Across the Barren Landscape, Volume 1

Barren Landscape is just one town, but it defines an entire region. Follow an eclectic mix of characters as they navigate New Mexico en route to a mysterious game, whose prize strikes the imagination of the hard men and women of the land. A series of non-sequential, linked stories that tell the tales and fate of hired guns, quick draw artists, cutthroat businessmen, and simple townspeople. Volume 1 contains five stories "#1: Killing Dirty:" Jack Hemmingway rides into town with an invite that wasn't easy to get, but riding out may be even harder. In the first part of this series, visit Barren Landscape, a Western town that law forgot. "#2: Agastache Cana:" A chance meeting between a would-be doctor and a young Indian looking for a gift for his bride. Mistaken gunfire and a conversation show the truth behind the men. Set at the bottom of a narrow ravine, can these two enemies survive? Or will the landscape, their own hatred, or something else spell the end of them? "#3: The Flint and the Sword:" Revealing the history of the Man in the Green Hat. This tale gives a glimpse into the origin of the poker game and its prize from "Killing Dirty." Featuring several previously seen characters, but focusing on the peculiar Cassian Maddux, a Welsh escape artist and master of the sleight of hand. Plot lines grow thicker as more questions appear. A crucial lynch pin in the series' central storyline. "#4: Grey Sky Spilling:" Two assassins are hired to kill Tall Dave. They enter town in the middle of the night, during a driving rainstorm, when they encounter a young girl named Kasey. Her grit and personality are both endearing and strange. With her help, they track down their target, but what darkness is to be found in a town where the rain and the night never seem to end? "#5: The Ones that Need Killing:" The final chapter of Volume One features an epic quick draw tournament to the death. 16 men and women line up to kill one another for a ticket to "the game." Introducing a number of odd and memorable characters, as well as expanding upon faces seen earlier in the series, this title is a violent display of the West at its most ferocious. We also see the true face of one maniacal gunslinger.