Max McCoy – författare

The upper Arkansas River courses through the heart of America from its headwaters near the Continental Divide above Leadville, Colorado, to Arkansas City, just above the Kansas-Oklahoma border. Max McCoy embarked on a trip of 742 miles in search of the river's unique story. Part adventure and part reflection, steeped in the natural and cultural history of the Arkansas Valley, Elevations is McCoy’s account of that journey. Going by kayak when he can—by Jeep, on foot, or by other means when he has to—McCoy takes us with him, navigating the Arkansas River as it reveals its nature and tests his own. Along the way, and when he isn’t battling the current for his overturned kayak; braving a frigid Christmas Eve along the river; or joining the search for a drowning victim, he steps out to explore the world beyond the river’s banks. Here for instance is Camp Amache, where Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Here is Ludlow, where thirteen women and children died in a standoff between striking coal miners and the militia in 1914. Farther along we find Sand Creek, site of a massacre by US soldiers in 1864, and, uncomfortably close, Garden City, where white supremacists were charged with planning a terror attack on Somali refugees in 2016.Whether traveling back in time, pausing in the present, or looking forward, Elevations captures the Arkansas River in its thrilling moments and placid stretches, in its natural splendor and degradation at human hands. The book shows us the river as a flowing repository of human history and, in the telling of this gifted writer, as a life-changing experience.

A gripping investigation of the violent murder of two women at the hands of religious, anti-government extremists in the Oklahoma Panhandle—and a profound search for the nature of good and evil in one of the most fiercely independent and traditionally conservative corners of America.On the day before Easter in 2024, Veronica Butler and Jilian Kelley went missing. Butler, 27, was embroiled in a custody battle for her children with their paternal grandmother and Kelley, 39, was a court-approved supervisor for the day’s visitation. They were on their way from rural Kansas to the Oklahoma Panhandle to celebrate Butler’s daughter’s sixth birthday. But they never arrived.Family members found Butler’s blue Kia on a lonely dirt road south of the state line. Blood, broken glasses, a pistol magazine, and a shattered hammer littered the scene, but the women were gone. Weeks later, the children’s grandmother and Butler’s legal antagonist, along with four others, were arrested on suspicion of murder. All were members of a religious, anti-government group that called themselves “God’s Misfits.” Authorities later recovered the bodies of Butler and Kelley from a chest freezer buried deep in a cow pasture. The murders shocked the conscience of the panhandle community and left many asking how such violence could occur in a place with a proud tradition of faith and fair play.A riveting blend of true crime and moral inquiry, God’s Misfits goes far deeper than the sensational headlines. Through rigorous, exclusive reporting and fast-paced storytelling, Max McCoy peels back the layers of a rural community steeped in conservative politics, deep faith, and generational distrust of government—fertile ground for the sovereign-citizen ideology, conspiratorial thinking, and violent imagination that gripped God’s Misfits. In his tireless search for the nature of good and evil, McCoy reveals how devotion warps into zealotry, how patriotism is weaponized, and how backroads communities quietly incubate extremism. God’s Misfits forces us to confront the fault lines of our society and ask what these murders tell us about the soul of the heartland.

Winner: National Outdoor Book AwardA Kansas Notable BookThe upper Arkansas River courses through the heart of America from its headwaters near the Continental Divide above Leadville, Colorado, to Arkansas City, just above the Kansas-Oklahoma border. Max McCoy embarked on a trip of 742 miles in search of the river’s unique story. Part adventure and part reflection, steeped in the natural and cultural history of the Arkansas Valley, Elevations is McCoy’s account of that journey.Going by kayak when he can—by Jeep, on foot, or by other means when he has to—McCoy takes us with him, navigating the Arkansas River as it reveals its nature and tests his own. Along the way, and when he isn’t battling the current for his overturned kayak; braving a frigid Christmas Eve along the river; or joining the search for a drowning victim, he steps out to explore the world beyond the river’s banks. Here for instance is Camp Amache, where Japanese Americans were imprisoned during World War II. Here is Ludlow, where thirteen women and children died in a standoff between striking coal miners and the militia in 1914. Farther along we find Sand Creek, site of a massacre by US soldiers in 1864, and, uncomfortably close, Garden City, where white supremacists were charged with planning a terror attack on Somali refugees in 2016.Whether traveling back in time, pausing in the present, or looking forward, Elevations captures the Arkansas River in its thrilling moments and placid stretches, in its natural splendor and degradation at human hands. The book shows us the river as a flowing repository of human history and, in the telling of this gifted writer, as a life-changing experience.

“An entertaining romp with quirky characters that would make Mark Twain proud . . . I couldn't put this imaginative page-turner down.” —Margaret Coel, New York Times-bestselling author of Buffalo Bill's Dead Now  In the Old West, legends die hard—and so do witnesses. But that won't stop psychic-turned-detective Ophelia Wylde from finding fresh graves, digging up clues, and catching wanted criminals—with a little help from the dead . . .  Dead Men Tell No Lies   The Civil War is over, and many a young widow has turned to spiritualism to contact a husband on “the other side.” But Ophelia Wylde won’t be fooled twice. After wasting her money on a phony psychic, she decides if she can’t beat ’em, join ’em. She leaves New Orleans and heads west, selling her services as a spiritual medium who speaks to the dead. By the time she reaches Dodge City, business is booming. Except for a handsome but skeptical bounty hunter named Jack Calder, no one suspects Ophelia of running a con game—until an unfortunate “reading” of a girl who’s still living exposes her to a town full of angry customers. As punishment, the mob drags Ophelia to Boot Hill and buries her alive in a fresh grave overnight. That’s when the dead start speaking. To her. For real. And for dead people, they’ve got lots to say . . .   “Masterful.” —True West

A detective makes contact with the ghost of a Gold Rush murder victim in this unique historical mystery by a Spur Award-winning “master of his craft” (Ralph Cotton, USA Today-bestselling author).  In the Old West, murder is a way of life. But psychic detective Ophelia Wylde is dealing out her own brand of justice by talking to the victims . . . after they’re dead.  Ghost In The Machine   It’s one of the strangest trials in Colorado history. A “spirit photographer” is accused of fraud, and Ophelia Wylde agrees to examine the man’s ghostly portraits and testify in court. In a sealed room, she is presented with five photographs. Four are obvious fakes. But one photo—featuring a powerful politician, Jackson Miles, with a sorrowful ghost in chains behind his shoulder—is the real McCoy. When Ophelia makes contact, the spirit is in such agony that she’s unable to learn anything but his name: Angus Wright. Intrigued, Ophelia sets out to learn more about the wronged Mr. Wright and discovers he was murdered nearly twenty years ago during the Gold Rush. The politician is somehow involved, and Ophelia has to watch her step. Because the living are much more dangerous than the dead . . .   “McCoy has a gift for capturing the Old West in all its colorful and outrageous glory.” —Margaret Coel, New York Times-bestselling author   “Another masterful tale by Max McCoy . . . gripping.” —True West on Of Grave Concern

A psychic brings killers to justice in this historical mystery: “McCoy has a gift for capturing the Old West in all its colorful and outrageous glory” (Margaret Coel, New York Times-bestselling author of the Wind River Mysteries).  From sea to shining sea, the invention known as the telegraph would tame the American frontier. But for psychic detective Ophelia Wylde, the wild west is about to get wilder . . .  Messages from Beyond?   When telegraph keys across the country begin bursting into flames—and chattering ghostly nonsense—the terror and turmoil is enough to bring the railways, banks, and news industry to a standstill. There’s only one person they can turn to: Mrs. Ophelia Wylde, a young widow turned detective who has famously brought murderers to justice—by speaking to their victims on the other side. Are the recent telegraph mishaps a message from beyond? Ophelia’s not sure, but the fact that the key’s last operator, Lightning “Hapless” Hopkins, has been poisoned is enough to raise her darkest suspicions. It’s up to Ophelia to unravel the riddle of the ghostly wire tap, solve the murder of Hapless Hopkins, and expose the secret history of the telegraph’s little-known co-inventor . . . before her own life is on the line.

The Daring And The Doomed. . .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. In A Place Called Damnation Road. . .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 a masterful storyteller. A force of fascinating characters and unexpected plot twists create a can''t-put-it-down story." --Cotton Smith, author of Spirit Rider

2007 Spur Award for Best Paperback Novel by  the Western Writers of AmericaHeading For A Showdown.  .  . Towering, flame-haired Alf Bolin is a ruthless young outlaw with a passion for quoting fine literature, slaughtering anyone who gets in his way and keeping the body parts as souvenirs. Already with forty murders under his belt--and counting--the locals of Branson, Missouri, live in a state of constant terror. .  .  .In Hellfire Canyon Zach Thomas is a federal trooper with a personal vendetta strong enough to send him deep undercover--into the dark heart of Bolin''s vicious gang. Fueled by hatred and justice, he soon wins Bolin''s confidence and waits for the killer to turn his back... Max McCoy''s westerns have been called "powerful" by USA Today. Now comes a gripping new novel inspired by the true story of one of America''s first serial killers--and the lone federal trooper who took on the most daring mission of all.

“An instant Old West classic! Max McCoy writes about mountain men and the fur trade with passion.”  —Stuart Rosebrook, editor True West magazineThree-time Spur Award winner Max McCoy combines fast-paced action, frontier history, and powerful family drama in this epic saga of life, love, and death in the American west.SEARCHING FOR A GHOST, A LEGEND, AND A DREAM . . . Descended from a long line of ramblers and rogues, Jack Picaro came to America to seek his fortune. But after killing his best friend in a drunken duel, the apprentice gunsmith flees westward, leaving behind children he does not know, Gus and April. As Jack ventures up the Missouri River, he finds an unspoiled land where a man can live free—and also be attacked by an Arikara war party. His rifle stolen in the bloody skirmish, Jack sets out alone to reclaim it. His wild escapade ends in a fight to the death with a legendary Crow warrior named Standing Wolf. So begins a fateful epic search across the last frontiers of the untamed West. From the muddy banks of the Mississippi to the shining peaks of the Rockies, Jack Picaro will leave a trail of clues for an abandoned son, Gus, to find him: a famous gunsmith who will make history with a weapon of his own design—and forged a legend that would be passed down for generations. This is the story of . . .THE GHOST RIFLE

Max McCoy, the Spur Award-winning author of Damnation Road, continues his American Western saga of the Ghost Rifle as the violence and bloodshed the weapon caused return to haunt the man who created it . . .THE WEAPON AND THE WILDERNESS Ten years have passed since Jack Picaro lost his Ghost Rifle—the firearm he invented, the one that never missed its target. The loss of the rifle calmed the hellraiser in his soul. Instead of returning to the gambling halls and whiskey bars of St. Louis, Jack has spent the last decade as a fur trapper in Wyoming’s Wild River Range, married to Sky, the daughter of an Arikara war chief. Then, after helping rescue U.S. soldiers captured by Crow Indians in the Rocky Mountains, Jack hears the familiar bell-like report of his Ghost Rifle. Determined to retrieve his deadly property, he travels deep into Lakota territory, facing down old enemies—and resuming old sinful habits—unaware of what awaits him when he eventually returns home to his family.“Few Western writers today can spin a tale with style, wit, and rawness better than Max McCoy.”—Johnny D. Boggs, Western Heritage and Spur Award-winning author of West Texas Kill

William Clarke Quantrill is the most hunted man in America. Ask anybody and they’ll tell you how he burned Lawrence, Kansas, to the ground, brought the Yankees to their knees in Missouri, and wrote his name in blood on the pages of history.   Now the war is over, and he’s leading Frank and Jesse James and the boys to Kentucky for one last campaign. They aim to raise hell, spill blood, and break some hearts before they’re done. This is his story, and he tells it his way, with no apologies. His name is Quantrill—but some just call me the devil.

Time is running out for Jolene. She's trapped by a madman, held captive, waiting only for her worst nightmares to become reality. Her captor will keep her alive for twenty-eight days, hidden in an underwater city 400 feet below the surface.

What would domestic terrorists do with a couple of nuclear bombs? Andy Kelsey is a reporter who may have just stumbled on the story of a lifetime. He's infiltrated a white separatist group in the Ozarks, an underground organization ready to fight and die-and kill-for their extreme beliefs.