Jacob Chance, U.S. Marshal

by Johnny Gunn

Land law, water rights, deeds of ownership? Boring. Unless of course, people are shooting at you because of them. The Civil War has disrupted thousands of lives, including that of Sarah Jackson, whose husband was killed for not joining the Confederate Army in Georgia. Sarah and her daughter flee to Nevada Territory and are eligible for homestead rights. After claiming her one hundred sixty acres in the lush Golden Valley, her world crumbles again. Banker Preston Miller claims he owns the entire Golden Valley and all the water in the Good Hope River. Jackson cries foul in a letter to the U.S. Attorney in San Francisco, and Jacob Chance, U.S. Marshal rides to Preston, Nevada Territory to “settle this little land dispute.” He finds many in the town fear for their lives and livelihood, but it takes just a few shots from big guns to convince them to back the marshal. Lives are lost, buildings are burned, the town itself is in jeopardy, and the U.S. Marshal finds himself up against an army. Anarchy is the rule in the Golden Valley. Fighting the bad guys is hard enough, he also finds himself fascinated by the daughter of one of the ranchers whose property he is trying to save. Will the town survive? Will the ranches survive? Is romance in the air? All the answers are inside these covers.

281 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 18, 2015

Reviews

[D. E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Jacob Chance (1) Western/Land Fraud/Assaults/Arson/Bank Robbery and Murder

JG has penned a western novel about a young man who served with the North during the Civil War. He became a Marshal in the Western region of the Owens Valley. He stopped the land theft and assaults and planted the plants attached to his saddle. The town's people assist the law with backup. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS

[E. C. Swartout · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacob Chance, U.S.Marshal

Very good book. The author did a good job of keeping you interested in more than than just problems with descriptions of the land and peoples.

[Margean S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!!! Excellent character.

[Vanessa E Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and hope there will be more Jacob Chance books. Vanessa Roberts

[Silvia Villalobos]

This book, with its western style and no-nonsense character, pulls you in by the neck and doesn't let go. In looking at the author's biography, it is no wonder that living such a rich life (he once lived on the Island of Guam and worked in radio) is a never-ending source of storytelling, which the author tells in a unique and creative way. The prose is written so that it keeps one wanting to go back and savor the words again and again. Here's one example and this one comes early in the story: "Steel gray eyes that gave one the impression they could burrow into the soul ... soften at the cry of a child or the lilt of a lovely voice."

The story is set in a time of anarchy, in the Wild West, a time when guns were fired in the blink of an eye because land disputes had to be settled. When lives were taken in a heartbeat.That's when Jacob Chance, U.S. Marshal, came in. At this point, the reader is fully engrossed by the story of the man and the town where ranchers fight for survival, and romance is in the air, and not one day is easy living. Soon, I felt as if I knew every single person populating this book, until the very last word on the page.

I highly recommend this book to everyone looking not only for a good western, but a style of writing that is sure to take this author far.