Black sheep - there's one in every family . . .

Orphaned at sixteen, James Wakefield was determined to be a gun shearer like his father. Now he's killed twice, changed his name, and is on the run from the law.

He had his reasons for both murders, and he felt no joy in taking life . Or did he?

Ben McKinnon, meanwhile, is heir to the vast Glenfinnan sheep property near Goulburn, New South Wales. He too has a secret that, if ever revealed, would shatter the privileged lives of his father, Alastair, and his sisters, Jenna and Adele.

When fate brings James and Ben together, a powerful friendship is forged, both men gladly becoming the keeper of the other's secret.

Then Ben insists his new friend come to work at Glenfinnan Station. Has James finally found the family he's always longed for? Or has the McKinnon dynasty just unwittingly adopted a black sheep?

From the Shearing Wars of Queensland to the close colonial community of Goulburn, to the trenches of the Western Front, Judy Nunn once again brings Australian history vividly to life.