J. D. HARKLEROAD

Ketch Colt has a rep for three things: his word is his bond, he's the best horse-breaker in southwestern Utah, and he's one certified hell-raiser.  In a fit of maturity, he marries and settles down on land bought from old Ed Duerson who owns the sandstone ridge that gives White Reef its name.  Unknown to either man, that ridge is a mother lode of silver ore waiting to be discovered.

Silver in sandstone?  Impossible, according to the miners.  But Charlie Wykle, publisher and editor, knows better.  A newspaper he once worked for had run a filler about silver being found in sandsone in a German mine centuries ago.  Abusing the power of the press, Wykle suggests Ketch's culpability in the "suicide" of the horse-breaker's young wife in an attempt to sway public opinion against him. Wykle will use any means and anybody to get his hands on that ridge.  The question is, will bronc buster Ketch Colt let him?                                                                                                                                                                                    

 The following book review is by D.R. Meredith, Editor, ROUNDUP Magazine:

   A horse-breaker and hell-raiser with a serious alcohol problem, no one saw Ketch Colt as a husband any decent woman would marry, but Charlie Wykle, publisher and editor of the Reef Weekly Record, claimed Ketch’s wife, Annie, was no decent woman. When she and the baby she carried were murdered, Charlie claimed that Ketch killed her and burned down his house to hide the evidence.  At least, that’s what Revel Bentsen’s foreman told her.  Then why had Charlie Wykle hoodwinked her into hiring Ketch as part of his deal to help her buy the Slash R if Wykle hated him so much?  Ketch wonders the same thing until he sees a gleam in a piece of sandstone Revel had picked up on his land, and  suddenly all the pieces fall into place: Annie’s murder, their house burned down, all to drive him off his land.  Before he can tell Revel, someone shoots her and the sheriff.  Someone wants him and Revel dead, but be damned if he’d die just to please Charlie Wykle.

    Ketch Colt is a page-turner, compelling, suspenseful, full of action with a touch of romance.  Harkleroad is a heck of a writer and I can hardly wait for her next book.

The following book review is by S.M. Ballard*:

   Ketch Colt is no one's idea of a model citizen. With a whore for a mother and an unknown for a father, Ketch is a hell-raiser deluxe and proud of it, until he meets and marries a sweet Kansas girl. He brings Cindianne home to Utah where the newlyweds set up housekeeping on Ketch's ranch. But life is going too well, too smoothly. There's big trouble ahead.

   When his pregnant wife is murdered and his home burned to the ground, Ketch is devastated, his once promising future has turned bleak and empty. Making matters worse, local newspaper man, Charlie Wykle, fingers Ketch for the murder of Cindianne and claims Ketch burned down the house to hide the evidence.

   What does Charlie Wykle have against Ketch? And why does Wykle hatch a plot to drive Ketch off the Slash R? What does Wykle know about the property that Ketch doesn't?

   J.D. Harkleroad really knows the ins and outs of spinning a tale of suspense, intrigue, and romance. Her characters are finely wrought and richly textured while her knowledge of Utah and the ranching life is second to none.  Do yourself a big favor and pick up a copy of Ketch Colt.  You won't be sorry.

*S.M. Ballard is a writer of all things western. Visit her website at www.trebleheartbooks.com/SD_SMBallard.html.

This book is available at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/, http://www.borders.com/, http://www.publishamerica