Wilderness Fiction

The savage Rockies - home to bloodthirsty Indians and ferocious beasts. With cunning, grit, and skill, Nate King has hacked a life out of the punishing wilderness. A seasoned hunter and trapper, he can fend off attacks from brutal warriors and grizzlies alike. But a hunt for a huge, deadly mountain lion proves to be his greatest challenge.

Nate King embarks on a perilous journey through the Rockies to track a huge grizzly bear that has been terrorizing the Utes, but he gets more than he bargained for when he comes face to face with the eerily clever creature.

When Nate King chose a new valley in which to build his home, he wanted to get away from all civilization and the inevitable trouble it brings. But Nate can't duck trouble for very long. A hostile band of Indians has also laid claim to the Kings' valley, and they've made it clear they're not willing to share. In a desperate act to punish Nate and his family, they capture his daughter, Evelyn. And Nate will do anything it take - even if it means sacrificing his own life - to get her back.

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.

Hunted? In the harsh wilderness of the Rocky Mountains, every day presents a new challenge. Nate King and his family have survived by overcoming those challenges, one by one. But in the new valley that is their home, they face perils they've never before known. Some of the most vicious predators on the continent are stalking the Kings and their friends. Nate has gone up against grizzlies, mountain lions, and enraged buffalo, but he's never battled wolverines. One wolverine is dangerous enough, but five live in this valley, and they're out for blood.

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.

Growing up in the wild frontier of the Rockies, Zach King survived countless dangers, from nature and from human predators. Like his father, the legendary Nate King, Zach has learned to anticipate threats before they appear. But even Zach can’t predict the danger he’ll face when he travels with his fiancée to meet her family in St. Louis.

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.

Zach King, son of legendary mountain man Nate King, is at home in the harshest terrain of the Rockies. But nothing can prepare him for the perils of civilization. Locked in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with his sister's kidnapper, Zach wends his way through the streets of New Orleans like the seasoned hunter he is. Yet this is not the wild, and the trappings of society offer his prey only more places to hide.

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.

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.