Tim Colter

In this thrilling epic of the American West, bestselling authors William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone capture the human side of the frontier experience in all its glory, grit, and grandeur through the eyes of one remarkable teenage boy... Leaving their Pennsylvania home to forge a new life in the untamed Oregon Territory of 1845, the Colter family is ambushed by a kill crazy gang of cutthroats on the Oregon Trail. Fifteen-year-old Tim Colter manages to escape and hide only to return and find his parents butchered, his sisters Nancy and Margaret missing, and one last killer waiting for his return. Forced to fight for his life, the young Colter embarks on a perilous journey across a lawless frontier, hoping to save his sisters and salvage the dream they lived for. But first, Tim has to figure out how to survive. Luckily, he finds a new friend in Jed Reno, a grizzled one-eyed trapper who's lived in the Rockies since the 1820sand who was attacked by the same gang that ambushed Tim's family. Together, the mountain man and the greenhorn set out after the marauders, blazing a trail of vengeance that leads them to one of the deadliest men in the territory. With danger at every turn, and death just a heartbeat away, Colter has no choice but to grow up fast one bullet at a time...

In Colter's Journey, bestselling authors William and J.A. Johnstone told the epic story of a boy's coming-of-age on the lawless frontier. The Edge of Violence continues Colter's saga with the building of the transcontinental railroad - and the making of the American Dream... It is the fall of 1867. Twenty-two years have passed since Tim Colter and his family were ambushed on the Oregon Trail, forcing the young boy to grow up, forge ahead, and find an unlikely ally in one-eyed mountain man Jed Reno. Now a widowed deputy, U.S. marshal and Civil War veteran, Colter is finally ready to remarry and settle down - until a dangerous new assignment becomes a life-or-death struggle for the soul of a town and the heart of its people... The Union Pacific Railroad is laying down tracks connecting the great northwest to the rest of the country. But two rival factions led by ex-Confederate soldier Micah Slade and two-fisted bully Paddy O'Rourke have set their sights on the town of Violet - aka Violence - to gain control of the rails. It's Colter's job to tame this hotbed of rampant greed and rising tensions. But to do it, he'll need to deputize his trusted old friend Jed Reno - and wage a savage new war that will determine the fate of the Dakota Territory and the future of a nation. This is the continuing saga of the unsung heroes of the untamed West. Of a man whose name would never appear in history books, but whose courage and hunger for justice laid the groundwork for generations to come. This is Colter's Journey. His story is the story of America.