I am pleased to announce that my latest novel, The Assassin’s House, is now available on Amazon.
This book is written as a standalone, but readers will find, as is often the case in my novels, cameo appearances by a few characters from prior books. The story is set primarily in the Kansas Flint Hills ranch country, including Fort Riley, Kansas. Towns and other locations are real, although the writer reserved the right to alter communities here and there to facilitate the tale.
Several characters from history are brought to life in The Assassin’s House, including President Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln, and the famed Western artist, Frederic Remington, who, in fact, in his younger years was a Flint Hills sheep rancher. While most of the storyline is fiction, I enjoyed inserting many historical tidbits from the time and location.
The main protagonists are Chad Taylor, a young Seventh Cavalry officer and Davina McClure, a former prostitute who is now a successful entrepreneur and owner of a general store in Florence, Kansas. Taylor is contemplating leaving the Army and returning to the Double T Ranch operated by his uncle, Tyrus Taylor, as the story opens and is intrigued by a house on a nearby hill and its owner, both introduced to him through a sketch drawn by his new friend, Frederic Remington.
Most of my readers probably find that I like to include strong female characters in my novels. I must say that as the story developed, Davina grew into one of my all-time favorite female protagonists. I suspect readers will find a fair number of surprises in this novel, and I hope they enjoy the reading as much as I did the writing.
I anticipate that my next novel will take me to the Southwest again, and I am looking at Santa Fe and possibly appearances by some of my old Law Wrangler friends. That’s about all I know till I start cranking out words. As they would say in the writing craft, I am a ‘pantser,’ not a ‘planner,’ which seriously contradicts my living style. My wife has suggested that in my personal life I must make plans to be spontaneous. Not true with my writing.
Thanks again for following my books!