The Last Twelve Miles : A Novel

Set in the Prohibition Rum Wars, two women masterminds try to outwit each other in a compelling game of ambition, envy and high stakes, from bestselling author Erika Robuck.

In the Prohibition Rum Wars, the Coast Guard is losing. Eleven million gallons of illegal liquor a year have created a booming smuggling economy. But the government has a new, secret weapon—a 5’2 mastermind in heels, wife, and mother: Mrs. Elizebeth Smith Friedman—one of the husband-and-wife pair who invented cryptanalysis itself.

On the other side of the law, when Marie Waite—wife of a rumrunner and mother of two little ones—notices discrepancies in cargo, she insists on accompanying her husband on a run to Nassau. There, not only does Marie witness her husband’s shortcomings, but she becomes enthralled by female smuggler, “The Bahama Queen,” who is departing from the business. 

Marie knows an opportunity when she sees it, and she wants success and respect so badly she can taste it. So, despite the Bahama Queen’s warnings about the government’s “new man” who seems to know where smugglers are before they do, Marie plans to rise as rumrunner royalty just long enough to get her family in the black. 

But, the more sophisticated her operation grows, the more she comes on the radar of the mastermind nabbing criminals by the daily dozen. Once Marie knows who she’s up against, she’s more determined than ever to triumph. Only one mother can rule Gulf Coast, and both Elizebeth and Marie will go to any lengths to win the crown for themselves.