Kevin Matthew Hayes

Join Major Ethan Tucker and his small group of volunteers as they pursue Alaster Conley through the tropical frontier of 1858 Florida in this western fiction. A lesser-known American frontier, south Florida was once full of gamblers, gunslingers, rustlers, Indians, homesteaders, and more. It was a land that could drive the most honest man to break the law just to survive. Now, Ethan must go back to south Florida, the very same land that corrupted him and caused him and his wife to separate. On the run is Alaster. Wanted for killing a man in St. Marks, he is a product of the wild south Florida frontier. He has done it all-train robbing, rustling, and gunslinging, just to name a few. Will Ethan keep his faith and win back his wife? Will Alaster be captured and brought to Tallahassee so justice is served? Find out in this old western book set in the untamed lands of south Florida.

Recipient of the Literary Titan's Book Award in April 2025.

Prologue voted Frontier Tales Magazine's Best Story of June 2025 and was featured in Volume 15 of The Best of Frontier Tales.

Displayed at the Frankfurt International Book Fair in October 2025.