Jake Paynter
3 total works
An action-packed historical western for fans of William Johnstone and Louis L'Amour.
Condemned to die, he's about to find a reason to live.
Jake Paynter is a doomed man. Haunted by an abusive childhood and his participation in atrocities of the Civil War, he seeks the isolation of the Plains Cavalry as a white officer for an all-Black buffalo soldier troop. Now, he is in irons and certain to be hanged for killing his captain after refusing an inhumane order. Despite his best efforts to maintain isolation, he starts to make friends on his journey to trial. The people of the wagon train begin looking to Paynter for leadership, and he reluctantly falls into the role.
The opportunity to escape arises when the wagon train is attacked by bandits, but Paynter's growing ties to the travelers compel him to stay. As his trial approaches, Paynter must lean on his friends for salvation, but the laws of the west are swift and harsh, and a grueling confrontation with his past is on the horizon.
Author David Nix writes an action-packed, authentic historical western series featuring:
A former soldier with a target on his back
A slew of bounty hunters determined to claim their prize
A ruthless detective who wants to see Jake pay
A breathtaking journey across the wild west
Jake Paynter is in deep trouble. With a $1000 bounty on his head, every law man, bounty hunter, and desperado west of the Mississippi is gunning for him. Jake's plan to lay low with the Shoshone quickly falls apart, but before he can leave for far Yellowstone, his two best friends, Gus Rivers and Stacy Blue, show up with a dilemma. Miners at South Pass City are getting murdered by a man or beast-no one is certain-and his immigrant friends from the Oregon Trail are in danger. Against his better judgment, Paynter travels to the mining fields to bring the culprits to justice.
Hiding in an abandoned mine by day and sleuthing by night, Jake begins to unravel the mystery of the deaths. But as adversarial forces close in, Jake must decide whether to escape to isolation or remain and fight for his friends.
Fans of William Johnstone and Ralph Compton will love this action-packed historical western featuring a lone gunman and the people he's tasked with protecting.
Jake Paynter escaped the noose, but the price of salvation is pain.
Since reluctantly accepting the marshal's job at South Pass City, Jake's life has become an unending run of solving other people's problems. When outlaw boss Dutch van Zandt and his ruthless band mount a campaign of mayhem in Jake's corner of the Wyoming Territory, Jake learns that Lucien Ashley, his persistent adversary, may be aiding the criminals to expand his burgeoning cattle fortune. The fact that Lucien is the brother of Rosalyn, a woman Jake admires, complicates matters.
Determined to thwart van Zandt and Lucien, Jake recruits a posse of old friends and former platoon-mates that puts the outlaw gang on the run. When Lucien betrays van Zandt, the outlaw leader loots Jake's town and takes captive Rosalyn and four children. With friends few and enemies in abundance, Jake must thread a harrowing needle to run down van Zandt in the rugged Wyoming wilderness and save Rosalyn and the children without ending up in a shallow grave.