DEER SHOT (2010)

On a Western plain just around the turn of the 20th century, ranch hand Ridley Carter makes his first leap into the real world. He looks to get rich by digging up a stash of money planted in the town of Miner’s Bluff by his late father, a former thief, but there are obstacles in his way. Specifically, the ruthless and intelligent Buck, a hired guide who leaves Ridley for dead and heads off to claim the loot for himself. 

Found and healed by a traveling doctor and his daughter Lula, Ridley finds a new life for himself in the peaceful village of Valley Ore. But fate soon comes knocking: Buck has committed murder in his path, with only Ridley left to properly identify him. 

The young man must choose between peace and violence, forgiveness and revenge, and life and death...

READ HERE (.pdf) 

THE ANTEATERS (2009)

Deep in the woods of Ohio, a religious community has lived in isolation for decades. A mysterious “sickness” has come and gone, depleting their population. 

As the story begins, only a few families remain. Patriarchs Ben Clear and Carl King are planning to oust the town’s de facto leader, Old Saul. Meanwhile, an orphan called English meets a strange man by a riverbed, John Orr, who claims to come from a far-away city of great peace and prosperity. Knowing Old Saul will soon be out of power, English plans for Orr to interrupt a town meeting and promote himself as a new leader. The plan works, and the meeting ends with Old Saul’s fatal expulsion.

But as Orr's bizarre, dangerous ideas become more obvious, English and his sympathizers must confront him, and fight for the future of their people. 

READ HERE (.pdf)