Wild Side of the River

Book excerpt: A son sets out to make things right and avenge his father’s death in this dark Western noir. Ethan Wilder has been off in the mountains hunting for the last several months. Upon his return to the family Bar Five Ranch, Wilder finds his life in chaos. His brother, Ben, after taking his father’s rifle without permission, has locked his father in the outhouse to avoid punishment. Another brother, Vic, is in jail, accused of beating up a girl in town, and the last of the Wilder brothers, Joel, is up north in Canada, trying to sell horses to the Mounties. Ethan’s father, Jacob, has a reputation in town for raising hell. In his opinion, no man tamed the wilderness with a timid soul, but the newer citizens of the town have now been pushing for the removal of local farmers and ranchers like the Wilders. Things come to a head when his father joins the ranks of local farmers found dead under suspicious circumstances. Ethan has no choice but to turn to revenge to uphold the family name and ensure that the murderers won’t come for him next. Wild Side of the River reveals the dark side of the wild frontier in this gripping tale and modern Western classic. Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction that takes place in the old West. Westerns—books about outlaws, sheriffs, chiefs and warriors, cowboys and Indians—are a genre in which we publish regularly. Our list includes international bestselling authors like Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour, and many more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.