Mike Blakely

In Comanche Dawn Mike Blakely does for the Comanche nation what Ruth Bebe Hills did for the Sioux in Hanta Yo. This landmark novel is the first time the story has been told from the point of view of the Comanches themselves. We witness the rise of one of the most powerful mounted nations in history through the eyes of a young warrior named Horseback. Born on the very day that the first horse comes to his people, Horseback matures into a leader of unquestionable courage and vision. He assumes powerful medicine granted to him by spirits encountered on a grueling vision quest, and he takes Teal, the most beautiful young woman of his tribe, as his wife and lifelong love. Guided by forces more powerful and dangerous then even he can control or explain, Horseback will face death time and time again with only his medicine and Teal to stand beside him. Failure will mean destruction not only for himself, but for his people. Success will mean unimaginable wealth for his new nation. Ancient enemies will seek to destroy him. Strange newcomers with pale skin and treacherous ways will attempt to enslave him. Even his own inner spirit powers threaten always to consume him, should he fail to respect them. Only the bravest of True Humans dare to follow Horseback on his great adventure down a trail that can lead only to glory or annihilation.

A retired detective pairs up with a sworn enemy to solve a series of countryside murders in The Snowy Range Gang, and an atoning criminal goes on a dangerous adventure seeking lost treasure in Vendetta Gold: two memorable novels from Spur Award-winning author Mike Blakely. The Snowy Range GangClaude Duval thought he was through with rustlers and killers when he left Texas for Wyoming. But the retired livestock detective soon finds ranch hands turning up dead and cattle missing. It looks like the work of Lone Wolf Wolverton, who murdered Duval's partner years ago. But Lone Wolf, who's done his time and gone straight, rides to Duval's ranch looking for a chance to prove he's being framed. Out of leads, the lawman reluctantly accepts help from the man he's sworn to kill, and the unlikely pair teams up to track down the real rustlers and killers, the Snowy Range Gang. Vendetta GoldA bloody family feud sent Roy Huckaby to a dusty Texas prison for three years. Now that he's out, he vows to follow the straight and narrow and to ride alone into a solid new life. But when a dying vaquero gives him a treasure map, the opportunity is too exciting to pass up. Roy starts out on a path he hopes will lead to incalculable wealth, only to find it's bordered with dangerous pitfalls--and unexpected romance. This edition of the book is the deluxe, tall rack mass market paperback.

Country music legend Kenny Rogers teams up with Spur Award-winning author Mike Blakely for a rousing tale set in the heyday of Nashville in What Are the Chances. It's 1975, and Ronnie Breed's chart-topping rock band has just self-destructed in a recording studio fistfight. Ronnie makes a bold decision--return home to Texas and reinvent himself as a solo act. Enter Dan Campbell, Ronnie's cousin, who recruits Ronnie for a new kind of venture. Dan, who always had a penchant for wild schemes, wants to televise a Texas Hold 'Em tournament...and Ronnie could never say no to his cousin Dan. As celebrity spokesman for the poker tournament, Ronnie soon finds himself recruiting world-class gamblers in illegal card games while trying to put together a new country band and win a Nashville recording contract--not to mention trying to avoid falling head-over-heels in love with his new manager, Dorothy. But when things start to get weird--hidden cameras, secret high-stakes side-bets, a visit from the FBI--it seems that Dan's poker tournament may be a fa ade for something much bigger and much more dangerous. Ronnie begins to wonder if he will end up with the girl of his dreams in the Country Music Hall of Fame, or broke and lonely in some prison cell. What are the chances?

Ben Crowell remembers the Great Caddo Lake Pearl Rush of 1874 well. Ben would fall in love for the first time that summer during one of the last great rushes of the nineteenth century, a rush that could not have come at a better time for the riverboat community of Port Caddo. Just a few months earlier the town had been dying. The railroads that were cutting across the country made the riverboat meaningless, and those same railroads didn't stop anywhere near Port Caddo. By the end of the summer, the pearl rush was over, and the mystery about who killed Judd Kelso, a local riverboat owner, had begun. It took Ben forty years to solve the mystery, and when he did, the proof came for him alone to witness. He is the only living soul who knows what happened that September night in 1874.

Retired Texas Ranger Captain Hank Tomlinson intends to spend the rest of his days raising cattle on his Broken Arrow Ranch, and nurturing his frontier town of Luck, Texas. But when the brutal murder and scalping of a mysterious drifter leads to a clash between cavalry soldiers and a band of Comanche Indians suspected of the killing, a full-scale Indian uprising seems likely. Worse yet, the murder of the drifter bears a disturbing resemblance to a string of killings Hank remembers from his distant and violent past as a Texas Ranger. Meanwhile, Hank's twenty-year-old son, Jay Blue, and his adoptive brother, Skeeter, find themselves on the trail of a valuable Kentucky mare who vanished under their watch. The trail leads them into the dangerous haunts of outlaws and vengeful Comanche warriors. Now Hank must attempt to keep his sons safe while trying to catch a murderer who he knows will soon strike again. His ace-in-the-hole is beautiful Flora Barlow, the tavern owner with a knack for detective work. Though rival lawman, Matt Kenyon, and competing rancher, Jack Brennan, complicate Hank's investigation, he and Flora slowly begin to uncover a crooked web of crime, deception, and murder. Dark secrets emerge, and everyone must choose sides as lawmen, outlaws, soldiers, and Indian warriors converge for a final, bloody confrontation.

Reluctant hero, Honore Greenwood, has a knack for embroiling himself in the most violent conflicts of the Southern Plains. Known as Plenty Man to the Comanches, Honore serves as ransom negotiator for captives among the Indians. As if his life wasn't in danger enough, Honore has offered his services to the New Mexico Volunteers in the Civil War. But as Honore's luck would have it, he's in the same unit as Luther Sheffield, a man whose grudge against Greenwood knows no boundaries, even though they are fighting on the same side. Leaving behind his beautiful Arapaho bride, Honore rides out, joining his legendary friend, Kit Carson, as a scout. But he is swept into more action than he bargained for--heavy combat in the battles of Val Verde Ford and Glorieta Pass plus Indian attacks--all the while watching over his shoulder for the ruthless Luther Sheffield. Worried that he may soon be ordered to take up arms against his own adoptive tribe, the Comanches, Honore resigns as Kit's scout to return to his tribe. But Honore's halcyon days among the Indians cannot last forever, and he knows that eventually his old cavalry unit will come to attack his village. Torn between a nation on the rise and his own adoptive culture, Plenty Man is forced to lead the fight for Comanche freedom against his old friend, the great Kit Carson, in a battle at a remote place in the Texas Panhandle called Adobe Walls. But in the end, it becomes difficult to tell enemy from ally, and Plenty Man knows his loyalty to the Indians may cost him everything - his beautiful wife, his freedom to return to white civilization, his friendship with Kit, and even his very life.

Claude Duval thought he was through with rustlers and killers when he left Texas for Wyoming. But the retired livestock detective soon finds ranch hands turning up dead and cattle missing. It looks like the work of Lone Wolf Wolverton, who murdered Duval's partner years ago. But Lone Wolf, who's done his time and gone straight, rides to Duval's ranch looking for a chance to prove he's being framed. Out of leads, the lawman reluctantly accepts help from the man he's sworn to kill, and the unlikely pair teams up to track down the real rustlers and killers, the Snowy Range Gang.

This book is a lighthearted look at some of the stories Texans have been improving on since their first telling around the glow of a campfire. A continuation of the entertaining collection of Wild Camp Tales, this volume includes the wildest tales ever told. Discover the drawback of fire hunting and read about the great Caddo Lake pearl rush, the murderous Mexican hog, and the mule artillery. According to one famous spinner of far-fetched windies, Texas Ranger Bigfoot Wallace, the bigger the tale, the more folks tend to want to believe in it.

When Indians massacre an army troop, Ross Caldwell's wife fears he's among the victims. But Caldwell is on the run, pursued by bitter enemies from the Civil War. Caldwell finds refuge in the arms of the sultry madam of Last Chance Gulch. But his bloody past catches up with him. A murderous ex-soldier is on his trail, and his wife has tracked him down as well. . .