Wilderness Fiction

Josie Hudson has survived horrors no one should ever have to endure. Retreating to the wilderness has allowed her to cope with the past by avoiding things that remind her of the ordeal. When a trusted mentor asks for a special favor, Josie is forced out of her place of comfort and directly into the unknown. Travis Wilder confronts life as a competition he is determined to win. Being second best to a girl is not an option. Agreeing to lead a group of pioneers on the Oregon Trail seems like the perfect opportunity to earn some respect.

The people of Avis worship their deities in front of the gate to their Holy Land. On a fateful day in 1986, the gods cut themselves off from humanity for unknown reasons. Fourteen years later, in the year 2000, six kids stumble upon this parallel world. There, they discover they have secret powers and attempt to unravel the mystery of that fateful night.

Frontiersmen living in the untamed Rockies are surrounded every day by endless dangers, including attack by hostile Indians. But to Nate King and his family, the local tribes are simply people like them, people trying to live free in the glorious mountains, and many of them have become their friends. It is only when Nate’s son, Zach, sets out with his fiancée to visit her relatives in St. Louis that Zach meets savages of a very different kind - vicious white cutthroats who kidnap his beloved.

Nate and his young family journey to the southern Rockies, only to have the child and woman taken by the Apache. With the help of his friend Shakespeare McNair, Nate will save his loved ones or die trying.

In 1829, a new life in the vast uncharted region beyond the Mississippi River was a cause for celebration, and fear. With wild beasts, lawless renegades, and hostile Indians enough to threaten even the bravest of men, a newborn had little hope for survival. Upon the birth of their first child, trapper Nathaniel King and his Indian wife, Winona, were overjoyed. But their delight turned to terror when Nathan accompanied the men of Winona's tribe on a deadly buffalo hunt. If King didn't return, his family was sure to perish.

Rugged and independent, the mountain men who live in the savage Rockies needed great courage just to survive. Not a day passed without wild animals, deadly cutthroats, or hostile elements threatening to destroy them. To protect their homes and families, Nathaniel King and other settlers taught their sons the skills that would help them battle their enemies. But young Zach was still a tenderfoot when vicious Indians captured King.

Nate King and his family are accustomed to dealing with the perils of the wild. It's the spread of civilization that sends them farther into the rugged Rocky Mountains to find a more secluded home. Along the way, fighting off attacks from rattlesnakes and wild buffalo, Nate becomes separated from the rest of the group. And only then does he realize that civilization isn't so ready to be left behind.

Caroline Hudson has always gone after what she wants. Leaving the wilderness to pursue a medical degree in Boston would seem unfathomable to most. Being taken seriously as a woman doctor may be her biggest obstacle to overcome. An unexpected offer appears to provide every opportunity for which she had hoped, until a face appears from the shadows to remind her of what she truly wants.

In 1829, life west of the Mississippi was filled with constant peril and hardship. At any moment, a settler might find himself threatened by a murderous Indian or a deadly beast. Only rugged mountain men like Nathaniel King had the courage to challenge the unknown dangers for the freedom the wilderness offered. But when Nate and his mentor Shakespeare McNair made enemies of two Flathead Indians, their survival skills were tested as never before. If either man made one mistake, both would suffer merciless deaths.

On one of the coldest nights in Minnesota history, the difference between life and death is literally the blink of an eye for Phil Broker, until recently St. Paul's most successful undercover cop. That blink will convey the urgent warning of a comatose man who knows the dark truth binding Broker to a remarkable cast of characters: a weary anesthesiologist, a brilliant surgeon, a wealthy novelist, his ex-wife (a reformed exotic dancer), and her unrepentant pimp.

William’s life had been tragically altered as a youth, now his life is about to change once again. William thought that he and his little brother could now live in relative peace, using their gifts in secret while working on the ranch they stumbled upon as children. However, his existence will become jeopardized, and he will have to find a way to make it through more tragedy. Zane was neglected by his father, pampered by his mother; the one connection he craved was with William, but the youth’s younger brother prevented it.

What are the politics of nature? Who owns it, where is it, what role does it play in our lives? Does it need to be tamed? Are we ourselves natural? In A Darker Wilderness, a constellation of luminary writers reflect on the significance of nature in their lived experience and on the role of nature in the lives of Black folks in the United States. Each of these essays engages with a single archival object, whether directly or obliquely, exploring stories spanning hundreds of years and thousands of miles, traveling from roots to space and finding rich Blackness everywhere.

After a long winter in the remote Teton Mountains, Anna Porter is convinced that she's not cut out for wilderness living. Her heart yearns for a place where she'll feel at home, and she's ready to continue the journey she started a year ago along the Oregon Trail. Without an escort, she may be forced to marry a stranger out of necessity, until the least likely man agrees to accompany her.

Though living on the frontier was deadly, the reward for the hardy souls brave enough to take the risk was unlimited freedom—freedom that murderous renegades would steal for a few pieces of gold. When mountain man Nathaniel King and his family were threatened by a band of slavers, they faced enemies like none they'd ever battled.

Life in the brutal wilderness of the Rockies is never easy. Danger can appear at any time, from any direction. Whether it’s in the form of hostile Indians, fierce animals, or the unforgiving elements, death can surprise any unwary frontiersman. That’s why Nate King and his family have mastered the fine art of survival – and learned to provide help to their friends whenever necessary. So when one of Nate’s neighbors shows up at his cabin more dead than alive, Nate doesn’t hesitate for a second.

When Nate King comes along a pair of green would-be trappers from New York, he is only too glad to risk his life to save them from a Piegan war party. It's only after he takes them into his own cabin that he realizes that they would repay his kindness with betrayal.

It takes a special breed of man to survive in the wilds of the American frontier. A man like Nate King has the courage, the strength and the skills he needs to endure the hardships of the magnificent Rockies. But the four cutthroats who heard about Nate paying for provisions with gold don’t plan to make it on their own. They figure they can get Nate’s gold for themselves. When they kidnap Nate’s younger daughter they think they’ve struck it rich. They don’t know Nate very well. They don’t know that he’ll do anything to protect his family.

Gold Dust Fever! Penniless old trapper Ben Frazier is just about ready to pack it all in when an Arapaho warrior takes pity on him and shows him where to find the elusive gold that white men value so greatly. His problems seem to be over, but then another band of trappers finds out about the gold and force Ben to lead them to it. It’s up to Zach King to save the old man, but can he survive a fight against a gang of gold-crazed mountain men?

The unforgiving wilderness of the Rocky Mountains forced a boy to grow up fast, so Nate King taught his son, Zach, how to survive the constant hazards and hardships--and he taught him well. With an Indian war party on the prowl and a marauding grizzly on the loose, young Zach was about to face the test of his life, with no room for failure. But there was one danger Nate hadn't prepared Zach for--a beautiful girl with blue eyes.

The brutal wilderness of the Rocky Mountains can be deadly to those unaccustomed to its dangers. So when a clan of travelers from the hill country back East arrive at Nate King's part of the mountain, Nate is more than willing to lend a hand and show them some hospitality. He has no way of knowing that this clan is used to fighting--and killing--for what they want. And they want Nate's land for their own!