He abandons roots that are his foundational strength and hides behind his charm, living every moment as if life’s daring him to fail―again. He’s reckoning with his father’s God who could have delivered better outcomes but didn’t.This first installment in an epic trilogy that begins in the 1920’s, unique in its purposeful illumination of the human condition and its ideological indifference to God, asks the question: “Why was God silent when I needed him?” Simon’s return to the notion of forgiveness is the catalyst for a new beginning as it reunites Simon to the place he once thought was the impossible dream. The answer for Simon isn’t blowing in the backwinds of his dream chase; rather, it unfolds in the outstretched hand of a villain.

    

    Decades before Crockett, Bowie or Houston even set foot in Texas, Frederick Stockman was already there. Author Elizabeth Schwartz, a ninth-generation Texan, has delved deep into her ancestral roots to create this moving story of the Frederick Stockman familys' courageous determination to make Texas their home during the turbulent period between 1806 and 1836. The Texicans was inspired by a Texas history book calling her ancestral clan a "congenial society for evil"--rogues "skilled in many forms of villainy" for their role in the tumultuous years of first Spanish, the Mexican rule. Frederick Stockman and his family immigrate to Spanish Texas in 1806 to ranch, but soon find themselves inexorably drawn into the bitter conflict between Mexico and Spain. They join forces with a dashing young Spanish deserter, Miguel Gonzales, in his successful campaign to liberate Mexico and Texas from Spanish rule. Their ties are further cemented when Gonzales marries into the family. As Heroes of Mexico, the Texicans--staunch supporters of Mexican rule for Texas--find themselves vilified by North American settlers illegally flocking across the unprotected border. These newcomers, calling themselves Texians, view Mexico, Mexicans and Texicans as the enemy. Targets of bigotry, the Texicans themselves are torn along cultural lines as their hero-turned-despot, General Santa Anna, propels them towards a deadly showdown.

    Dylan Ryan arrives in Texas just as the Runaway Scrape is in full swing and the Battle at San Jacinto nears. He misses going to war when he comes to the aid of Mort Lems, severely wounded by outlaws who seek information on the location of an old trail used by the Spaniards to transport gold bullion from Texas to New Orleans. It is said gold bars are still buried along that trail. Dylan and Mort escape to the prairie of North Texas and the safety of the Red River Wilderness. But instead of having the land to themselves, they discover peaceful settlements springing up around trading posts all along the river. Peace is fleeting, as Indians grow angry at the homesteaders breaking the soil with their plows on land that was promised to them for hunting grounds. The newly organized Republic of Texas is unable to provide the settlements protection, so it is the trading post owners who hire gunmen to act as ranger forces to repel the hostiles. A new war has begun, this time with an unpredictable enemy. Dylan, Mort and the settlers watch their dreams for a new beginning end as clouds of dark smoke rise into the clear blue sky as homesteads burn. Indians begin to raid every community, burning, stealing horses and taking women and children as slaves. Overnight the promise of a better life in Texas has been replaced with one of a living hell. Blood Trail is the first in a series.

    Famed Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson bring off an against-all-odds surprise victory, humiliating a Yankee force three times the size of their own, while the Northern army is torn by rivalries, anti-immigrant prejudice and selfish ambition. This historically accurate epic captures the high drama, human complexity and existential threat that nearly tore the United States in two, featuring a broad range of fascinating—and real—characters, in blue and gray, who sum to an untold story about a battle that has attained mythic proportions. And, in the end, the Confederate triumph proved a Pyrrhic victory, since it lured Lee to embark on what would become the war's turning point—the Gettysburg Campaign (featured in Cain At Gettysburg).