New Release - Clear Cut Justice by J.L. Crafts (A Will Toal Novel Book 3)

Spring 1876…

When a bomb explodes in a sawmill near Glenbrook Harbor, the residents and businessmen on the shores of Lake Tahoe are left reeling. Will Toal and his wife, Beth, are caught in the deadly, fiery fragments of the devastating explosion, and Beth is severely injured.  

Will gets Beth to the doctor and sets out to find those responsible. Once again, he is drawn back into the crosshairs of business barons clashing among themselves while competing for economic and political clout amid the silver riches of the West.  Will’s been in this position before in earlier days, but this time, the big company money is out to get him—and things just got personal. 

Will just wants those who hurt Beth brought to justice, but he must find out who’s responsible for setting that blast— the first of many to come, if he figures right. With the timber business leveling the forests around Lake Tahoe, and the silver mines clamoring for the necessary wood, the arsonists could be working for anyone. Those who don’t believe in the deforestation process will go to any lengths to save the woodlands, but those who need the jobs lumbering provides are just as determined.

In a race against time, Will is forced to work with an old nemesis, private investigator Dale Paris, to try to stop the arsonists and save the sawmills from disaster. Can they stop the bloodshed? At any price, Will is determined to have CLEAR CUT JUSTICE…   

EXCERPT

“It’s so beautiful,” she said. So clear, so untouched until they built those sawmills and sunk all the pilings. And look at the slopes uphill. Those slopes once held a forest of pine trees. Now, only a few small trees and saplings sprout here and there. It looks stripped.”

Will replied as he closed his eyes, “People say he destroyed the forest by clear cutting it. But Bliss told me he leaves all trees less than twelve inches across because he knows he’ll have to come back in a few years for more wood, and if he did cut everything he’d be out of business,”

“He might think he is preserving some part of the forest, but if you look around, it sure doesn’t seem like there is any timberland left. Lots of people down in Carson City are not shy about saying Bliss ruined Tahoe.”

“You’re right about that,” Will added. “There are some who think the fires last year in two of the mills were started on purpose by those who were mad about the logging.”

As if Will’s comment on fire called up lurking powers of destruction, an explosion rocked the beach, the meadow and Glenbrook House itself. To Will, it felt like the entire harbor moved. The violence and upheaval was enhanced by the deafening sound. He jumped up, losing his hat, but instantly noticing the mass of wood and metal pieces flying into the air amid dark smoke.

     

New Release - Out of the Darkness by Robert D. McKee

Micah McConners returns to his hometown of Probity, Wyoming, to set up his law practice. He never dreams his best friend, Doctor Chester Hedstrom, will be his first courtroom case—and Micah will be defending him for a crime that could put him in prison for fourteen years!

Doctor Hedstrom, bound by his moral convictions, has admitted to what he did—performed an illegal abortion on a young woman who has been raped. The perpetrator of the rape, Sonny Pratt, is the entitled son of a wealthy rancher—and he’ll go to any lengths to keep his freedom—even commit a murder or two.

Can an inexperienced Micah defend the doctor well enough to exonerate him from the charges he faces and set him free? And can the citizens manage to survive the psychopathic vengeance that Sonny Pratt has begun to wreak on the town of Probity?

As the tension builds to a shattering climax, the two friends must bring Sonny to justice, but at a terrible life-altering cost for both of them. Justice may be served in this frontier town, but can it bring them OUT OF THE DARKNESS…

EXCERPT:

Micah McConners had been back in his hometown of Probity, Wyoming, less than fifteen minutes when the peaceful afternoon was cracked open by a gunshot. He could tell it came from around the corner on Main Street, so Micah, being curious, edged in closer to the buildings and started in that direction. The second shot, though, brought him to a stop. By the sound of it, the gunfire was getting closer, and his natural curiosity began to drain.

It was August 1900, and central Wyoming was mostly civilized. From time to time, a band of young Indians would ride around the countryside raising a little havoc, and trains were robbed often enough to cause the railroad barons back East some sleepless nights, but the land's wildness, for the most part, had been tamed.

Micah's father, John, used to tell stories of the old days when about everyone wore a sidearm. During those unruly times, gunfights in the streets were not uncommon, but now, times were modern, and such things were rare. After all, it was almost the twentieth century. Some wrongly believed the new century had begun on January 1, 1900, but Micah knew it wouldn't really start for another four months.

As Micah reminded himself that times were less wild now than in his father's day, he heard a third shot, and that pretty much took away whatever curiosity he had left. He decided it would be wise to duck between the buildings until he could determine what was going on. As that prudent thought came to mind, a riderless horse raced around the corner at full gallop.