WL Cox's Books

Jewel's slow recovery weighs on Lucille, stirring doubts about marrying a lawman. Meanwhile, Hunt sends men to track a cougar after the rancher hunting it vanishes, worrying his wife, and receives an unsettling telegram from Judith about Charles's overdue ship. When Dodd suffers a fainting spell that leaves Dr. Green stumped, he's sent to New Orleans for treatment, leaving Hunt shorthanded and forced to join his men on a dangerous mission where deputies find themselves pinned down in a gun battle, low on food and water.

Hunt and his men head to Arizona to stop a Mexican militia raiding ranches and rustling cattle across the border. Hunt and brother-in-law Clover are wounded early on, forcing Hunt to seek medical help and leave his men to fight alone, until he finds a cavalry unit to help rescue them. Back in Denver, a deranged man threatens Hunt's family, sparking a full manhunt. Meanwhile, Hunt's deputies juggle a string of urgent cases: rescuing an injured, amnesiac young girl found wandering a ranch, tracking armed deserters after a deadly bank robbery, investigating livestock killings, and confronting a highway killer, a self-proclaimed fastest gun in the West, a lawless town, and a towering, dangerous man even the local sheriff won't face.

In this installment, Hunt gets an unexpected visit from Beth's sister and her new husband, a man bearing a striking resemblance to a fugitive wanted in New York for rape, robbery, and murder. Elsewhere, Clayton leads a manhunt across Utah after a sheriff's murder in a town that couldn't care less, while Earl and Jewels track cattle thieves and killers from Texas into New Mexico, ending in a border shootout and arrests. Meanwhile, Ben and Jason chase a mysterious highway robber who seems to vanish without a trace after every heist, earning the nickname "The Rock Ghost."

With two new deputies joining the team, Clayton returns from escorting Storm Warrior to the Boston docks just in time to back up Jed, who finds himself outnumbered after a sheriff's deputy is killed. Hunt's team is growing stronger, though he remains concerned about Dodd, still recovering from a bullet wound at the ranch. As calls for help pour in from across the lawless frontier, Hunt and his marshals work tirelessly to protect the innocent and prove to settlers that justice has finally come to the wild plains.

Hunt returns from training to take over the Denver office and a mountain of complaints, quickly dispatching deputies across the territory: Jed and Earl to chase bank robbers in New Mexico, three marshals to free miners pinned down by gunfire, two men to rein in an angry rancher's posse before it turns to lynching, and two more to calm a Utah town descending into chaos after its sheriff's murder. Closer to home, three men Hunt once captured break out of prison, vowing to kill him. Hunt gets approval to add two new deputies, recruiting two men most consider unlikely candidates for the job.

Hunt-U.S. Marshal V is packed with action as a Mexican gang of bandits descends on Denver to free their captured leaders, forcing the outnumbered marshals to call in the U.S. Cavalry. As the outlaws converge on the town determined to burn it down, help may arrive too late to stop them.

Hunt and his fellow marshals track a stolen cattle herd to Kansas City, the chase ending in gunfire. Back in Denver, Hunt is ambushed by a man running an illegal still, and while he recovers, the other lawmen search for a missing marshal. During his recovery, Hunt falls hard for the nurse caring for him. Not long after, Hunt strikes gold on his land, buys up 5,000 adjoining acres, and starts building a herd of prime cattle.

The Hunt-U.S. Marshal series continues as Hunt and Earl head north to investigate two missing army scouts, escorted to a Sioux camp by cavalry from Fort Carson. Their visit grows complicated when a man from Philadelphia arrives demanding the army's help retrieving his daughter, whom he claims is being held against her will at the camp. Hunt comes face to face with the man he once tracked from Boston to the Missouri River, with surprising results.

The Hunt II volume picks up after graduation from the U.S. Marshal Service's training. On his way to Denver, Hunt stops in Kansas City to find his friend, Deputy Marshal Burns, shot by a sniper, and gets permission to investigate before moving on. In Denver, he quickly earns a reputation for getting results, helping solve the murders of two fellow deputies along with a string of other crimes.

Hunt returns from Hidden Valley feeling renewed, and a visit to Dr. Green brings good news, along with word of a proposal for a new hospital that Charles happens to hear about during a visit of his own. Hunt's recovery is tested when a saloon confrontation turns violent, while Dakota returns from the Academy to settle in Denver. Meanwhile, Hunt's men take on a grim case in New Mexico, tracking bandits responsible for murdering a rancher's family and stealing their livestock. Excitement over the new hospital's groundbreaking sours when a disgruntled land speculator files a lawsuit against Charles and the city, forcing Hunt to step in before tensions boil over.

Hunt returns to Chicago for graduation, then travels through New Orleans, Austin, and Kansas City searching for a deputy to promote to Marshal, only to realize the best candidate is in Denver, but his promotion would gut his own team. Before he can decide, urgent news pulls him to Washington for a meeting threatening his career, where a tense clash with Jacob D. Cox forces President Grant himself to step in. Hunt then checks on his new Mississippi office and joins a raid on a troublesome postwar gang before pressing Grant to let him return to Denver. Grant agrees, but only if Hunt first joins Charles Crawford on a dangerous mission into Indian territory. Back home, Hunt also faces a setback when his beloved horse Gunner falls ill, forcing him to break in an untamable three-year-old instead.

Hunt returns to Chicago for graduation and ends up filling in as instructor while Deputy Marshal John Rube recovers from illness, until  John returns to everyone's relief. A trip to Vermont turns deadly when deputies ride into an ambush, losing one marshal and leaving another wounded, making clear the need for a new regional office. In Denver, Hunt arranges a cattle sale and makes a payment to Charles Crawford, then swings by Phoenix to visit old friend Ben Collins before heading to Orlando to see Marshal Earl Jefferson, returning home with a unique gift for the family.