The Carrion Trench
(2026)(The ninth book in the U.S. Marshal Jedediah Evander Western series)
A novel by Richard Barris and C Wayne Winkle
Thirty stolen cattle. A hidden industrial slaughter camp. And a canyon so foul that even the law refuses to enter it.
When Reagan Evander follows the stench of decay into the southern breaks of the Texas Panhandle, he discovers a scene unlike anything he has ever encountered. Thirty head of prime breeding stock have been butchered where they fell, their hides and fat stripped away by skilled hands before being hauled south by freight wagons. The trail leads to whispers of an old threat few people still remember: the Tallow Men, organized hide-skinners who have transformed cattle theft into a ruthless industry hidden beyond the reach of the law.
The danger becomes personal when Lucas Evander vanishes while surveying a new fence line. Captured and taken deep into a hidden limestone fissure known as the Blanco Sink, he finds himself trapped inside a sprawling rendering operation where steam machinery, boiling vats, and mountains of stripped bone fuel a criminal enterprise built on stolen livestock and human intimidation. Kept alive for his engineering skills, Lucas realizes that survival will depend as much on his intelligence as his courage.
While Lucas searches for weaknesses inside the camp, Reagan, Jedediah, Rebecca, and Santiago assemble a desperate rescue. The Blanco Sink is a natural fortress filled with smoke, machinery, armed guards, and treacherous footing slick with years of industrial waste. Every approach is exposed, every advantage belongs to the enemy, and every hour increases the risk that Lucas’s usefulness will come to an end.
Filled with frontier action, family loyalty, wilderness danger, and the practical ingenuity that has made the Evander saga a favorite among Western readers, The Carrion Trench is a gripping adventure where justice rides into one of the most hostile places in Texas, and where the cost of failure is measured in blood, bone, and smoke.
Genre: Western
When Reagan Evander follows the stench of decay into the southern breaks of the Texas Panhandle, he discovers a scene unlike anything he has ever encountered. Thirty head of prime breeding stock have been butchered where they fell, their hides and fat stripped away by skilled hands before being hauled south by freight wagons. The trail leads to whispers of an old threat few people still remember: the Tallow Men, organized hide-skinners who have transformed cattle theft into a ruthless industry hidden beyond the reach of the law.
The danger becomes personal when Lucas Evander vanishes while surveying a new fence line. Captured and taken deep into a hidden limestone fissure known as the Blanco Sink, he finds himself trapped inside a sprawling rendering operation where steam machinery, boiling vats, and mountains of stripped bone fuel a criminal enterprise built on stolen livestock and human intimidation. Kept alive for his engineering skills, Lucas realizes that survival will depend as much on his intelligence as his courage.
While Lucas searches for weaknesses inside the camp, Reagan, Jedediah, Rebecca, and Santiago assemble a desperate rescue. The Blanco Sink is a natural fortress filled with smoke, machinery, armed guards, and treacherous footing slick with years of industrial waste. Every approach is exposed, every advantage belongs to the enemy, and every hour increases the risk that Lucas’s usefulness will come to an end.
Filled with frontier action, family loyalty, wilderness danger, and the practical ingenuity that has made the Evander saga a favorite among Western readers, The Carrion Trench is a gripping adventure where justice rides into one of the most hostile places in Texas, and where the cost of failure is measured in blood, bone, and smoke.
Genre: Western
Used availability for C Wayne Winkle's The Carrion Trench