Tag Archives: Texas Jack

News from Lizard Key Books

Summer 2025

I haven’t posted any news for some time, so here it goes. Two books have come out so far in 2025, ‘Ride into Hell’ and ‘Brimley, TX- Lies, Lust, Corruption, Murder’. Both books are part of the ‘Texas Jack’ western series.

In other book news, the third book in the ‘Lizard Key’ series, ‘The Golden Disc of the Mayans’ is completed and will be available soon. This is the third book following the adventures of the modern-day pirate, Nick Roberts. The second book in that series, ‘Black Bart’s Treasure’ is now back and available on Amazon as a second edition with a new cover. Originally, the book was self-published before it was picked up by a publisher. I went through it and made some corrections/changes, a new cover was produced, and the book is now released. 

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Texas Jack: Brimley, TX

Lies, Lust, Corruption, Murder

A Western Adventure: Texas Jack Book 10

Joshua Brimley went to Texas just prior to the end of the Civil War. He was a tough, hard man willing to fight and take land. He pushed out the Indians and fought off bandits to build his Empire Ranch. He rounded up stray cattle and any other cattle he found, branded or not. If they were on his ranch, they were his cattle. The Empire Ranch was vast and before long he had established a town bearing his name. Joshua didn’t care which way the war ended because he would still have his land.

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News from Lizard Key Books

October 2023

My newest book has just been released. ‘Showdown at Cedar Gulch’ is the newest and number eight in the ‘Texas Jack’ series. Also, the second edition of ‘Lizard Key’ has also recently been released.

I’ve been gathering research material for a new western book which will not be a ‘Texas Jack’ western. It will follow the life of a young man captured by Indians, his life with them, his escape and his adventures as he moves through the wild west. No title yet, but I’ll be working on it over the winter and hope it’s ready by spring.

The third book following Nick Roberts and his modern-day pirates on Lizard Key is in the final processes of re-write… again, no final title on it yet. This story will definitely be done by Spring. So, over the winter I’ll be working on a western and a pirate book when I’m not playing golf, diving or fishing.

My good friend, Bart Buchanan, just released his first book, ‘Black Coffee Pork Sausage and a Homicide’. It’s available on Amazon. I know he’s put a great deal of effort into it, and we’ve talked several times as he navigated the process. Check it out.

Texas Jack: Showdown at Cedar Gulch

A Western Adventure: Texas Jack Book 8

When Jack McKenna, also known as ‘Texas Jack’, and Tommy Vee were given the assignment by the people of Filo, Texas to go to Cedar Gulch and escort the town’s new schoolteacher back, it seemed to be a simple task. Since there was no stagecoach or train service between Cedar Gulch and Filo, it would be a one week trip each way. All they needed to do was ride to Cedar Gulch and return with the new schoolteacher.

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News from Lizard Key Books

Recently my newest book, ‘Allah’s Scorpion’ was released in both Kindle and paperback versions. It’s available through Amazon books. This is a modern cowboy story and something a bit out of the normal for me. My publisher asked me to take a stab at it, so I did. I’ve included the text from the back of the book to give you a bit of the story line.

Also, the very first novel I wrote back in 2012 is going to be released as a second edition. I released that book as a ‘self-published’ novel and didn’t have the support I have now. So many mistakes! So, like many authors before me, I went back and made changes and edits so it will now be released as a ‘second edition’ with a new cover that’s currently being worked on.

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Texas Jack: Preacher Jones Frontier Avenger

A Western Adventure: Texas Jack Book 7

Grady Jones life was hard as a child, and it didn’t get better with age. His father died when he was young and a few years later his mother was killed in a senseless shooting. He was on his own until the Reverend Barnaby took him in. Tensions were high in that period just before the Civil War and they lived in Ohio at that time, a border state. The Reverend was anti-slavery and a staunch abolitionist who worked with the underground railroad helping slaves flee to freedom.

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Texas Jack: Morgan Hawk’s Last Ride

A Western Adventure: Texas Jack Book 6

The Kansas/Missouri border was a dangerous place during the Civil War and in the years that followed. Kansas entered the Union as an anti-slavery State only months before the war started and was bordered by the Pro-slavery State of Missouri. ‘Border Ruffians’ like William Quantrill fought for the Confederacy while ‘Free Staters’ and ‘Jayhawkers’ fought for the Union. They were all guerrilla fighters led by men of often questionable morality. There was only some measure of legitimacy given to them by the Confederate and Union governments respectively because they claimed they were fighting for the same cause. The results on both sides was the same… people killed while towns were sacked and burned.

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Texas Jack: The Ranger

The Ranger is the prequel to the novel Texas Jack!

This brand new adventure follows the story of a young man named Britt Logan who is a member of a wagon train on the way to Oregon in 1852. He and his parents are among just a few non-Mormons in a Mormon wagon train heading to the Salt Lake Valley. Their plan was to leave the train at the South Pass and head to Oregon with another train, but when Britt’s parents are killed by an influential member of the church, Britt finds himself on the run.

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Texas Jack: The Bank Robbers

Texas Jack: The Bank Robbers: A Novel of the Old West (A Texas Jack Western) Paperback – August 13, 2020

The fast-paced, action-packed third Western adventure in the new “Texas Jack Western” series from Mark Marchetti!

Phineas Todd was a strange little man. He arrived in Filo, Texas many years before the Civil War and was a familiar fixture in Filo since he was the president of the only bank in town. Even when he was young, for some reason he just seemed to be older than his years. He was known in town simply as ‘Old Finny’ and was loved by the townspeople, in spite of his quirky ways.

For many of the town’s people and ranchers in the area, it was ‘Old Finny’ who had helped them navigate the hard times during the war and after. He was the wealthiest man in town yet lived like a pauper, his only interest being the welfare of the town. Receiving the love and respect of the town’s people was the only thing he believed was of value. Unknown to the town’s people was the secret of his past in the days before he came to Filo.

When four bank robbers arrive in town, led by the notorious gunman Russell Blye, the world of ‘Old Finny’ and the town gets turned upside down. The former Sheriff, Tommy Vee, comes out of retirement and recruits ‘Texas Jack’ McKenna to track down the robbers and bring them to justice.

As a longtime friend of ‘Old Finny’, Jack knows his secret… and doesn’t want it revealed. As they set out to hunt down the outlaws, Jack and Sheriff Vee discover they each have a different vision of how justice should be served… the legal way and the ‘Texas Jack’ way. 

Grab your copy today! Texas Jack – Bank Robbers