ONE CRAZY COW TOWN Clint Adams has passed through some wild cow towns in his life, but none more unusual than Chester, Utah. The welcome wagon consists of a dead body no one is willing to bury. On the most-wanted list is a retired miner who got off a lucky shot, and the sheriff is more interested in breaking the law than upholding it. At the center of it all is snake-oil salesman Henry Whiteoak. Seems the con man swindled some very valuable property away from some very dangerous people. Now, everyone wants a piece of the action—from the sheriff and his cronies and a gun-loving vixen to a gang of businessmen who bargain with lead. And it's up to the Gunsmith to teach them all why greed is one of the seven deadly sins...

Two more people important to the Rourkes face death. The family declares it is time to go on the offense…and so, the hunt for those hunting them begins with a vengeance. Click…click…click. Natalia’s Bali-Song sings as it opens and closes and she and Michael don battle gear once more to fight side by side…to the death if need be. It feels like the old days… when the John Thomas Rourke legend first began. Once again the family is in danger…once again the world is in danger and about to die. Again, the question must be asked…with all of the danger and all of the death…can John Thomas Rourke survive? Like a Phoenix rising from its own ashes, the Rourke story begins again.

The history of the world has been changed by evil more often than by good. Evil does not always come straight at you; evil is a coward that insinuates itself around the truth, around courage and even around reality. That is why we call it evil. John Thomas Rourke and his family and friends have dealt with evil before. But this time, it is strangely different. Not long ago, Atlantis and UFOs and Aliens were legends. Now the legends are not only real but interlinked; inexorably and forever tied to each other. A history we never knew is now a reality we will never forget. One tinged by evil. This time courage alone nor hot lead alone nor cold steel alone can fix the problem. All of the threads of the recent past have now been pulled together, but to what end? Once again, the world is about to change and nothing can stop it. The question now is, can John Thomas Rourke guide his family toward their own survival and into yet another new world?

On September 6, 2001, I was at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, attending a military function. That night I had a heart attack. I was released from the hospital on September 10, and my wife and I were scheduled to fly home the next day. That day was September 11, 2001. On September 11, 2001, I remember driving across Texas and not seeing a single aircraft except those of the Air National Guard. That attack was designed to weaken us. It was designed to frighten us. What it did was make us mad and give us focus. Sadly, many Americans have returned to the mentality of the pre-9/11 days. But for a moment, a brief moment…we stood together. When I started Retribution, we were still searching for Osama bin Laden. In fiction, the TAC Team found him. In reality, it was the SEALs. In both cases, he got what he deserved. The way of the warrior is to be judged by whom you call friend, and by the worthiness of your enemy. One loved, one hated; hopefully, both respected. So here is TAC Leader-Retribution. It is from the warrior in me to the warrior in you. —Bob Anderson