As the Civil War tears the nation apart, a cynical pact known as the Law of Substitution allows the wealthy to purchase the lives of the poor to fight in their stead. In this sprawling, character-driven saga, four disparate lives are drawn into an inescapable vortex that converges in the small town of Blue River, Georgia.
• Roscoe Pierce: A ruthless war profiteer in New York City who brokers lives with chilling efficiency until a tragic accident during the city's deadly race riots plants a seed of guilt in his hardened soul.
• Rosella: A resilient woman seeking freedom for herself and her son, Gabriel, while serving as a powerful countercurrent to Roscoe's dark ambitions.
• Colonel Axel Strong: A Confederate officer who miraculously awakens in a dead man's wagon at Gettysburg and embarks on a desperate quest for forgiveness after the loss of his son.
• James Booth: A naive Georgia farm boy who enlists as a substitute to prove his worth, only to face a harrowing choice between military duty and the life of his deathly-ill wife.
Beneath the ominous shadow of the Judgment Tree, their fates collide in a stunning climax where alliances are tested and the true, devastating cost of war is laid bare. A poignant epic with the emotional weight of Cold Mountain, Judgment Tree explores the unexpected capacity for redemption in the most unlikely of souls.
