Catfish Charlie

JOHNSTONE COUNTRY. BACK IN THE SADDLE. AGAIN. In this rip-roaring Western adventure, a once-famous Texas Ranger who's given up his badge and gone fishin' gets back in the saddle to set things straight-with guns blazin' . . . As a former Texas Ranger, Charlie "Catfish Charlie" Tuttle spent the good part of his life catching outlaws. Happily retired in Wolfwater, Texas, he's content just catching fish-namely Bubba, the wily old catfish who lives in the pond near Charlie's shack and keeps slipping off Charlie's hook. He also likes hanging out with his trusty tomcat Hooligan Hank and tossing back bottles of mustang berry wine. Sure, his glory days are behind him. There's no reason for Charlie to even think about coming out of retirement . . . It starts with a jailbreak. Frank Thorson and his gang ride into Wolfwater to bust Frank's brother out of the slammer. First, they slaughter the deputy. Then, the town marshal. Finally, they run off with the marshal's daughter and no one's sure if she's dead or alive. The townsfolk are desperate enough to ask that drunken old coot Catfish Charlie to put down his fishing pole and wine bottles, pick up his Colt Army .44, and go after the bloodthirsty gang. Sure, Catfish Charlie may be a bit rusty after all these years. But when it comes to serving up justice, no one is quicker, faster-or deadlier . . . Once a lawman, always a lawman. Especially a lawman like Catfish Charlie Tuttle.

The star of the instant New York Times bestseller, Catfish Charlie, is back! Out of retirement-and into the crossfire-the former Texas Ranger heads into outlaw territory to find a lost stagecoach, a missing deputy, and a desert full of killers . . . When he's not at the local pond trying to catch an uncatchable catfish named Bubba, "Catfish" Charlie Tuttle can usually be found at the Lone Star Outpost with his old pal Deputy Brazos and the post's lovely owner Julia Claire. Catfish has a sweet spot for Julia, so he's more than a little worried when she announces she's taking a stagecoach to Tombstone, Arizona. The stage runs through hostile territory, including a treacherous valley crawling with outlaws. Sure enough, Julia's stagecoach never makes it to Tombstone . . . Even though Arizona is outside his jurisdiction, Catfish saddles up with Brazos and heads into outlaw country to find Julia. It's not long before they run into a gang of renegade soldiers led by a lunatic, Major Boneyard. Turns out Boneyard hid an arsenal of weapons on Julia's stagecoach, which he plans to sell to the Apache for gold. When their plan's revealed, the soldiers take Brazos hostage-leaving Catfish alone, outnumbered, and outgunned. Of course, that won't stop Catfish from trying to rescue his friends. Even if it leads him across the Mexican border-and into a full-blown war with the legendary El Serpiente, a poison-mean revolutionario who has a coiled serpent tattooed under his left eye . . .