A western hero whose adventures embody the spirit of the American frontier, Smoke Jensen is bestselling author William W. Johnstone's most beloved creation. In his powerful new novel, Johnston chronicles Smoke's early years. Before he went off in search of his father, long before he become a legend, Kirby Jensen was a young man trying to make a living with the gifts God gave him--courage, cunning, and lightning with a gun.

It's the kind of job Luke Jensen hates. A millionaire mine owner is willing to pay $5,000 to the man who captures the half-breed outlaw Tom Eagle. Normally, Luke would turn down an offer like this - it smacks too much of being a hired gun. But when the millionaire tells him that Eagle is responsible for killing his son, Luke agrees to take on the job. Which means he'll have to take the road to hell itself - aka Hard Rock, Montana ... Hard Rock is...

A strong, beautiful mother of five, Kate Kerrigan has made do since losing her husband in the bloody Battle of Shiloh. Now, two years after the Civil War, there's nothing left for them in Tennessee but poverty and bad memories. So Kate decides a better life awaits them in far-off West Texas. Thus begins a 1000-mile trek through some of the harshest and most dangerous territory on the frontier. But by pulling together, the Kerrigans discover the conviction...

Smoke Jensen arrives in Dodge City with a herd of longhorns only to find the town in the grip of a rampaging gang led by the notorious Confederate guerilla "Bloody Bill" Anderson, and must decide whether he wants to take the side of the law in what is sure to be a deadly confrontation.

Framed for murder, Dewey "Mac" McKenzie is running for his life. Though Mac's never even made a pot of coffee, he talks his way onto a cattle drive heading west--as a chuckwagon cook. Turns out he has a natural talent for turning salt pork and dried beans into culinary gold. He's as good with a pot and pan as he is with a gun--which comes in handy on a dangerous trail drive beset with rustlers, hostile Indians, ornery weather, and deadly stampedes....

Two ride together. From his Missouri farm, the boy travels west. In his heart is vengeance. In his hand is a Navy colt. Although his enemies have destroyed everything he's ever loved, they made one mistake, they let Smoke Jensen live.

During a trip back East, Preacher learns that even the civilized Midwest can attract a motherlode of trouble, especially when a gang of bully boys decides to pick a fight. Now a wealthy landowner lies dead and there's a reward on Preacher's head.

"It's 1852. The wounds of the Mexican War are healing. Regis Royle, co-owner of a steamship fleet, has made it out alive, relatively unscarred and with enough profit and foolhardy ambition to envision a new life in south Texas. With the help of his crack-shot kid brother Shepley, his glad-handing riverboat partner Cormac Delany, and his old friend, raw-edged former Texas Ranger Jarvis "Bone" McGraw, Regis is laying claim to the prime jewel in a magnificent...

"His wicked ways mostly behind him, reformed bank robber Jimmy "Slash" Braddock is getting hitched to his sweetheart. But before the honeymoon, Chief U.S. Marshal Luther T. "Bleed-'Em-So" Bledsoe needs Slash and his former partner-in-crime, Melvin "Pecos Kid" Baker, to don a couple of deputy marshal badges and saddle up for a trip to Nebraska. Seems the town of Harveyville has fallen prey to a trio of murderous badmen blasting away up and down Main...

"Smoke Jensen is mighty proud of his son Louis for finishing law school. But he can't help being a little disappointed that Louis isn't returning to the Sugarloaf Ranch. Instead, he's setting up his own law practice in nearby Big Rock - a career choice that turns out to be every bit as dangerous as fending off cattle rustlers. The boy's first case lands him smack in the middle of a heated dispute between two riled-up ranchers over water rights. If...