MRC RECOMMENDS: Ride a Dark Trail
by Winter Austin
“I wish I could go back and read it again for the first time.
It’s that good.”
—The Mystery Review Crew
Ride a Dark Trail
By Winter Austin
Genre: Thriller, Domestic Thriller
Series: A Bounty of Shadows Book 1
Will her life philosophy, “Do right, fear no man,” get her killed?
A string of bad luck has left former Army helicopter pilot Dot Ybarra with a serious case of wrecked nerves and a need for peace and solace at her family’s Idaho ranch. Instead, she encounters a desperate mother who stumbles onto their land, begging Dot to rescue her kidnapped daughter.
There’s a bounty on the kidnapper’s head, and fugitive recovery agent T.J. Roman is not about to let that paycheck slip through his fingers. Together, he and Dot rescue the child.
But their actions set off an explosion of secrets in Euskadi. The sheriff is slinking around with a new shady sidekick, Dot’s friends are stabbed, and armed mercenaries attack her ranch, forcing her to use her hunting and archery skills to defend her family. Cornered by the unknown enemy’s three-pronged attack, Dot and her charges retreat deep into the Payette National Forest. Isolated in the mountainous forest, separated from T.J. and any help, Dot must make a hard choice: fight or walk away?
Will her first recovery job be her last?
Ride a Dark Trail is a pulse-pounding mystery thriller where every path leads to betrayal, and survival means breaking the rules.
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Find Ride a Dark Trail on Goodreads, Amazon, and Tule Publishing.
Review of Ride a Dark Trail by Winter Austin
After leaving the military, Dorothy “Dot” Ybarra came home to the Idaho ranch where her mother and grandfather raised her, near the Payette National Forest. The peace and restoration she hoped to find there was shattered when a frantic woman, Ashley, finds her way to the ranch, beseeching Dot to rescue her kidnapped daughter.
Dot’s kidnapper turns out to be the bounty her former Army buddy T. J. Roman is hunting. T. J. isn’t about to let his bounty walk, and Dot isn’t risking a child’s life, so they work together to get the girl back to her mother. But in doing so, they realize there’s much more to this case than just a kidnapping, and much more to fear than a typical domestic dispute.
Winter Austin writes a ripping good suspense novel! There were plenty of times I was holding my breath waiting to see what came next. With each revelation, each hint dropped, the tension grew, and I turned pages faster.
Dot is an outstanding lead character. She’s a genuine butt-kicker who smokes cigars and is a dead shot, not with a gun, but with a bow and arrow. I love how her grandfather, Samo, is never alive in the story but is still an important part of Dot’s life as she draws on the skills he taught her and the memories she has of him. And she may not be soft and squishy on the outside, but Dot cares deeply for her family and her friends. She will do her best to protect them, even at great risk to herself. She’s a tough, strong woman, but she’s an easy character to cheer for.
It’s hard to tell more of the story without giving away too much of the plot. If you delight in a tense, fast-paced suspense novel, you need to read it for yourself and get all the details. Austin wraps things up in such a way that I anticipate more stories with these characters, and I am here for all of them. There’s action, suspense, and family secrets that unfold for multiple characters, and it all ties together into one breathtaking read. I wish I could go back and read it again for the first time. It’s that good.
And if, after reading Ride a Dark Trail, you’d like to read real-life stories from women who have lived in and escaped from polygamous Mormon families similar to the one Ashley came from, check out The Polygamist’s Daughter by Anna LeBaron and The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner. Austin’s story is fiction. These women lived their stories, and they’re just as compelling as any novel you’ll ever read
About Winter Austin
Winter Austin perpetually answers the question: “were you born in the winter?” with a flat “nope,” but believe her, there is a story behind her name.
A lifelong Mid-West gal with strong ties to the agriculture world, Winter grew up listening to the captivating stories told by relatives around a table or a campfire. As a published author, she learned her glass half-empty personality makes for a perfect suspense/thriller writer. Taking her ability to verbally spin a vivid and detailed story, Winter translated that into writing deadly romantic suspense, mysteries, and thrillers.
When she’s not slaving away at the computer, you can find Winter supporting her daughter in cattle shows, seeing her three sons off into the wide-wide world, loving on her fur babies, prodding her teacher husband, and nagging at her flock of hens to stay in the coop or the dogs will get them.
She is the author of multiple novels. Find her at https://authorwinteraustin.com/
