Tall, lanky Jack Ryland is riding the Wells Fargo stage through California gold country when the stage is robbed by highwaymen. But he ruefully discovers that he’s not much of a hero—though he’d give almost anything to impress lovely fellow passenger, Eliza Richardson.
Fresh from the East, this twenty-six-year-old greenhorn suddenly finds himself in the middle of a manhunt and a murder investigation. The search for clues takes Jack into the untamed country around Coloma, birthplace of the California Gold Rush. There he encounters bears and wild horses—and outlaws and misfits of all kinds. From getting hit on the head to being shot at, Jack finds his new job as Wells Fargo investigative agent is much more than he bargained for.
But drunken miners, sidewinders, lynch mobs, bucking broncos, and killer outlaws are nothing compared to the trembling Jack feels when he looks into Miss Eliza Richardson’s eyes. Can he ever hope to win the heart of such a strong-minded and confident woman? If he wants to gain her respect, Jack knows that he’s got to catch the robbers and clear an innocent man before it’s too late.
Bodie and Brock Thoene have coauthored a number of bestsellers, including Shiloh Autumn, The Twilight of Courage, The Saga of the Sierras, Only the River Runs Free, and the first book in the Wayward Wind series, Winds of Promise. The Thoenes have won seven ECPA Gold Medallion Awards for fiction. They live near Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
