Books by Mike Blakely

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A Tale Out of Luck

By Willie Nelson and Mike Blakely

Center Street (www.HachetteBookGroup.com)

September 3, 2008

Retired Texas Ranger Captain Hank Tomlinson intends to spend the rest of his days raising cattle on his Broken Arrow Ranch, and nurturing his frontier town of Luck, Texas. But when the brutal murder and scalping of a mysterious drifter leads to a clash between cavalry soldiers and a band of Comanche Indians suspected of the killing, a full-scale Indian uprising seems likely. Worse yet, the murder of the drifter bears a disturbing resemblance to a string of killings Hank remembers from his distant and violent past as a Texas Ranger.

Meanwhile, Hank's twenty-year-old son, Jay Blue, and his adoptive brother, Skeeter, find themselves on the trail of a valuable Kentucky mare who vanished under their watch. The trail leads them into the dangerous haunts of outlaws and vengeful Comanche warriors. Now Hank must attempt to keep his sons safe while trying to catch a murderer who he knows will soon strike again. His ace-in-the-hole is beautiful Flora Barlow, the tavern owner with a knack for detective work.

Though rival lawman, Matt Kenyon, and competing rancher, Jack Brennan, complicate Hank's investigation, he and Flora slowly begin to uncover a crooked web of crime, deception, and murder. Dark secrets emerge, and everyone must choose sides as lawmen, outlaws, soldiers, and Indian warriors converge for a final, bloody confrontation.

"The Rarest Breed", an Amazon Short

A few years ago, I came up with a story idea in which a hide hunter has a chance to kill a rare white buffalo, an achievement that would bring him the envy of his peers and possibly even some wealth. However, I had trouble coming up with a meaningful conclusion. Finally, I envisioned the solution while staring across the Great Plains where once the American bison roamed.
4,272 words, 15 pages

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COME SUNDOWN

Reluctant hero, Honore Greenwood, has a knack for embroiling himself in the most violent conflicts of the Southern Plains. Known as Plenty Man to the Comanches, Honore serves as ransom negotiator for captives among the Indians. As if his life wasn’t in danger enough, Honore has offered his services to the New Mexico Volunteers in the Civil War. But as Honore’s luck would have it, he’s in the same unit as Luther Sheffield, a man whose grudge against Greenwood knows no boundaries, even though they are fighting on the same side. Leaving behind his beautiful Arapaho bride, Honore rides out, joining his legendary friend, Kit Carson, as a scout. But he is swept into more action than he bargained for—heavy combat in the battles of Val Verde Ford and Glorieta Pass plus Indian attacks—all the while watching over his shoulder for the ruthless Luther Sheffield. Worried that he may soon be ordered to take up arms against his own adoptive tribe, the Comanches, Honore resigns as Kit’s scout to return to his tribe.

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Hardcover - 480 pages (June 2006)
Forge; ISBN: 0312867050

MOON MEDICINE Click Here to read first chapter

Honore Greenwood is ninety-nine, a legend in his own time--and when he sits down to tell his tale, people listen. IN the 1840's Greenwood was wanted for murder in Paris after killing a master swordsman to avenge the woman he loved. To escape, he stowed away on a packet bound for New Orleans, making his way to the wildest frontier in America, the Indian ranges of the Great Southern Plains. Shortly after his arrival, he meets and falls in love with Gabriela Badillo, a beautiful young woman from Taos. But when he learns that she is promised to another, Honore goes back to the wilderness and volunteers for a dangerous project--he will build a fort right in the middle of Comanche country.

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Hardcover - 416 pages (August 2001)
Forge; ISBN: 0312867042

SUMMER OF PEARLS

* 2001 Spur Award Winner for Best Western Novel *

Ben Crowell remembers the Great Caddo Lake Pearl Rush of 1874. He was fourteen that year, and his home, the riverboat community of Port Caddo, was dying. By the end of the summer, the pearl boom was over, Port Caddo was doomed, and the mystery over who killed Judd Kelso began. It took Ben forty years to solve the mystery, and once he did, the proof came only for him to witness. He is the only living soul who will know what happened that September night in 1874.