Fifteen-year-old Joe Beck wasn’t listening as the minister eulogized his uncle but was already planning on what he would have to do as soon as they returned to the Quimby farm. He wasn’t welcome there even before his uncle had died and knew that his cousin John would soon order him to leave. While he had had a basic idea of where he would go after he left the farm, he didn’t know what he would do with the rest of his life.

After the final battle of the Civil War, Confederate Sergeant Travis Kane rode his Yankee horse away from Palmito Ranch to return to his ranch in Uvalde County. As he began the two-hundred-and-fifty-mile ride across West Texas, Travis was grateful for surviving the long, bloody war without being wounded. But now that the fighting was over, his biggest concern was for his young wife because he hadn’t received a letter from Lillian in almost two years.

Orphaned at fourteen, Hector “Heck” Martin heads west, determined to see the far country and make a man of himself. Along the way, he falls in love with bold and beautiful Hope Mullen. But Heck is too young and poor to marry, so he heads west again. During a three-year journey, Heck crosses thousands of miles, becomes a bareknuckle boxer, a mountain man, and an Indian fighter, and meets the likes of Kit Carson and Jim Bridger as he explores the gorgeous and deadly frontier.

When Deacon Bader reaches the point where he realizes that there has to be more to life than the one he’s living, he convinces his business partner, Forrest Russo, to set out on a journey. Upon arriving in Cheyenne and learning that a friend of theirs from their days in the cavalry is accused of murder, the pair come to William’s aid to prove him innocent. Deacon also attempts to charm Sage, a local mercantile proprietor tending to a sister with a troubled past. Suspecting that there’s a lot more to Laura’s story than has been told, Deacon is determined to get to the truth of the matter.

Booklist praises Kent Conwell for action-packed Westerns that fans of prairie adventures devour voraciously. Nathan Cooper is an expert scout and tracker. Arriving home one afternoon, he is shocked to find his wife, niece and her betrothed violently murdered. Swearing revenge, Cooper sets off on a quest to track down the killers - and heaven help them when his righteous anger delivers them to their maker.