Jubal Stone: U.S. Marshal - Blood Trail to Hell, Part 1, Chapters 1-4

The frontier was no place to hang your hat if you were a coward or weakling, and sometimes even the strong and brave fell victim to the violence that stalked the land and plagued this new and untamed country. Such was the case with Sheriff Joe Stone and his family.

Joe was a man’s man from his narrow-brimmed hat down to his tarnished iron spurs. He had a hickory spine and anvils for fists. A lawman for over twenty-five years, Joe Stone split his time as a Texas ranger and sheriff, keeping law and order in frontier towns all over the Texas territory. Yet, because of the incessant pleadings from his wife, Millie, and his own desire to live a more tranquil life, Stone checked his badge, hung up his shootin’ iron, and took up raising cows and a few head of horses. Together, with their daughter and son, they were committed to make a go of it, and had started well.

With two-and-a-half decades behind the star, Joe, like other lawmen with his tenure, had plenty of enemies. Unfortunately, the last who tried achieved their mission. Four killers showed up at his ranch one day, bank robbers recently released from prison, men Stone had put behind bars. They ambushed Joe and his family, shooting them down like dogs.

However, the assassins made a grave mistake that fateful day. They failed to confirm that fourteen-year-old Jubal, shot and left for dead, was indeed dead. Now, eight years later, Marshal Jubal Stone wears a badge of his own. A .44 Colt sits low on his hip in a dark brown, well-worn leather holster latched down to his leg, both gun and holster his pa’s.

Now behind a United States Marshal’s badge, Jubal Stone will show no mercy when he crosses paths with killers, highbinders, and outlaws foolish enough to challenge his authority. He’s curry combing the frontier in search of his family’s killers, but in the meantime, he will mete out justice along the way.