Robert E Hatch

Badlands Robert E Hatch

New Mexico Territory-1863 The blazing sun of the Frontier casts deep shadows Hunter, a mysterious bounty hunter, gets the attention of Deputy Sam Lincoln who wants to learn the skills of bounty hunting and live a more exciting life. Even though Hunter refused Sam's request he follows the bounty hunter into the Badlands. What Sam finds is that not everything is as it seems. A mysterious and dangerous world of Vampires, Werewolves and other creatures exist just beyond the veil of the night. Sam's life and belief are twisted upside down as the duo is joined by a search party trying to find Lucy, a young girl kidnapped from her home who sees visions she does not always understand. The search party is a mix of enigmatic characters including John Williams, a former slave of a Georgia plantation, Ba'cho-ligai, an Apache warrior apparently exiled from his people, Claire Winwood, a ranch hand trying to prove herself, Dr. Wilhelm Hesselius, a German physitian who seems to know as much about the secrets of the darkness as Hunter himself, Jake Lawson, a ranch hand who keeps a hidden past, Hector Gonzales, lead ranch hand who has a history in the Mexican Army, Yamaoka Nobunaga, a Japanese Samurai attempting to avenge the death of his master, and Jack, a one-eyed cat with an keen instinct that appears to hide a more important purpose besides a simple companion. All the while they are pursued by Adam, a gargantuan man who holds a long kept secret about Hunter. The party's search for Lucy leads them on many adventures including a final confrontation with a creature of pure night that Lucy refers to simply as "The Midnight Man."