"Finalist for the Spur Award: The author of The Overmountain Men and The Border Men concludes his epic adventure of Tennessee's early history.
The United States of America has just been born from the fires of revolution. But in the wilds of Tennessee in the Southwest Territory, a fire still burns—especially in the heart of fifteen-year-old Owen Killefer.
For Owen witnessed the massacre of his family by Tom Turndale—a depraved marauder who deserted the British during the war to live with the Chickamauga and plague the frontier settlements. And worse, Turndale took Owen's sister captive as his prize.
Now, amidst the growing unrest and hostilities between the new Americans pushing ever westward and the native Indians who have trusted too many broken treaties, Owen must find a way to save his sister and avenge his family."
"The author of The Overmountain Men and The Canebrake Men continues his Tennessee Frontier Trilogy as the American Revolution rages in the wilderness.
Two years after the colonies declare their independence, the American and British armies fight a seemingly endless series of bloody battles in the east. But on the Tennessee frontier, the war is fought by far fewer rules of engagement. In the wilderness, those who strike silent and swift win the day, every tree or rocky hill might hide an enemy waiting with bullet and blade, and a painless death is a rare gift.
It is in this chaotic land that frontiersman Joshua Colter leads the newly formed Patriot Rangers militia against both the hated British and their Cherokee and Chickamauga allies. The war has already cost all sides a great deal in blood and betrayal. But for Joshua, the war is about to bring the pain of his own past into the conflict as old enemies return to exact their revenge . . ."
"The first in a trilogy set in the untamed colonial American wilderness, from 'a keen observer of the human heart as well as a fine action writer' (Publishers Weekly).
Joshua Colter was born of the wild frontier. As a young boy living with his family on the edges of civilization during the French and Indian War, he witnessed firsthand the bloodshed and brutality men were capable of—from the deception and depredations of whites like his own vile father to the merciless vengeance of the native tribes. Forced by cruel fate to set out on his own, he was adopted by an honorable hunter who taught him to fight and survive while remaining true to his own heart.
But as much as the solitary Joshua loves living rough and free in the forests and mountains, the troubles of the civilized world are encroaching, as the once-pristine wilderness is being carved up between the all-powerful British crown, settlers searching for a land to call their own, and the native Indians who desperately defy them both to protect their ancestral home.
Now, in a burgeoning land of hope and hardship, Joshua will have to decide what he is willing to fight and die for as the birth of a new nation breaks on the horizon."
"For Americans in the early nineteenth century, the uncharted western frontier signified both great opportunity and grave danger. Bold pioneers left the civilized Eastern Seaboard in droves, seeking riches and reinvention. Trekking across the continent's vast plains and rivers, they faced the threat of disease, wild animals, and violence from Native Americans who resented this invasion into their land. In this stunningly dynamic novel, author Cameron Judd portrays one such perilous journey down the Ohio River through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Celinda Ames. This enthralling narrative leads up to the earthquake of 1811 that jolted the Midwest, upended the region's budding civilizations, and changed the course of migration to the West. With an unflinching eye, Judd evokes the dangers of the frontier with vivid clarity."
"From humble beginnings in rural Tennessee to his heroic death defending the Alamo, frontiersman, adventurer, and politician David Davy Crockett embodies the spirit and ideals of the national character. Even during his lifetime, tales of the sharpshooting, skilled woodsman were—to his delight—told, retold, and elaborated on. As a US congressman, the former Creek War militiaman steadfastly opposed President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act. As a soldier, he made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for an independent Texas. Nearly two centuries after his untimely demise, he remains a legendary figure in American lore. In this fictional account of Crockett's life, author Cameron Judd offers a nuanced portrait of the man behind the myth."
"When Deborah Bledsoe's father hears that his daughter may still be alive after being abducted by Cherokee raiders, he hires Crawford Flynn to find her, not knowing that Flynn's tracking skills have been exaggerated. The better bet is Flynn's son Simeon, who actually has the ability to track Deborah through the wilds of the vast, untamed West..."
