Showing results by author "Riano D. McFarland" in All Categories

No one knew where they came from or how long they had existed. Their origins were as enigmatic as their purpose—silent sentinels in the wilderness, waiting. Yet one truth remained unshaken: no one gazed into their depths and walked away unchanged. Long-buried secrets surfaced. Forgotten transgressions clawed their way into the light, merciless in their clarity. The crater did not show what was wanted—it showed what was needed.

For nine years, Calvin Thorne was an elite agent for an international crime-fighting agency known as O.P.U.S. (Organization for the Pursuit of Untouchable Syndicates). After being betrayed by his superiors and tricked into assassinating an innocent man, he resigns and apparently vanishes from the face of the earth. Two years later, O.P.U.S. is attempting to erase the connections tying the agency to the illegally contracted murder, and the only agent who knows what really happened is Calvin Thorne.

Odin is a love story that chronicles the relationship between Katherine, a successful although self-centered executive, and the puppy she literally snatched from deaths icy grip. After being rescued by her in a dramatic fashion, Odin comes to see her safety and wellbeing as the central purpose of his existence. Although the line between the savior and the saved may become blurred at times, their unconditional love and affection for one another remain clear and unimpeachable, even in the face of certain death.

Most of the successful private prospectors who’d struck it rich during the California and Nevada gold rushes during the mid- to late-1800s, had journeyed westward with a specific plan from which they never deviated. Upon achieving their pre-defined goals, they packed up and returned to their original homes in distant regions of the United States. There were also plenty of others, who’d been unable to pull the plug after striking it rich, believing their lucky streak to be a never-ending one.

Following 10 years of service under four different presidents, the legend of Marshal Oliver Blackstone has grown far beyond his district headquarters in Santa Fe. Throughout the new US territories between Texas and California, law-abiding citizens respect him, while outlaws and wayward fugitives are wise to avoid coming face-to-face with him. After drawing the ire of a wealthy Russian immigrant, he discovers that a $100,000 bounty has been placed on his head, collectible by the first gunman able to take down the marshal and claim it.

With each new recipient, the artifact expands its knowledge while passing the sum of its experiences on to them. Although its mission is quite specific, its very existence is the closely guarded secret of a society sworn to recover it—a task which proves to be far more challenging than they could ever have suspected.

Bandit’s love for everyone close to him is matched only by his unquestioning respect for Malcolm—the alpha of the Abernathy Pack. Your acceptance into the pack hinges solely on the alpha’s approval or disapproval, and the last place you want to find yourself is at odds with the pack’s fearless gatekeeper. Bandit’s autobi-dography is an endearing tale of love, dedication, and unwavering loyalty by man’s best friend, and an enemy’s worst nightmare!

After two years serving as a US marshal, policing the country’s newest and largest district, Oliver Blackstone’s reputation as a lawman was stellar, and those who’d originally doubted his ability to get the job done were now squarely in his corner.

When Barney, a clever little dachshund, looks for a place to escape the chaos created as movers load the family's belongings into a moving truck, he discovers a box of warm laundry fresh from the dryer, and burrows himself comfortably inside it. After a refreshing snooze, he awakens to find that his makeshift doggy bed has been loaded onto the truck, and he is already on the way to Denver, Colorado. Although the rest of the family intended to follow the moving truck, when they were unable to locate Barney, they remained in Pueblo, Colorado.

The Search for Broken Sky is a story of unconditional love, uncompromising friendship, and unassailable loyalty between a young Native American woman, her faithful dog, and a horse of legendary intelligence, grace, and beauty. As their expedition takes them north toward Montana, they are unaware of the predator stalking them from the cover of night, and the showdown they will face on the search for Broken Sky.

As Marshal Lofton would soon discover, not only was his new deputy deadly accurate, but he was also unbelievably fast, and with the ruthless Scorpion Hill Gang operating in Marshal Lofton's district, Oliver's skills would be tested time and again. Although the citizens of Texas revered him as a guardian angel, the members of the outlaw gang would come to fear him as the Grim Reaper. But, unlike most gunslingers, Oliver's reputation spread slowly, because by the time an outlaw learned his name, they were already dead.

The thing is…when your intention is to remain below the radar, an ever-expanding reputation is the last thing anyone needs, and soon, old problems and long-forgotten adversaries begin to resurface. Despite his reluctance to revisit the ghosts of his past, sometimes in order to move forward, you have to go back again. In doing so, Malcolm realizes that a few of the broken things requiring his attention…aren’t things at all.

Following an emergency landing in an experimental spacecraft on an uncharted planet in an unknown solar system, Major Åt will embark upon a journey that tests the very limits of his patience and tenacity. During his mission to acquire the materials needed to repair the ship’s propulsion system, he soon discovers that some things, even when they are abundantly available, are not necessarily easy to procure.

When an unusual chain of drownings occurs in Upper Mystic Lake, two families are pitted against one another as they attempt to lay the blame for the loss of their only begotten children, at the feet of the other family. The Shakespearian tragedy forces everyone to reassess their own culpability as well as their way forward, while attempting to find closure.

After inheriting a 400-year-old family estate from her aunt, Patrice Lafleur returns to her childhood home on the outskirts of Shreveport, Louisiana, to find that not much has changed. Of course, still waters run deep, and the long-forgotten memories lurking beneath the surface of Patrice’s childhood are there to greet her when she walks through the front door 20 years later.

Over 70 percent of Earth is covered in water, yet over 80 percent of that water remains unexplored. There are currently over 10 billion people on Earth, but terrestrial humans are only aware of those who live on land. The other three billion humans took a decidedly different evolutionary path, adapting to live in the largest combined area on the planet–the water.

Although Alex had no idea which of his yet-to-be monumental achievements would be the one to launch him on his road to success, that was of little concern to him because the path was irrelevant, as long as the destination fulfilled his desire: to be famous. As Alex reaches for his goals of fame and fortune, he finds love along the way, but there are those who live to turn his dreams into a nightmare that even a classic muscle car—known as The Black Phantom—cannot outrun.

Long before even dragons roamed the planet, the spores of the borlamites were biding their time in the heat and darkness of deep Earth. They were waiting for the surface to cool and the seeds of life to take hold and turn a barren rock into a pearl among planets in our galaxy. As they prepared to emerge from beneath Earth’s tectonic plates and turn the bio-matter of the dead and dying, into food for the budding flora and fauna, their birth was interrupted by an asteroid strike. The planetary conditions suddenly changed, and the borlamites continued to sleep.

After enjoying decades of planetary peace and abundance, an urgent message finds its way into the hands of Jake and Danni. At first, they are unsure of either its intent or origin, but as both become clear, it is evident that some grudges are not easily forgotten or set aside. The survivors of the Drokarian rebellion nearly thirty years earlier are returning, and this time they are armed with a device capable of erasing entire cities from the planet.

In the history of Dragon Kingdoms, there has never before been a period in time during which all four regions were represented by bonded riders. As the reign of the Northeastern Dragon Kingdom approaches its end, one successor will be chosen among many as the dragon king ascendant.