The inconceivable has happened. America has been ravaged by nuclear war. James Wolfe, a trucker driving on an isolated State Highway in the Northwest seeing the mushroom clouds in the distance, hid out in an abandoned mine. Now months later, after living on the pretzels he was hauling and a trickle of water in the mine, Wolfe emerges to a world he hardly recognizes. He too has changed. Barely thirty, his hair is now snow white; his eyes are unable to handle bright light, but his night vision is as good as others' day vision. But the most mysterious changes are his ability to detect and avoid metal emitting radiation, and his incredible strength. With dread in his heart, he sets out to find who else, if anyone, has survived this nuclear holocaust. Wolfe finds he cannot ignore the plight of those victimized by the new breed of outlaws called "Wilders", and calls upon his new found abilities to help those in need. Now, he is on the run, hunted, with no one he can trust except an abused mongrel dog he rescued. With nothing more than a compound bow and a hunting knife, he must fight those who aim to capture him "dead or alive", and make his way homeward, and into the clear. He is a wanted man, with a price on his head. In an effort to avoid the corrupt men searching for him, he travels at night far off the road where he comes upon the town of Paradise. But all is not what it seems...and the radiant beauty never lets anyone leave...alive.
Charlie Roy and pale, skinny Sir Arthur, an English gentleman, arrive at the Crown B ranch north of Cheyenne which is owned by the Sir's sister, Elizabeth. Elizabeth was widowed the past winter, and left with a ranch that lost nearly all its beef stock from the brutal 86'-87' winter freeze. Additionally, Elizabeth's dead husband's former partner, Justin Harper, is hell-bent on taking over her ranch. But what Harper and his boys don't figure on is interference by the likes of Charlie, and the fierceness of the Sir. Dead horseflesh and murder won't deter Charlie and the Sir from what they've set out to do, even if they have to fight a range war to do it...
Billy Ray works hard all week to play even harder on Payday Saturday Night. Whiskey, women, gambling and a good fistfight are all Billy Ray thinks a man needs. That is until a keen-eyed little man faces him down with something greater than his fists or his guns. In that moment Billy's life changes forever, and he wants to share his discovery. Only how can he explain what he himself doesn't entirely understand? Saddle-up for the hard-knock ride Billy takes that changes his life, and the entire town.
Billy Ray, self-taught itinerate preacher, former hard-working miner and Saturday Night brawler, faces his own temptations in the wilderness of the Old West. Called to be pastor of a divided flock in a frontier town held in the grip of a lawless cattle baron, Billy tries to bring his parishioners together, and repair the abandoned little church in the middle of town. Billy must win his place in a community that "doesn't want any preacher changing things." A beautiful mysterious woman crosses Billy's path, stirring up feelings he not sure he should have "working in the Lord's pasture." There's a fight brewing, and Billy Ray may have to pick up his guns or put up his fists to save himself, his church and the town.
Arnie Rasmussen was big, with the general build of a young ox, and he may not have known much, but he knew one thing: He loved Katherine Mulraney. Sure, she was too good for him; she was beautiful and fine, and he was, well, just Arnie. Just as he was steeling his nerve to talk to her, she disappeared. Folks said she up and ran off with a fancy traveling man, but Arnie couldn't believe that. So he set off after her. But the Wyoming Territory was a mighty tough place, and Arnie had never been off his father's ranch. He had a lot to learn, and he'd learn all right... the hard way.
Out on the frontier, there are two kinds of men. There's the kind who's tough with a gun in his hand, who preys on anyone or anything weaker than himself. And then there's the kind like Stillwater Smith. Long and lean, Stillwater's a grizzled Civil War veteran. He doesn't take easily to killing, but he's always ready to fight for what he believes in. And you can only push him so far, as Asa Wheeler, wealthy cattle rancher, is about to find out. Wheeler's shady scheme to take control of local water rights doesn't set well with Smith. What Wheeler doesn't understand is that still waters run deep, and when Smith takes a stand, he holds fast. And Stillwater Smith is one man you had better not push too hard.
Tenderfoot Harrison Wilke leaves Colorado and heads for Nevada. Harrison\'s oldest and best friend, John J. Trohoe, has died in a mysterious accident; and John J.\'s will names Harrison sole inheritor of the estate. The estate is a disputed mine called the Amelia One, which hasn\'t yet proved profitable. But a group of California investors, who claim they hold the title, think it might be very profitable indeed. For the first time in years, Harrison feels a freedom he thought he had forgotten. John J. taught him everything he knew about riding the \"rods\" under boxcars and now Harrison is returning by that means to accept his legacy...
Tenderfoot Harrison Wilke wondered about the three men. Heavily armed, avoiding the town, carrying gold coin in their saddlebags. Alert. Surly. Arrogant. Robbers, Harrison concluded, they must have robbed a bank or a train. Harrison thought about the money in the saddlebags while he worked. He had no idea how much was there or where it might have come from. But he was convinced that these three unpleasant men had come by its possession dishonestly. The question was, what should he do about it, or could do about it? As his hands moved at the routine tasks of dishwashing, he was beginning to get an idea...
Harrison Wilke is thoroughly sick of Redbluff, Kansas. The town is a boring dead end, filled with unlettered roughnecks. His uncle Stewart - from whom he stands to inherit the Running W Ranch - can't stand him. Harrison doesn't even have enough money to get to the big city, where he belongs. There are a few bright spots. Things begin to look up when Uncle Stewart turns up missing and feared dead while chasing rustlers. Then Harrison invests $4000 in a very lucrative and secret deal. Of course Harrison "borrowed" the money from Uncle Stewart's safe. And Harrison also seems to be winning at love. But things do come crashing down...
Heller agrees to go undercover south of the border to investigate the disappearance of a young Mexican last seen trying to buy his way into Texas. Heller is caught up in a dangerous crossfire as he cozies up to the local \"coyote,\" a slimeball that takes desperate Mexicans across the river in the dead of night for a heavy fee and then sets them up to be robbed, beaten, and even raped by bandidos. The frightened prey are powerless, nobody cares, except Heller, and that ol\' mountain boy knows more than one way to skin a coyote.
Heller\'s friend is looking forward to a million dollars - his prize quarter horse is the overwhelming favorite to win the Liquid Gold Futurity. But someone has other ideas, sinister ideas, and that\'s where Heller comes in. He agrees to protect the horse, for a fat fee and any willing woman. Heller is a novice at the track, but the mountain boy learns fast. And if the \"accident\" happens, he\'s ready to spring into action, even if it involves taking on organized crime in the state of New Mexico.
He did his killing behind a badge. He lived for the sudden bloodshed, the booze, and the women who made him feel whole again. And whenever the law-abiding hypocrites closed in around him, he always managed to slip away. But Joe Potter couldn't outrun the demons that were chasing him - not even on the wide-open Dakota range. For it was there, in a line shack in winter, that an Indian woman and her child finally caught up with a man burning with fever and hate, and plunged him into a battle with the truth, and his greatest fear of all. An authentic novel of the American West, Potter's Fields is a classic tale of what drives a man to violence - and what brings him back again.
