Killer of Witches

The Life and Times of Yellow Boy, Mescalero Apache

Part of the The Life and Times of Yellow Boy, Mescalero Apache series:

In the cold November wind of 1865, five hundred Mescalero Apaches at the Bosque Redondo Apache/Navajo concentration camp near Fort Sumner, New Mexico, vanished one night under the watchful eyes of the U.S. Army. They were never caught. Among them is a five-year-old boy who becomes a legend around the fires of the Mescalero.

Ussen, God, Creator of life, gives the boy, grown to a warrior, a gift of Power. With his Power he is so accurate with his Yellow Boy rifle he can kill witches by shooting their eyes to send them forever blind to the Happy Land of the grandfathers. He is immune to ghost sickness, and he will be known as Yellow Boy.

Yellow Boy must soon test his Power to find and kill a giant, Mexican-Comanche witch, his bald head painted to look like a skull, his body tattooed with black spirals and flames, and the leader of a band of Comanches and Mexican banditos who have murdered and scalped all but a small remnant of Yellow Boy’s People. It is a hunt and odyssey that ranges for years across the American southwest and Mexican Sierra Madre Mountains.

Killer of Witches is a powerful story, truth told with fiction transporting the reader to a different background, culture, history, time, and religion. It is the other side of Apache history told by a People fighting the tsunami of Americans migrating west and the terrors of supernatural beliefs appearing in their lives.

Published: September 27, 2022
Publisher: Hat Creek
Genres:

Historical

Tags:

About the Author

W. Michael Farmer

W. Michael Farmer combines ten-plus years of research into nineteenth-century Apache history and culture with Southwest-living experience to fill his stories with a genuine sense of time and place. A retired Ph.D. physicist, his scientific research has included measurement of atmospheric aerosols with laser-based instruments, and he has published a two-volume reference book on atmospheric effects on remote sensing. He has also written short stories for anthologies and award-winning essays. His first novel, Hombrecito's War, won a Western Writers of America Spur Finalist Award for Best First Novel in 2006. His novels telling the story of the Mescalero Apaches Killer of Witches, The Life and Times of Yellow Boy, Mescalero Apache, Book 1 and Blood of the Devil, Book 2 won Will Rogers Medallion Awards and were New Mexico–Arizona Book Awards Finalists in 2016 and 2018. Mariana’s Knight, The Revenge of Henry Fountain won the 2017 New Mexico–Arizona Book Award for Historical Fiction and Blood of the Devil, Book 2 was a finalist. Apacheria, True Stories of Apache Culture, 1860-1920 won the 2018 New Mexico–Arizona Book Award for History-Other and was recognized as the 2018 New Mexico Book of the Year and as a top twenty book about the southwest by the Pima County Library system. In 2019 Knight’s Odyssey, Knight of the Tiger, and Apacheria won Will Rogers Gold Medallion Awards.

Other Books By W. Michael Farmer

Stand-Alone Books

The Iliad of Geronimo

The Odyssey of Geronimo

Series: Chato's Chiricahua Apache Legacy

Desperate Warrior

Proud Outcast

Series: The Life and Times of Yellow Boy, Mescalero Apache

Killer of Witches

Blood of the Devil

The Last Warrior

Practicing Partners

Healing hearts takes more than medicine.
Bran Jackson, a gifted trauma surgeon, finds himself at a crossroads after his fast-paced lifestyle in Seattle lands him in hot water. Suspended from the hospital, he retreats to his hometown of Maiden’s Bay, hoping to take over his grandfather’s medical practice and salvage his career. The quiet coastal town seems like the perfect place to start anew—until he meets his competition.
Aubrie Turnbridge, a pediatric oncologist, wants to put the shadows of her past in Dallas behind her. Moving to Maiden’s Bay offers a fresh start and the chance to work at a small-town doctor’s office. She’s ready for the change, but not for the infuriatingly charming doctor she’s up against. Bran’s arrogance grates on her, and his motivations are as questionable as his roguish grin is disarming.
As Bran and Aubrie vie for the coveted position, the clinic becomes a battleground for their ambitions and a surprising catalyst for their hearts. With every patient they treat together, their rivalry softens into mutual respect, and then something more.
Practicing Partners is a heartwarming tale of rivalry, redemption, and romance set against the charming backdrop of Maiden’s Bay. Bran and Aubrie must navigate their own wounds and the healing power of love to find a cure for their lonely hearts.

The Name Tree

He had to lose his daughter to save her. And himself.
Naomi was gone. Her death, sudden and unexpected, shattered those who loved her. No one could understand why. A year into grieving, Naomi’s father faces a hard truth-he had a role in her passing. In his heart, he knows Naomi wasn’t of this world. She didn’t know her true identity, and he failed to guide her.
But it’s not too late. He believes there’s one way to make amends. To truly help her now, he must do the unimaginable-pass through the thin veil between life and death to where Naomi resides.
On the other side, he’ll face his darkest fears, confront his mistakes, and battle the demons that have haunted him. Only by emerging from the depths of his soul can he become the father Naomi needed. Together, they’ll embark on a harrowing journey through the unseen-facing impossible challenges and confronting her false identity-all in the hope of freeing her spirit.
This is a war for Naomi’s soul, a battle beyond the grave for a future she was meant to have. But will her father have the strength to see it through?
A poignant and powerful story of redemption, love, and the relentless pursuit of hope, this journey begins-and ends-at The Name Tree.

The Bogus Bondsman

Only the Strong Survive.
When a faceless New York investor orchestrates a hostile railroad takeover, he unleashes a tidal wave of chaos across the West. His weapon of choice? Over a million dollars in counterfeit bearer bonds, crafted by a ruthless crime syndicate and peddled by a mysterious beauty with a knack for beguiling bankers. As the Texas & Pacific Railroad teeters on the brink, they enlist the notorious Allan Pinkerton to unmask the culprits. But the banks, bleeding from the fraudulent scheme, call on the Great Western Detective League to track down their stolen fortunes.
Colonel David J. Crook taps his top men-Briscoe Cane and Beau Longstreet-to lead the charge. Alongside Pinkerton’s sharp-eyed Reginald Kingsley and the dangerously seductive Samantha Maples, they race across the untamed West, from bustling railways to desolate deserts, in a high-stakes pursuit. As Kingsley and Cane match wits with a phantom bondsman, Maples and Longstreet find themselves in a rivalry both fierce and flirtatious, all while staying focused on their quarry.
But the syndicate won’t go down without a fight. Ambushes, assassination attempts, and ruthless betrayals follow the detectives’ every move, leading to a heart-pounding showdown from Yuma, Arizona, to the dusty streets of El Paso.
Prepare for a relentless ride with the Great Western Detective League as they navigate treacherous territory, outsmart cunning criminals, and face down ruthless outlaws. The chase barrels toward a thrilling conclusion, where honor, grit, and gunslinging skills are all that stand between justice and chaos in the unforgiving West.

Roan & Weatherford

Killer of Witches