Amoret, Texas, 1982. Life along the border is harsh, but in a world where cultures work together to carve a living from the desert landscape, Blaine Beckett lives a life of isolation. A transplanted Boston intellectual, for twenty years locals have viewed him as a snob, a misanthrope, an outsider. He seems content to stand apart until one night when he vanishes into thin air amid signs of foul play.
Noah Grady, the town doctor, is a charming and popular good ol’ boy. He’s also a keeper of secrets, both the town’s and his own. He watches from afar as the mystery of Blaine’s disappearance unravels and rumors fly. Were the incipient cartels responsible? Was it a local with a grudge? Or did Blaine himself orchestrate his own disappearance? Then the unthinkable happens, and Noah begins to realize he’s considered a suspect.
Paced like a lit fuse and full of dizzying plot twists, The Bones of Amoret is a riveting whodunit that will keep you guessing all the way to its shocking conclusion.
A hidden fear. A daring challenge. A liberating love.
A motorcar accident on a rainy Chicago night steals Ella Canaday’s fiancé as well as her ability to ride. Clinging to the remnants of her independence, she cuts her hair and her ties with her wealthy father and takes a train west as the seamstress with a moving-picture company. Colorado offers the change of scenery she needs. But she doesn’t expect the bold cowboy who challenges her to reclaim both the loves she thought she’d lost forever.
Cale Hutton needs the money the moving-picture company is paying for use of his cattle and horses, but he’s not keen on some city gal gettin’ in the way out at the ranch. Between the filming crew by day and a rogue cattle-killing bear by night, his attention snags on the little bob-haired seamstress. Something about her easy manner around his horse sets his mind to find out what she’s hiding and why she has such a pull on his heart.
Delve into the story of Bob, “The Most Notorious Cattle Rustler of Our Time” and the “nicest guy you’d ever wanna meet.” A man who has managed millions of dollars of illegal cash, most of it said to be buried under his north Texas ranch in a fifty-five-gallon drums. Meet the man who survived 19 prison stabbings, poisonous hamburgers, tear gas attacks, and being thrown over a third story railing in jail. A tough hombre for sure. But also, a man generous to a fault, often showering those he knew with gifts and financial help.
Bob’s journey through life takes him from early thoughts of running herds of cattle, finding a ranch to call his own, and marrying the girl of his dreams to a life of stealing cattle, using other men’s ranches to do it, and screwing around with every woman that crossed his path. But when Bob becomes entangled with the infamous Diamond Jim, he is “Branded” like a steer, stamped with Diamond Jim’s mark for life. He is reluctantly herded into a relentless stream of crimes including, theft of animal medicines, cattle rustling, drug running, fraud, porn, kidnapping, rape, prison escapes, and a plethora of other deeds that put the “common criminal” to shame.
The adventure and romance of America, her people, her spirit and the West. We are all Americans. This is our story.
Second book of the #1 bestselling, Threads West, An American Saga epic saga, recipient of twenty-eight National Awards--Best Historical Fiction, Best Multi-Cultural, Best Romance and Best Western! Compared by reviewers, authors and readers alike to Lonesome Dove, Centennial, and the Sacketts of L'Amour. Called by some the ''Gone with the Wind of the West,'' and applauded by others as ''rings true and poignant, as authentic and moving as Dances with Wolves.''
The touchstones of the past are the guideposts to the future. Maps of Fate is the continuation of this tale of America, set in the West--new lineages join the many threads of uncommon cultures, differing origins and competing ambitions that entwine into the American spirit. Lives and generations are woven on the loom of history, propelled by fate and freedom to form the tapestry that becomes the whole cloth of the nation. It is uniquely American, this meld of the mosaic.
In the third installment of the international award-winning series by John Layne comes a story that reunites the justice-seeking duo of Luxton Danner and Wes Payne for their toughest test yet.
A ruthless land baron with visions of turning a quiet settlement into a raucous boomtown besieges the peaceful town of Canyon Creek. Gilford Knox set his sights on devouring every inch of land in and near Canyon Creek, employing threats and violent tactics to force out vulnerable ranchers, farmers, and proprietors. Soon, Knox held businesses occupy half the town as he pressures the remaining proprietors to sell or suffer the consequences.
When Knox builds a rowdy saloon, mercantile, hotel, and bawdy house, an old friend summons Danner and Payne, who bring their gunslinging brand of justice to quell Knox and his renegades. Joined by a quartet of former Buffalo Soldiers, a gun-toting farm girl, and a mysterious young gunfighter, Danner and Payne set out to do what they do best, defend Canyon Creek or die trying.
