Lightnin'

About the Book

Lightnin’ is on a mission of the heart. For ten years he has been relentlessly tracking the killer of his father and step father. His young half sister has also been kidnapped by the killer. All this happened ten years before at their family homestead on a branch of the Cimeron in New Mexico Territory. Lightnin’ joined the U. S. Marshall’s service and while working under cover headed west in pursuit of justice and the killer. Along the way he met and befriended a rancher named John Delong and his beautiful daughter Della, and their friend a Piute Indian named Ute. Together they thwarted an attempted kidnapping of Della by taking an old Indian trail over the top of a spectacular mountain range. In his search for his half sister and her abductor Lightnin’ encounters a mountain lion and grizzlie bear, rustlers and killers, and is treated to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. While tracking stolen cattle Lightnin’ stumbles upon a hidden, lush green valley which is being used by rustlers as a hideout. When he is spotted, he runs for his life and is saved only by his wit and his special custom Sharps rifle. Della falls in love with Lightnin’, but is sure he is having an affair of the heart with Kate Bardwell. If not why is he carrying Kate’s picture in his bed roll? Trechery, hardship and danger lurk at every turn in the trail that Lightnin’ is following. A trail that he hopes will eventually lead to justice and end at the doorstep of the one woman he loves.

About the Author

Wayne Smith has traveled from the jungles of Mexico to the Arctic regions of this continent. He has hiked and backpacked thousands of miles of backwoods trails including the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, and King Crest Trail. He is a survivor of a bear attack in Canada in 1972 and returned to that location again in 2001 to relive the event. He bares the scars left by an encounter by both a bobcat and an alligator. By education, Smith holds a doctorate in Social and Behavioral Science. He has much knowledge about human behavior and interpersonal relations. His post graduate studies in criminal behavior were inspired by his being witness to nine homicides in a two-year period. He has also been in a shoot out with three felons that were attempting to rape and murder two of his daughters. To date Smith has sold over 2,700 newspaper stories and radio scripts. All of his stories are based upon his personal experiences with both man and beast. At age 70 Smith says, “I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do when I grow up.”