Showing results by author "Bill Shuey" in All Categories

The story of Texas Ranger Zack Branson continues when he is reassigned to El Paso, Texas. He collaborates with his cousin, US Marshal Cal Branson, to try to control the rustling and banditry on the border between the US and Mexico. Zack and Cal chase a group of Mexican bandits across the Rio Grande River, confront them in a cantina at a small pueblo, and get involved in a shootout. While Cal is honeymooning, Zack and El Paso County Sheriff White go after cattle rustlers that were busted out of jail. Who will walk away and who will die is uncertain until the last shot is fired.

The Train Robbers continues the Zack Branson story. Texas Ranger Zack Branson is ordered to Comanche County, Texas, to investigate the robbery of an express car on the Texas Central Railroad train. Zack’s Uncle Ike is also in Comanche to investigate the train robbery. They join forces but get sidetracked when the bank in De Leon, Texas, is robbed. The trail of the bank robbers leads to Erath County, where they come up against a cattle baron and a corrupt county sheriff.

The Zack Branson series continues when he gets tasked with the assignment of finding a cattle rustler who’s stealing cows in Coleman County, Texas. Ranger Branson leaves his young wife and child in Fort Worth, puts Blue Boy and Lil Hoss on a train, and goes to cattle country to catch an infamous rustler. The rustler, Jack Sully, had been rustling cattle for years and no one had ever been able to catch him and bring him to justice.

Texas Ranger Zack Branson is tasked with the job of going to Montague County and finding out who killed a deputy sheriff. Once Zack gets involved in the investigation, he discovers that there are lots of factors at work. Homesteaders are being forced off their property, and the foreclosures are being bought for a fraction of their value. Zack runs into a cousin who is a US Marshal, and they team up to find stolen gold and a killer. Zack’s involvement causes an assassin to try to terminate his role in the investigation. Just when Zack thinks he has it figured out, he is surprised.

The year was 1905. Marshal Massey walked into Creek’s office and said, “You’ve been selected to go to Paris, France, and exchange law enforcement techniques with the French.” On the transatlantic crossing, Creek meets a beautiful young widow named Loretta Chandler, and is smitten by her charms. They agree to renew their romance after they get settled in France.

In 1903, Creek Rivers is traveling to Chicago by train to find the kidnappers of Harold McCormick, Jr., the grandson of John D. Rockefeller. As he dozes, his mind returns to his greatest challenge in tracking a criminal. In 1888, Creek was tasked with the responsibility of going to Norfolk, Nebraska, to catch a man who had killed a judge. The chase continues day after day, with one obstacle after another as he and the killer travel through the Dakota Territory. The ordeal finally ends at the Canadian border with a surprise ending.

The Davis brothers had survived the Wheelers and the Solomons, and now they were faced with a new threat. Iffin Smith was a no count from the Missouri Ozarks with little in the way of skills. The thing he was good at was killing. Ma Solomon paid Iffin $300.00 to go to Colorado and kill the Davises. On the way, he honed his killing skills and survived an Indian attack. After being saved from certain death by Jeb Davis, he recovers from his wounds at the Davis ranch and thinks about the reason for his trip to Colorado, and his promise to Ma Solomon.

Chip Davis gets mauled by a Cougar, while elk hunting and is nursed back to health by White Dove, a white woman named Melissa Johnson, who was adopted by the Cheyenne. The Cheyenne agreed to let him leave with the warning that they would kill Melissa if he led white men to their camp. Jeb gets drygulched on his way back to the Davis ranch, after selling horses to the army and has to contend with three bandits.

The Bounty Hunter: The Wheelers continues the story of Spike Davis. Now he has his brothers, Chip and Jeb, to help with the wild mustang operation, and their assistance in his life as a bounty hunter that seems to keep calling him back. Once the Wheeler brothers are captured and locked up in jail, Spike goes back to the ranch only to find out they have escaped and vowed to kill him and his family. While they are chasing the Wheelers, two more Wheeler brothers escape from prison in Missouri and head for Colorado to kill the bounty hunter who hounded their brothers.

The Native Land is the story of one family's migration from Missouri to Colorado on the Mountain Route of the Santa Fe Trail. Indians, disease, weather, cutthroats, swollen rivers, and the challenge of the Raton Pass are parts of the adventure. After getting to Colorado, acquiring land, and building a herd of Longhorn cattle is the new test that awaits them.

The Capitol Murders: The Mel Stubblefield Story. The Capital Murders is a novel which examines the deception, quest for power, and the lengths to which men will resort in their desires for control of our government. Marshal Mel Stubblefield is sent to Washington, DC, during the weeks leading up to the impeachment vote on President Andrew Johnson to find out who’s killing capitol staffers. His investigation leads to powerful forces which are willing to kill to achieve government contracts during the Reconstruction Era.

William “Bill” Stewart left Missouri to seek his fortune. Along the way, he worked as a cow puncher, range detective, town marshal, sheriff, and US marshal. In each job, he is forced into conflicts with the Indians. Finally his skills as an Indian fighter caught the attention of the US Army, and he was given a commission. He soon discovered that his greatest challenge was in following orders while retaining his humanity.

Soiled doves are being systematically killed in Denver, Boulder, and other towns in Colorado. Governor Evans understands the mindset of the insane and knows the killer must be stopped. He calls on Denver Marshal Seth Stewart, appoints him as a Special Investigator and U.S. Marshal, and tasks him with the responsibility of finding the killer and bringing him to justice. Everything points to one of two men; both seemingly are around the town on the day that a killing occurs. It seems that the more Marshal Stewart discovers, the less he knows.

A Killing in Dogwood is a fictional account of the supposed abduction of a young child in a small Missouri town. When the child’s body is discovered by two boys exploring the storm drain system, the investigation turns to murder. A Killing in Dogwood is a classic whodunit mystery with a cast of suspects, each of whom might have the temperament or lack of good judgment to commit the crime.

Jedidiah Frank Stewart left his home in Missouri at age 15 and headed west to become a mountain man. During his travels to Colorado, he saved a wounded Pawnee Indian and spent a winter living with the man’s tribe. He worked as a cattle drover, and then as an Indian scout for the Frontier Regiment in Texas before heading to the Rockies. After making it to the Rocky Mountains, he met an old mountain man who showed him how to survive in the wilderness. Jake met a white girl who was living with the Crow Indians in the Rockies.

Matt Branson went to West Point Military Academy and just knew he would be a cavalry officer after he graduated. The Army had other ideas about his military future. Matt was given the opportunity to serve his country in the Military Information Division. His decision to forego his dreams of being a cavalry officer led him to a life in the shadows.

Becky’s uncles, Ike, Jesse, and Caleb Branson were lawmen in the West. One by one, the Branson brothers left the hills of Missouri and headed west. Ike and Jesse worked their way across the land working as ranch hands, Indian scouts, and finally lawmen. Caleb lost his wife and newborn child, sold his farm, and headed to Texas to try and become a Texas Ranger. Ike and Jesse Branson become deputy US marshals, Ike in New Mexico and Jesse in California.

Rebecca Joan Thacker had just celebrated her 11th birthday when word was received that her father had been killed in the Civil War. She was barely 13 when two bushwhackers dragged her into the barn on the family farm and raped her. The month before her 14th birthday she gave birth to a baby girl. A month prior to her 15th birthday, Becky’s mother died, leaving her all alone to raise a child.

U. S. Marshal James Boutwell stumbles upon the body of a young woman while delivering a prisoner to Dallas. Boutwell gets himself appointed to investigate the murder only to realize that he has bit off more than he can chew. There are several suspects, but no clear cut evidence to connect the murder to anyone. No one has a clear motive, but the woman is dead. Then there is another young woman killed in Fort Worth, adding to the mystery.

The Horsemen continues the saga of the Baxter and Brubaker families with the second generation of individuals. Two Baxter sons enter West Point military academy, the third goes into the ministry, and the Brubaker son joins the Texas Rangers. The adventures of the Baxter and Brubakers are chronicled while moving Cree Indians to Canada, fighting in the Spanish-American and American-Philippine Wars, then their involvement with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I, and their efforts to keep the peace on the Texas-Mexico Border during the Mexican Revolution.