Bøker av James A Janke

In 1879 Marcus Irons is the young deputy marshal of the small town of Madera Verde in Arizona Territory. He is deadly with a gun, expert with his fists, likes whiskey, poker, and women, and exudes a physically intimidating air of authority.Earlier, during the Civil War, an attack by Apaches forced a party of the subversive Knights of the Golden Circle to bury a strongbox of gold coins in the ruins of an ancient pueblo in northeast Arizona Territory. Beautiful Ophelia Grayson has just learned of the treasure, and she hires Irons to help her and her crew try to find it.Archibald Hardwick, the erudite editor of the local newspaper, joins the search, eager for a good story.It's a three-day ride up the long, steep escarpment leading from the Verde Valley to the Colorado Plateau and its scattered ruins of pueblos, and they must traverse the challenging Mogollon [MO-gee-yon] Rim to get there. The journey and the search for the gold are beset by deadly threats and startling revelations. For that matter, can Charlie Number Two, the Navajo scouting for buffalo soldiers, even find the desired pueblo?Marcus Irons will be lucky to simply survive the quest!

Passed Midshipman Gavin MacKenzie and the USS Pawnee head for Charleston Harbor in a desperate attempt to resupply Fort Sumter in April 1861. Too late, the country plunges into civil war. Events follow quickly for the Pawnee: the destruction of the Norfolk Navy Yard, the Battle of Aquia Creek, the capture of Hatteras Inlet in North Carolina's Outer Banks. By February of '62, MacKenzie, on the USS Delaware, is in the thick of the battle to capture North Carolina's Roanoke Island and to destroy the defending Confederate mosquito fleet. Ironically, naval officer MacKenzie sees much of his action ashore, in command of howitzer detachments. But battle still calls for the heart-pounding boarding of a Rebel vessel with pistol and cutlass.The Civil War generates painful dilemmas, and MacKenzie is deeply conflicted by his close friendship with the Franklins of Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Jeremy was his best friend at the Naval Academy but "goes South" when his state secedes. And his sister, Rebecca, is an alluring and headstrong young woman who challenges MacKenzie's intention to marry-eventually-the beautiful Christina back home in Wisconsin.Join Gavin MacKenzie and the Navy as the horrendous defining event in the country's history unfolds.