Jake Sinclair, a former Confederate sharpshooter, finds himself on the run from the law when a sheriff recognizes the saddle he confiscated from a battlefield scavenger, who killed a man to get his hands on it. Original.
It started well ... or almost started well. Alas, it's hard to put much import or credibility in a book about the War Against Southern Independence when the author spells the ammunition as "minnie ball"! Author Bagdon is not the first to misspell "Minié" -- which sometimes is "Minie" -- as either "minnie" or "mini," but for pity's sake, where are the copy editors? Let me suggest one source of the problem: It seems, at least to me, the errors are abundant in the Large Type editions, so is it possible the errors are the fault of the Large Type publishers and typesetters? And maybe not in the regular editions? Anyhow, "Deserter" starts with retail death, segues into wholesale death, and our protagonist reaches his fill. He can't take any more. So he leaves. And heads west. Sick of fighting and killing, he is not, though, allowed to avoid either. What happens to him, entirely through no fault of his own, leads him back into fighting and killing, although more retail than wholesale. As the story reaches its violent climax, and he is ready to ride away, it's obviously not really completely a story so ... there really must be a series intended.