Not since the Great Jackalope Stampede of ’58 has tumbleweed-choked Jackrabbit Junction, Arizona seen so much action. Claire Morgan is determined to unravel the mystery behind a stolen treasure before goons come gunning for it—and her family. But all the strangers roaming around town have her anxiety red-lining. Then her mother shows up …

The never-before-told story of the horned rabbit—the myths, the hoaxes, and the entirely real scientific breakthroughs it has inspired—and how it became a cultural touchstone of the American West. Just what is a jackalope? Purported to be part jackrabbit and part antelope, the jackalope began as a local joke concocted by two young brothers in a small Wyoming town during the Great Depression. Their creation quickly spread around the U.S., where it now regularly appears as innumerable forms of kitsch—wall mounts, postcards, keychains, coffee mugs, shot glasses, and so on. A vast body of folk narratives has carried the jackalope’s fame around the world to inspire art, music, film, even erotica! Although the jackalope is an invention of the imagination, it is nevertheless connected to actual horned rabbits, which exist in nature and have for centuries been collected and studied by naturalists. Around the time the two young boys were creating the first jackalope in Wyoming, Dr. Richard Shope was making his first breakthrough about the cause of the horns: a virus. When the virus that causes rabbits to grow “horns” (a keratinous carcinoma) was first genetically sequenced in 1984, oncologists were able to use that genetic information to make remarkable, field-changing advances in the development of anti-viral cancer therapies. The most important of these is the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, which protects against cervical and other cancers. Today, jackalopes are literally helping us cure cancer. For fans of David Quammen’s The Song of the Dodo, Jon Mooallem’s Wild Ones, or Jeff Meldrum's Sasquatch, Michael P. Branch's remarkable On the Trail of the Jackalope is an entertaining and enlightening road trip through the heart of America.

A steamy jungle, an ancient curse, a deadly secret - one big sweaty mess! Welcome to the jungle.... A headstrong and determined archaeologist. A tall, dark, and unwelcome photojournalist. Both are trying to unearth secrets that have been long buried, but an ancient Maya curse threatens to destroy them...unless they can learn to trust each other enough to make it out of the jungle alive.

“Nothing good ever happens at the butt-crack of dawn. No doubt, the headless corpse on the autopsy table in front of me would agree.”—Violet Parker Real estate agent, Violet “Spooky” Parker stumbles upon a body-part theft ring at the local funeral parlor and suspects her caustic coworker has a hand in it—or maybe a foot. Can Violet discover what’s in the crates the crooks are sneaking out of the mortuary in the dark of night? Or will she end up in one of them herself … in pieces?

It’s Christmas Eve and Violet Parker has one request on her list for Santa—to make it home to her kids. Unfortunately, “home” is also the lair of her life-long nemesis, her sister Susan (aka the devil’s concubine). Standing in Violet’s way is Old Man Winter, who slammed the Black Hills with a show-stopping blizzard. However, a little snow isn’t going to ground her sleigh, not with family counting on her to deliver Santa’s goods. Trying to keep Christmas from turning into a candy cane calamity, Violet battles her demons and struggles through the chaos storming around her. Can she make it through the holiday without cracking anyone’s nut? "Keep your fingers crossed this whole holiday doesn't blow up in our faces." --Violet Parker

When Claire's grandfather and his army buddies converge in the Arizona desert, it's her thankless job to keep them out of trouble with the opposite sex. But when she finds a human leg bone and partners with a reluctant geotechnician to dig up secrets from the past, trouble finds her. If she doesn't stop digging, she could wind up dead.

This here place? Worse than the backside of Hades.” ~ Hank Varney First let me say, this here trip to Slagton weren’t my idea. This place is chock full of bad company done helped itself to a double dose of bad medicine. Slagton needs cleanin’, accordin’ to Miss Clem, and I know the crew to do it. I’m one of ’em. Hank Varney’s the name. Miss Clem and me, along with the two Sidewinders from Santa Fe—we’ll get the sharp-toothed vermin cleared out. Now, some people say I’m lucky, but I don’t know if’n it’ll do me any good, what with the army of trouble me an’ the crew are facin’. If’n we don’t live through it, well, there goes Deadwood. Maybe even the whole of the Black Hills. We’ll all be down the privy hole then, lookin’ up at the Backside of Hades.

All Violet Parker wants is a day off. Better yet, just a “normal” day. But things never go as planned, especially in Deadwood. Someone—or rather something—broke into the local taxidermy shop and took bites out of the critter displays before racing off into the dark. But this is no random crime and Violet knows it. With a bounty on her head and troublemakers zeroing in on her, she soon goes from being the hunter to the hunted. “Burly muscled and rawhide tough don’t matter. Never tangle with a Scharfrichter!” ~Violet Parker

Time is a tricky devil. And so is that blasted imp! Violet Parker needs to catch the little terror before it wreaks even more havoc in the Black Hills. But now that she’s saddled with this dang Timekeeper gig, she has a lot to juggle, like the real monsters wanting to tear the flesh from her bones just for fun. If she can’t figure out how to wrangle “time” to save her family, the Grim Reaper might come swinging for them next. But what about that danged honey-loving imp? “Bravery badges are frickin’ overrated.” ~Violet Parker

A dust devil of mystery and mayhem pulls Claire into a storm full of rowdy sisters, ominous threats, relationship snafus, and a dangerous mine that could be a treasure trove of trouble. It’s only a matter of time before this rumble turns into an all-out calamity!