Cowboy Jim (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798232417680)

He's a killer who leaves no witnesses. The marshal sent to hunt him will pay any price for justice.

Cowboy Jim is a legend in the Territory, a ruthless outlaw who raids, rustles, and kills with impunity. His calling card is a trail of bodies and burned-out homesteads, a brutal warning to any who dare cross him.

When U.S. Marshal Eldridge Sample finds a ferryman shot in the back at Dead Man's Crossing, he's sent by the "Hanging Judge" Parker of Fort Smith with a simple, near-impossible mission: cross the Arkansas River into the lawless expanse of Indian Territory, find Jim, and bring him back. Alive or dead.

To hunt a ghost, Sample must forge an uneasy alliance with men who walk the line between two worlds: Thomas Going Snake, a pragmatic Cherokee deputy, and Captain Samuel Checote, the calculating leader of the Creek Lighthorse. Together, they follow Jim's bloody trail, discovering a burned-out cabin and a murdered family-proof that Jim's evil is greater than they imagined.

From a chaotic night raid on the gang's hidden camp to a desperate, running firefight, the hunt becomes a personal vendetta. The pursuit leads them deep into the unforgiving high country, culminating in a brutal siege in a box canyon. As the body count rises and allies fall, Sample is pushed to the very edge of his own morality. In the dark, unforgiving rocks of the Territory, the final, bloody confrontation between the lawman and the outlaw will prove that in this land, justice and revenge look horrifyingly alike.

A gritty, relentless Western thriller, Cowboy Jim is a must-read for fans of Elmore Leonard's sharp dialogue, Cormac McCarthy's stark realism, and the classic lawman-versus-outlaw chases of Lonesome Dove. This is a story of grim determination and the staggering cost of justice in a land that's forgotten its name.