly different times, it does a fantastic job of placing the reader smack dab in the middle of the Yukon Gold Rush! Men and women traveled there, experiencing hard travel, and sometimes massive disappointment when the gold did not pan out like they hoped. It turns some into monsters but also can bring out extreme kindness and charity in others. I love that this is from the viewpoint of a few women and their different experiences, one a madam at a hotel taking care of her girls, one the wife of a man bitten by the gold bug but not finding it causing him to make poor choices that would effect both of them, and one a journalist writing about the gold rush and searching for her sister who is in trouble. There is not a slow moment and this story is rife with the troubles, murder, mystery, justice, and of course gold, which hooked me and did not let go until the end of the tale. Kate, Ellen, and Martha are fantastic, strong, and independent by the end, giving them the choice to choose their own futures whether it be finding gold, learning to follow their heart, and finding justice for a sister lost. Helped by a fortune teller who gave them the knowledge they needed, not necessarily what they wanted. And the author's note at the end revealing who the real life people she based her characters on and the true events and timing. It completed the story very nicely and left me even more impressed about strength of the people that were part of that time surviving up there in the Yukon. The narrators did a fantastic job in bringing the women and the history and adventures of the Yukon Gold Rush to life and enriched the story to high levels. I loved this audiobook and I am very grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a chance to get lost up in the Yukon with its hardships and fortune for the favored few strong enough to find their dreams no matter what is thrown at them!