This series opens with an attempt on Marshal Hawk's life by an unknown gunman, along with a mysterious telegram from Wichita, written to the would-be killer, and a second telegram with the name of Hawk's sworn enemy, Deputy James Cartwell, on it as another target for assassination. Wichita holds memories for both of the targets of the "hit," and even though they hate each other, they reluctantly join forces to hunt down the person who ordered the hit on them.

Johnny Greenway was once a family man. A well-respected marshal who always played fair. Then his wife and son were killed by cutthroats. Johnny killed the killers. Then he hung up his badge and picked up a bottle. Now a shadow of his former self, he has nothing much to live for. But when he singlehandedly stops a bank robbery, he catches the eye of the banker’s daughter. She’s impressed by Johnny’s gun skills, and offers him a job riding shotgun. First he’ll have to stop drinking and clean up his act. But that’s not all that needs cleaning.

Patrick Foley is a haunted man. After losing his family in a brutal Commanche raid, he drifts from town to town seeking justice and revenge. His mission—to track down the killers—has hardened his heart against all men, good or bad. But his icy resolve begins to melt when he arrives in the small Texas town of Christmas Creek—along with a massive winter storm that traps him there with a good woman, her little boy, and some very bad men . . .

Sergeant Ellis White had the Yankee colonel in the crosshairs of the Amadon telescopic sight on the J.F. Brown sniper rifle and knew his index finger just had to squeeze the trigger, but he paused. He hadn’t wanted to be the regimental sniper in the first place because he thought it was a cowardly way of fighting. Ellis had been fighting in this war since the beginning and was tired of it. He just wanted to go back to his ranch in Hardeman County just two hundred miles away and return to his life as a rancher where all he had to worry about was the Texas heat, ornery cattle and the Comanches.

Luke Ransom was just 18 years old when he answered an ad in a St. Louis newspaper that would change his life forever. The American Fur Company needed 100 enterprising men to travel up the Missouri River - the longest in North America - all the way to its source. They would hunt and trap furs for one, two, or three years. Along the way, they would face unimaginable hardships: grueling weather, wild animals, hunger, exhaustion, and hostile attacks by the Blackfeet and Arikara. Luke Ransom was one of the brave men chosen for the job - and one of the few to survive....

Flint Moran was fourteen years old when the Civil War ended. He was fifteen when his family bought a plot of land near Tinhorn, Texas. He was barely nineteen when he caught a pair of rustlers stealing cattle—and singlehandedly brought them to justice. How did a teenaged boy track down and capture two hardcase thieves without any help? That's what Tinhorn sheriff Buck Jackson wants to know. He can't help but be impressed by Flint's sharp eye and natural talent with a Henry rifle. So he offers to deputize the boy—tin badge, Colt Frontier Six-Shooter, and all—and Flint happily accepts.

Orphaned at fourteen, Hector “Heck” Martin heads west, determined to see the far country and make a man of himself. Along the way, he falls in love with bold and beautiful Hope Mullen. But Heck is too young and poor to marry, so he heads west again. During a three-year journey, Heck crosses thousands of miles, becomes a bareknuckle boxer, a mountain man, and an Indian fighter, and meets the likes of Kit Carson and Jim Bridger as he explores the gorgeous and deadly frontier.

Preacher is heading home to the mountains when he's approached by a wealthy European with an unusual proposition. He wants the legendary mountain man to track down his missing cousin—a reckless young woman who fled to America with her lover—and he's willing to pay a small fortune to find her. Preacher isn't one to get mixed up in the affairs of fancy foreigners, but he reluctantly agrees. The search is on. Striking westward from St. Louis, Preacher quickly begins to suspect that this search party is doomed. And this trail will lead to some very dead ends.

On nothing more than a lark, he leaves his family and begins a journey from Ohio westward. Along the way, he runs up against badlands and bad men, loses his freedom, gains his freedom and learns the first rule of the frontier: Do whatever it takes to survive. With ruthless enemies after him - both White men and Indians - he’ll head for a place as brutal as it is beautiful - the wilderness of the Rocky Mountains.

Marshal Will Fain and Deputy Marshal Isum Wood track an escaped murderer who has escaped from the Santa Angela jail with the help of his brothers. They defend the Fain Ranch against a vengeful posse from Fort Griffin intent on murdering Will and Isum, uncover a four-state counterfeiting operation headquartered in San Antonio, and track down one of Texas' most famous bank robbers, Jim Bob Winslow. Will and Isum refuse to recognize the border between Texas and Mexico, and go into Mexico to capture four of the toughest and most murderous outlaws ever known in Texas.

Aaron hadn’t been caught by surprise by the early arrival of the Nebraska blizzard in November, so after hunkering down for the night to wait out the snow and gale-like winds, he set out in the predawn to resume his trek across the plains to get to his ranch. While he may not have been surprised by the storm, he was soon stunned by what he discovered on the frozen ground southwest of Scotts Bluff.

In 1875, two young Sioux are lynched in Lockwood, Wyoming, by a makeshift posse for a crime they may or may not have committed. Ethan Ramsey knows he must act quickly to prevent a bloody retaliation from their Sioux tribe. Can he gain the trust of both the Sioux and the townspeople of Lockwood to allow enough time to unravel the mystery of the crime and ensure justice is fairly served?

Charlie Dawson and his partner Clem don't consider themselves bad guys. But they definitely made a bad error in judgment on a gold mine deal—turns out there was no gold—and ended up in a shootout with some very angry claim jumpers. Now a posse is in hot pursuit of Charlie and Clem. The unlucky pair hightail it to San Francisco, where they try to blend into the red-light district known as Barbary Coast. Another bad decision on their part.

The sight of a rotting corpse hanging from a noose is enough to stop any man in his tracks—and Luke Jensen is no exception. Sure, he could just keep riding through. He's got a prisoner to deliver, after all. But when a group of men show up with another prisoner for another hanging, Luke can't turn his back—especially when the condemned man keeps swearing he's innocent. Right up to the moment he's hung by the neck till he's dead . . . Welcome to Hannigan's Hill, Wyoming. Better known as Hangman's Hill.

The Long Trail is the first book in the best-selling series about the McCabes, a family building a ranch in the rugged wilderness of post-Civil War Montana, and of a young man seeking his family and his destiny.