Max Allan Collins Books in Order

When Sheriff Caleb York guns down an abusive young brute in Trinidad, the dead man’s mother, a ruthless cattle baroness, demands revenge and Willa Cullen’s ranch. York is caught between two iron-willed women as hired guns converge on Sugar Creek, the only water that can save Willa’s herd.

Set between *Kiss Me, Deadly* and *The Girl Hunters*, Hammer reels from Velda’s disappearance when an old bootlegger friend is murdered. To avenge him, Hammer hunts for a secret ledger packed with the names of corrupt officials, drawing fire from mobsters and power brokers who all want it.

In 1964 a hit and run nearly kills Velda’s mother and quietly reveals that Velda’s father is not who she believed. Hammer and Velda travel to Arizona’s Dreamland Park, a retirement haven for ex-lawmen guarding criminals in Witness Protection, and collide with missing robbery millions and graveyard violence.

Beginning at a twenty-first-century funeral then flashing back to the summer of 1973, Hammer accompanies Velda to Long Island to watch over her teenage sister, Mikki. When drugs enter the picture and Mikki is targeted, Hammer wages war on the dealers, knowing the final reckoning still lies ahead.