It's the last chance for Jacob Gamble, Rough Rider, outlaw and man of a few principles. Nearing 50 and flat broke, Jacob bends his own rule about robbing trains. But by the time he reaches the payroll safe on a Rock Island train, he finds another thief there first with a bullet in his head. Jacob is caught holding the bag - and turned into hero. A broke hero. Shackled by unwanted fame, running from a life gone wrong, and raising the suspicions of a Pinkerton detective, Jacob listens to a woman: beautiful and tattooed by the Indians who seized her as a child. Olivia Weathers knows of a treasure hidden in a cave along the Jornada del Muerto - a merciless hundred mile stretch of hell on earth guarded by Apache warriors. Now, Jacob will follow Olivia into the most savage and deadly territory in the southwest - where few ever come out of Canyon Diablo alive.
Max McCoy is an award-winning novelist and journalist. He is best known for his westerns (which have been described as "western noir") and his original Indiana Jones adventures.
He won the Spur award in 2008 from the Western Writers of America for his novel, "Hellfire Canyon." It's the story of a 13-year-old boy and his mother who walk across Missouri during the Civil War and become part of the gang led by Alf Bolin, the notorious Ozark serial killer. "Hellfire Canyon" was also named a Kansas 2008 Notable Book.
McCoy is the author of sixteen other books, including four original Indiana Jones adventures for LucasFilm and the novelization of Steven Spielberg's epic miniseries, "Into the West."
His fiction debut, "The Sixth Rider," about the 1892 raid on Coffeyville's banks by the Dalton Gang, was published by Doubleday and won the Spur/Medicine Pipe Award for Best First Novel by the Western Writers of America.
USA Today has described his writing as "powerful." In addition to westerns and historical fiction, McCoy also writes contemporary adventures. Publishers Weekly called his novel, "The Moon Pool," an "intelligent thriller... tightly drawn characters, a vile villain and a satisfying, thought-provoking conclusion make this a compelling read."
McCoy grew up in Baxter Springs and most of his books are set in Kansas or Missouri. He began his career in journalism at the Pittsburg Morning Sun and writing for pulp magazines such as True Detective and Front-Page Detective. Most recently, he was the investigative writer for The Joplin Globe. He has won first-place awards in investigative journalism for his stories on serial killers and hate groups.
His latest book is "Canyon Diablo," a sequel to "Hellfire Canyon." McCoy's an assistant professor of journalism at Emporia State University. His newest book, "Damnation Road, will be released in September 2010.
