Will her life philosophy, “Do right, fear no man,” get her killed?

A string of bad luck has left former Army helicopter pilot Dot Ybarra with a serious case of wrecked nerves and a need for peace and solace at her family’s Idaho ranch. Instead, she encounters a desperate mother who stumbles onto their land, begging Dot to rescue her kidnapped daughter.

There’s a bounty on the kidnapper’s head, and fugitive recovery agent T.J. Roman is not about to let that paycheck slip through his fingers. Together, he and Dot rescue the child.

But their actions set off an explosion of secrets in Euskadi. The sheriff is slinking around with a new shady sidekick, Dot’s friends are stabbed, and armed mercenaries attack her ranch, forcing her to use her hunting and archery skills to defend her family. Cornered by the unknown enemy’s three-pronged attack, Dot and her charges retreat deep into the Payette National Forest. Isolated in the mountainous forest, separated from T.J. and any help, Dot must make a hard choice: fight or walk away?

Will her first recovery job be her last?

Titles in the A Bounty of Shadows series include: Ride a Dark Trail ~ 

This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  Ride a Dark Trail
Series:  A Bounty of Shadows #1
Author:  Winter Austin
Published:  August 18, 2025
Publisher:  Tule Publishing
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Ride a Dark Trail begins the  A Bounty of Shadows series, with a suspense-filled introduction into a world filled with connections, danger, and twists you won’t see coming.

Dot is a former military pilot, now working with her mother at her ranch.  Dot discovers a frightened woman on the ranch, claiming that her criminal and abusive husband has kidnapped her daughter.  Dot agrees to search for the missing girl and soon discovers that T.J., also a former colleague in the military, is now a private investigator who is looking for the husband as a bail jumper.

That is the basic setup of Ride a Dark Trail.  The rest, well, that’s best discovered firsthand, especially as this is a mystery/thriller novel.  I’m comfortable saying (without giving away spoilers) that Dot’s and T.J.’s search for a missing girl and the man who kidnapped her will put them in danger, with several twists and turns to keep you a bit off-kilter throughout the story.  It’s a well-written, tense, and suspenseful story that had me on edge throughout.  I enjoyed myself in this world, and look forward to more stories in this series.  If you love a good mystery, then Ride a Dark Trail by Winter Austin would be a perfect fit for you.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or the author’s team via Booksprout, and I sincerely thank them for their trust. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

This title is available at Amazon (affiliate link)