Showing results by author "Linell Jeppsen" in All Categories

Scarred by the Civil War, now a loner by choice, Missouri-born Jack Ballard rides the West in search of trouble. Sometimes he's able to stop it from hurting innocent people - and sometimes he causes it. It can't be helped, though. He is a good man with a fast gun, and in West Texas in the late 1800s, trouble lies around every bend. Only he and his filed-down .44-40 Colt can stop it.

The year is 1872. Twelve-year-old Matthew Wilcox leads a charmed life on his family's sprawling ranch in Washington Territory, until a series of tragic events leave him orphaned and in the clutches of a vicious band of outlaws. Threatened by the gang leader's perverted cousin, Top Hat, Matthew also faces Indian attacks, dangerous wildlife, and a deadly snowstorm. He survives, but burns with an overwhelming hunger for revenge.

In the not-too-distant future a young woman bears witness to the end of her world. Earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions rock the planet, reducing cities to smoking rubble, burying entire islands and coastlines beneath cataclysmic waves. Religious fervor and human evil erupt and entwine, becoming a maelstrom of madness in the days after, bringing with it the horror of apocalyptic war. As a population in the depths of despair struggles to overcome insurmountable odds, can a single glimmer of hope flare into a beacon for the survivors? This is her tale....

In book one - No Man’s Land - Ballard helped save a widow and her daughter from a hostile land grab in West Texas. Now, needing some cash, Jack has joined a cattle drive in Bandera, Texas and will serve as security and “Nighthawker” on the Western Trail heading toward Dodge City, Kansas. The trail, however, is beset with trouble. Storms, cattle thieves, and Indian attacks follow Jack and the Triple T cattle drive, and the further north they go the worse it gets.

Nine-year-old Daniel Monroe’s life is shattered when a wagon train heading west to Oregon from Kentucky is attacked by outlaws and his family is slaughtered. Only luck and reluctant help from a cold and sullen man named Jacob Conrad enables him to survive. Dan follows Jake Conrad into an uncertain future and although his adopted father remains aloof and forever troubled, Dan learns to love the man who is as wild as the land around them, as uncompromising as the weather and, underneath his gruff exterior, as tender as a mountain sunrise.

Nel Higgins is the 16-year-old daughter of Frank Higgins, a deranged Lutheran pastor. After Nel’s mother passes away, she finds herself and her sister, Annie, at the mercy of her father in Yankton, Dakota Territory, 1876. Bereft and frightened, Nel knows, deep in her heart, that neither she nor Annie will survive unless they can escape his evil clutches. Then, when unforeseen circumstances lead to Frank's sudden death, the two girls soon board the famous riverboat, the Far West. Once on board, Nel finds herself following the path of American destiny toward Fort Abraham Lincoln.

The Wilcox and Son Detective Agency is working on its second case file, but Matthew and his son Chance are beginning to think they might have bit off more than they can chew. Their investigation into a series of claim-jumps near the booming mining community of Wallace, Idaho, suddenly turns deadly as one witness after another turns up dead. It turns out that the theft of land and mineral rights is only the beginning of a much deeper conspiracy. Matthew and Chance follow the leads as best they can, knowing full well that their investigation has turned into a game of cat and mouse.

In this third book in the Dead Man series, Marshal Matthew Wilcox heads out alone to find and capture one of the worst villains he will ever face. Heartsick, he traces a convoluted trail of murder, mayhem, and deceit...from the high gates of the Walla Walla State Penitentiary to Seattle and on into Billings, Montana. Although Matthew feels that he must bear the burden of a "deadman’s revenge" by himself, he will find help and succor in his travels from his friends, Sheriff Roy Smithers, Deputy Dicky McNulty, Calamity Jane, Liver Eating Johnson...and his son, Chance.

In 1892, Sheriff Matthew Wilcox learns that his wife's niece, Amelia Winters, has been abducted. Once more, he gathers his posse and hits the trail hunting outlaws. What he discovers shocks, dismays, and angers him: Amelia is only one of hundreds of women kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery. An exotic auction is about to take place and time is of the essence. The sheriff and his posse are making things difficult for the criminals, and a pile of money is at stake.