Violence at Sunrise

Lute Dunbar thought he had left violence behind. Once a respected Army scout who survived the Indian Wars through courage, discipline and hard-earned instinct, he now lives a quiet life in the Colorado mountains with his beloved wife Emma. Their modest cabin is far from civilization, where Lute spends long days panning for gold while dreaming of the future they are building together. With their first child only weeks from being born, he believes the years of hardship and loneliness are finally behind him.

Then, in a single devastating morning, everything he loves is ripped away.

Returning from the creek after a frantic warning from an old miner, Lute finds his cabin ransacked, his wife brutally murdered and their unborn child stolen from him before ever drawing breath. The home they built together has become a place of unbearable grief, and the peaceful future he fought so hard to create is reduced to ashes.

There is no law capable of delivering the justice Lute seeks.

Driven by heartbreak and a fury that burns hotter than the Colorado sun, he buries Emma and sets out alone to hunt the men responsible. His only clues are the fading memories of a frightened witness, a torn scrap of red cloth clutched in Emma's lifeless hand, the tracks of a horse with a loose shoe, and the whispered name of three ruthless drifters known as the Kerrigans.

But revenge comes at a terrible price. Before his pursuit can truly begin, Lute is drawn into a deadly gunfight in the streets of Sunrise that leaves another man dead and himself gravely wounded. Forced to recover while his quarry disappears into the vast American frontier, he can only watch precious days slip away. Every hour gives the killers a greater head start-and every passing mile makes the trail colder.

Yet Lute Dunbar has survived impossible odds before. Haunted by memories of his years as an Army scout during the turbulent days following the Battle of the Little Bighorn, he has faced hostile warriors, ruthless outlaws and the unforgiving wilderness. Those years forged a man of iron resolve, extraordinary tracking skills and quiet determination. Now every lesson he ever learned will be tested as he follows a trail that stretches across mountains, mining camps, lonely ranches and lawless frontier towns where betrayal waits around every corner.

The deeper Lute rides into the West, the more he discovers that Emma's murder was no random act of violence. Hidden beneath the bloodshed lies a web of greed, deception and deadly ambition that reaches far beyond three wandering killers. Powerful men have secrets worth killing for, and Lute's relentless pursuit threatens to expose them all.

With every confrontation, the odds grow longer. Professional gunfighters, desperate fugitives and ruthless criminals stand between him and the truth. Every showdown could be his last. Every ally may become an enemy. And every mile carries him closer to a final reckoning where justice will be measured not in courtrooms, but at the barrel of a Colt.

Steve Hayes and Ben Bridges have created a gripping Western that captures both the brutal realities of the Old West and the enduring strength of a man who refuses to surrender to despair. Gunfights crackle with tension, and every chapter drives the reader relentlessly toward an unforgettable climax.