The Edge of Darkness

Until the outbreak of the wars, Auckland and New Plymouth were thriving towns depending on local Maori villages to supply much of their needed produce. The sale of guns and ammunition to Maori was illegal but vast supplies had been smuggled into the Maori tribes and sold at exhorbitant prices to them for at least a year before the wars started. Luke is caught up in an ambush while visiting his brother in New Plymouth and dies. Sam is later drawn to Liz, Luke's widow. Sam's own marriage has been in tatters for some time. The young men in the Garrett and Proctor families are drawn into the war and are forced to question their loyalties to their Maori friends. History is retold as the wars flourish and lifetime friendships between Maori and Pakeha are torn apart.