Sherman Smith's new novel, GOLDEN CITY ON FIRE, is a true pleasure to read. It is a thriller, written as if you were there - at the time of the Great San Francisco earthquake in 1906. It is as if you were suffering the fire and chaos, the heartbreak of such a tragedy. It is exciting and urgent, full of dramatic tension. It is a snapshot of humanity in all of its foibles - the courageous and the vile, the bigotry and the compassion. Sherman's new work spotlights some profound truths about humanity in a crisis, especially that we are truly all one. I highly recommend this book. It is the best of the first four wonderful published stories by Sherman Smith. I look forward to more. - Randi Hilles, Florida. It was April, 1906 when a quirk in the geophysical calendar caused the catastrophic earthquake that rendered the city of San Francisco into ashes and tangled debris. Social order lost footing, chaos was on the wing. Sherman Smith, the writer of GOLDEN CITY ON FIRE has used intense psychological insight in structuring the fictional characters - the good, bad, and beautiful - in his version of this human drama. Floundering in uncertainties, their actions tell us of the ineptness of leaders, lack of moral standards, within diverse cultures. Under the dark clouds of adversity courage takes hold. Smith has used the dim history of the early 20th Century as the soil of literature for this remarkable book. Eloquently written and fascinating read! - Dona Harley - California