The Ryland Creek Saga: Print Books:
The Last Coon Hunter: Book I of the Ryland Creek Saga
An Exceptional Hound: Book II of the Ryland Creek Saga
The Legends of Ryland Creek: Book III of the Ryland Creek Saga
The Master of Hounds: Book IV of the Ryland Creek Saga
The Forest Ghost: A Ryland Creek Novel (the prequel to The Last Coon Hunter)
The Time of the Backroads: A Ryland Creek Novel
Or buy the complete Ryland Creek Saga as a set!
Note: we can only ship print books within the United States (APO and FPO addresses, too) at this time.
The Last Coon Hunter: Book I of the Ryland Creek Saga (soft cover)
It was a simpler time.
Widower Jacob Ernst struggles to raise his two young sons, Nathan and Mead, on their modest farm. As they chase raccoon through the nighttime forest, Jacob teaches his sons the legends of their hometown and a deep respect for all woodland creatures.
For this is Painted Post—a storied place where the lessons of life, love, and death play out beneath its mighty oaks.
But worlds collide.
Evil follows the Ernsts and their hounds into these mystical hills. The scourge of the illegal drug trade, coupled with the treachery of one of their own, leads to an inevitable showdown. Some will learn not all of Painted Post’s vivid tales are pure legend, and this rugged woodland wields a brutal justice.
For in the darkest hollows, unbreakable bonds are forged.
The Last Coon Hunter: Book I of the Ryland Creek Saga, 5th Aniv. Ed. (soft cover)
It was a simpler time.
Widower Jacob Ernst struggles to raise his two young sons, Nathan and Mead, on their modest farm. As they chase raccoon through the nighttime forest, Jacob teaches his sons the legends of their hometown and a deep respect for all woodland creatures.
For this is Painted Post—a storied place where the lessons of life, love, and death play out beneath its mighty oaks.
But worlds collide.
Evil follows the Ernsts and their hounds into these mystical hills. The scourge of the illegal drug trade, coupled with the treachery of one of their own, leads to an inevitable showdown. Some will learn not all of Painted Post’s vivid tales are pure legend, and this rugged woodland wields a brutal justice.
For in the darkest hollows, unbreakable bonds are forged.
An Exceptional Hound: Book II of the Ryland Creek Saga (soft cover)
Twelve-year-old Jason Canton longs to become a coon hunter when a chance meeting in the woods with Nathan Ernst and his legendary coonhound, Seth, sets the youngster on a path to learn the lessons about the forests and life.
But something powerful and malicious has entered the forests of their Upstate New York hometown of Painted Post—something not entirely of this world.
It will test the skills and stamina of the Ernst family with Jason and his friends to confront this deadly marauder.
It will rely upon the strength of the bonds between hunters and their dogs.
It will require an exceptional hound.
The Legends of Ryland Creek: Book III of the Ryland Creek Saga (soft cover)
Young Sharon “Lill” Ernst finds solace in the woodlands of her rural hometown of Painted Post. With her family, Lill has grown up following their coonhounds in the nighttime forests.
Andrew Renthro, orphan but heir apparent to a vast empire of drug dealers, has been ordered to prove his worthiness. Andrew leaves his native Chicago—a teen who eagerly seeks revenge for a father he never knew—and his success means destroying the unsuspecting Ernst family.
But the forests of Painted Post don’t belong solely to the realm of man. Stories of guiding spirits, ghostly hounds, and hideous beasts abound in this mystical place of wooded hollows, streams, and pathways.
For many trails converge and diverge in these oak-strewn hills.
Some paths lead to redemption. . . while others may end in certain doom.
But all have the potential to become legend.
The Master of Hounds: Book IV of the Ryland Creek Saga (soft cover)
We are all students first.
The Ernst family and their coonhounds have always been connected to the woodlands of Painted Post. College student Jacob “Matthew” Ernst has a unique talent—he can see through the eyes of his hounds. Dogs obey him. For now, though, he needs a break from his studies. Time for Matthew and his faithful coonhound Monk to take a peaceful summer hike in the beautiful hills of their hometown.
Logan Willoughby wants to belong. She’s fallen in with the Green Skulls—a gang with a long list of criminal exploits—and the price of admission may be too steep for her to pay. Logan accidentally learns too much and leaving the Skulls may no longer be an option.
A chance meeting puts Logan on a collision course with Matthew and Monk. Together, Matthew, Logan, and Monk will explore the wisdom only the magic of the forests of Painted Post can impart.
The Green Skulls see Logan as a loose end, and the gang’s notorious leadership will do whatever it takes to protect their interests. The only thing standing between them and Logan is The Master of Hounds.
The Forest Ghost: A Ryland Creek Novel (soft cover)
It is often a long path to find one’s name.
In 1962, young Arthur McCutcheon hails from a well-to-do family who want ivied collegiate walls for him. Instead, Arthur is drawn to the tree-covered hills of Painted Post.
Just beginning to explore the forests, Arthur’s life is turned upside down by villainous schemes, and his future quickly becomes murky.
Thrust into a new world with Renee, his loyal hound, Arthur learns about the woods and life from the venerable Seneca chief, John “Gray Eyes” Cornplanter.
It won’t be easy as Gray Eyes, his daughter, Mist, and wife, Shell, try to teach the bumbling if eager teenager.
But one thing is certain.
There’s something different about this youth from Painted Post with a foot in both worlds.
The exciting prequel to The Last Coon Hunter
The Time of the Backroads (soft cover)
Something has happened—something terrible—and retired New York State Game Warden Fulton Wainwright can’t remember.
His wife, Hannah, is gone, and Fulton is convinced he’s the reason she’s no longer among the living. Bitter and determined never to return home, Fulton embarks on one last hike through the beautiful, wooded hills of Painted Post with his coonhound, Jupiter—a dog who hates him.
But the Lands of the Three Rivers has other plans.
Swept back in time with Jupiter, Fulton is welcomed into a Seneca village as a timewalker in a Painted Post of yesteryear. Here, Fulton and his coonhound find the timeless bonds of friendship, faith, and honor in the forgotten past of an oftentimes brutal American wilderness.
But another timewalker—evil and vengeful—has aligned himself with the fierce Andaste against Fulton and his new friends. This dark time walker will stop at nothing to control the land and time itself.
Burdened with guilt, Fulton must learn his true potential if he is to face this mysterious wizard, when only time can reveal the victor.
Ryland Creek Saga Soft Cover Bundle
Buy the complete set of the Ryland Creek saga in soft cover format:
- The Last Coon Hunter: Book I, 5th Anniversary Edition
- An Exceptional Hound: Book II
- The Legends of Ryland Creek: Book III
- The Master of Hounds: Book IV
- The Forest Ghost: A Ryland Creek Novel, the prequel to The Last Coon Hunter
- The Time of the Backroads: A Ryland Creek Novel
All sales are final. No returns or exchanges.
- Millport Landing in Millport, NY with wonderful antiques and gifts made by local artisans.
- Middletown Historical Society, 41 Main Street in Addison, NY. Open Wednesdays (1-4) and Saturdays from 11-2. Note: closed in January and February except by special request.
- The ARTS Council in Corning, NY, at 79 West Market Street.