“A masterfully crafted tale — rich in detail, immersive in its storytelling and unforgettable in its impact.” — Meredith Parker (Makah)

"A cinematic and involving historical novel… riveting…" — Foreword Clarion Reviews

"The natural disaster that waylaid the tribe is a real one, with her research into it and scholarly command of all the relevant source material nothing short of magisterial. … However, this book is, first and foremost, a novel, and it tells an engrossing story. … A historically rigorous and emotionally riveting period piece." — Kirkus Reviews

“Slager skillfully balances the history with a fundamentally human story…” — BlueInk Review

“Contests of Strength is rich with battles, murders, whale hunts, slavery, spirit quests and secret love, climaxing in the massive subduction zone earthquake that devastated native Pacific Northwest communities on January 26, 1700. It is also a hypnotic portal to a lost indigenous world of fogged forests, smoky longhouses, and waves crashing on America’s northwest tip, told with careful research and real empathy." — William Dietrich, author of the bestselling Ethan Gage series

"Most books on Pacific Northwest history are set after the arrival of European colonizers. Contests of Strength is delightfully different by presenting a well-researched and fascinating story of the people of the Cape; people we know today as the Makah tribe. Through an achingly impossible romance between a chief’s headstrong son and a proud slave woman, and immersive depictions of lives lived as one with nature – even when the usually life-giving sea turns against them – this must-read novel captivates the reader right to the very last page. I look forward to more from this author." — Kelli Estes, USA Today bestselling author of Smoke on the Wind and The Girl Who Wrote in Silk

"Melissa Slager's Contests of Strength is an intensely emotional and captivating read. I was instantly drawn in by the dual perspectives of Amuun'axsum and Dushuuw — their troubled pasts and secrets, hopes and yearnings, and the danger that erupts and threatens their lives and world in the tsunami of 1700. Slager's elegant prose, complex characters, and meticulous research about the Makah people of Washington state are evident throughout. Her portrayal of every aspect of everyday life in a small whaling village in the American West Coast, and most especially in the song, dance, and folklore of the Makah Tribe, is told with reverence. Readers will think about the trials and heartbreaking journeys of Dushuuw and Amuun'axsum long after the last page. A must read!" — Adriana Allegri, author of The Sunflower House