More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA

Deep in the mean badlands of Western Texas lies Hell, a renegade town protected by a gun-toting band of Comanches. When the Floating Outfit moves in, disguised as a ruthless arms-running gang, the days are numbered for this deadly community of outlaws. First U.S. publication.

A farmer is pulled into the world of outlaws when his estranged brother turns up dead in this new Ralph Compton Western. Brothers Clay and Cal Breckenridge, sons of a hardscrabble East Texas farmer, never did see eye to eye. Clay, the eldest, returned home after the Civil War to help his father run the family farm; Cal deserted his military post and disappeared into a new life with a new name. Everyone knew who was the good son and who was the bad. Clay had almost forgotten his wayward brother until the morning a limping horse approaches the farm with young Cal Breckenridge’s body slumped in the saddle, shot in the back. Vowing to avenge Cal’s death, Clay sets off on a perilous journey across the West to find the man responsible and bring him to justice—and take down an outlaw enterprise in the process.

“Palo Duro” Book Synopsis Westward expansion following the civil war ushered in an era of increased conflict between the Southern Plains Indians and white settlers. Peace treaties offered temporary suspension of hostilities, but more often than not resulted in broken promises as the two cultures clashed over land. The construction of frontier forts and towns, the decimation of the buffalo herds, the movement of cattle through Indian lands to burgeoning western markets, – all of these forces threatened a way of life that had existed for centuries. The Comanche, the Southern Cheyenne, the Kiowa, the Apache all fought to protect their customs and homelands. The clashes were characterized by savagery on both sides - Indian and white. However, finite numbers and options would ensure the tribes' defeat; they faced certain death or forced relocation, and their days were numbered. While the Indian wars are the focus of “Palo Duro,” the novel also pays homage to the great cattle drives from Texas into Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado and Montana, the cowboys, and the gunslingers. The famous and the infamous –icons of the “Old West” populate its pages and bring new life to a genre that is fading from public consciousness – the western. “Palo Duro” recalls an era characterized by heroism, brutality, bold ventures, lawlessness, and law enforcement. It is the story of the Southwest United States towards the end of the nineteenth century and an ode to the rugged individualism that made this country.

Nicolas Strong has reached a place in life where there is contentment, peace, and fulfillment. But getting there was not a straight path. As the title of his memoir suggests, Nicolas took the long way around, learning life’s lessons in sometimes harsh and dangerous ways. His is a story of resilience and accountability, of believing in oneself, and standing firm when one’s world is wavering. His is a story of survival -- physical and emotional -- and proves that a man’s character is not determined by his upbringing but is embedded in his soul and nurtured by the dictates of his own heart.

In the winter of 1901, James W. Jarrott led a band of twenty-five homesteader families toward the Llano Estacado in far West Texas, newly opened for settlement by a populist Texas legislature. But frontier cattlemen who had been pasturing their herds on the unfenced prairie land were enraged by the encroachment of these “nesters.” In August 1902 a famous hired assassin, Jim Miller, ambushed and murdered J. W. Jarrott. Who hired Miller? This crime has never been solved, until now. Award-winning author Bill Neal investigates this cold case and successfully pieces together all the threads of circumstantial evidence to fit the noose snugly around the neck of Jim Miller’s employer. What emerges from these pages is the strength of intriguing characters in an engrossing narrative: Jim Jarrott, the diminutive advocate who fearlessly champions the cause of the little guy. The ruthless and slippery assassin, Deacon Jim Miller. And finally Jarrott’s young widow Mollie, who perseveres and prospers against great odds and tells the settlers to “Stay put!”