Frontier & Pioneer Western Fiction; US Historical Fiction;
Action/Adventure
Date Published: March 20, 2026
Narrator: John McLain
Run Time: 9 Hours and 46 Minutes
With all the swagger of a classic western, a legendary buffalo claims his
rightful place among the genre's most iconic heroes.
Meet Rathuun. Born in an idyllic canyon, tragedy strikes on his first day. A
grizzly bear scatters the herd, devours his twin, and leaves him to shiver and
die. But the buffalo calf with a white spot on his chin survives.
The plains are changing fast. Wagons roll west in endless streams. Telegraph
wires stretch across the horizon. Locomotives scream down polished rails,
slicing through the earth. Extinction
seems imminent when everyone wants to kill the biggest buffalo on the prairie.
Native people shoot arrows and drive herds over cliffs. Hide hunters slaughter
millions. An obsessed buffalo assassin is determined to wipe them all out and
change the world forever. There's an army of barking rifles, and they're all
pointed at Rathuun.
Will the hunters take Rathuun's head and leave his carcass to rot on the
prairie?
This sweeping epic thunders across the American West, taking listeners
to unforgettable western landmarks. If you like classic westerns, thrilling
action, and high-stakes historical adventures, grab your copy by the horns.
Welcome to the prairie!
Interview
What is the hardest part of writing your books?
Keeping my head on straight. It's like having multiple personality disorder only it's tons of fun. I get to be the hero and the villain, plus all of the extras. But it can get confusing even with computers to keep track of all the details. At any given moment I'm planning one book, writing another, editing a third, and marketing a fourth. The actual writing, once I'm in the groove, flows surprisingly well. With Rathuun, it was easy to "just be a buffalo." Perhaps it is a Taurus thing!
What are your most played songs?
Each weekend, I pick a different artist and they become my writing partner. Mostly, I stick to classic country... Elvis, Dolly, George Strait, Marshall Tucker Band, CCR, and my new favorite, David Lewis. My favorite playlist, which always makes me want to write westerns kicks off with Ray Price's
Don't Let The Stars Get In Your Eyes, followed by Goldie Hill's
I Let the Stars Get In My Eyes, then Eddy Arnold's
Cattle Call, and Gene Autry's
Home On the Range. There's 41 songs on this Spotify playlist, and I'm happy to share.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0L8pC1RtIMedKjeIkpoKp5?si=-ahQ-tNrS52I2c-pVwU_mQ
Do you have critique partners or beta readers?
Yes! The ace up my sleeve is my long term collaborator, cousin, and editor. She's very strict about commas, four dot elipses, and very sweetly pounces on issues in my manuscripts. I have the good sense to listen to Lindsay. In addition, I have a group of early readers. For Rathuun, I engaged a professional editor to do a manuscript evaluation and they made many excellent recommendations that definitely improved the novel. Rathuun was an important story and I wanted to tell it well.
What book are you reading now?
The Fear Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, a craft book all about making the most of fear in fiction. So watch out, readers. My westerns might be getting scarier. Though honestly, it's hard to imagine anything more terrifying than a buffalo stampede bearing down on you.
How did you start your writing career?
It traces back to my grandfather's dude ranch in the Adirondacks, where I was a "top hand" before I was ten. Decades later, I wrote a book about that special time and place called In the Shadow of a Giant. And I was hooked. Before I knew it, I was writing novel after novel. Now I'm a decade and twenty books in, going as fast as I can, following my adventurous characters down one trail after another.
Tell us about your next release.
Return to Independence releases June 25th. This prequel novella launches a new series,
The Frontier Adventures of Alvah Nye. Alvah is a fan favorite from
Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail, my award-winning five-book series. More information about this and all my books can be found at
itsoag.com.
About the Author
David Fitz-Gerald writes frontier and pioneer western fiction from the
wilds of western Vermont—about as far west as you can get without
slipping into New York.
Though he’s never wrangled beeves to market, Dave was a top hand on his
grandfather’s dude ranch in the Adirondack Mountains… before he
turned ten. He’s lived most of his life on dirt roads. Whenever he gets
the chance, he travels west to recharge his spirit on the windswept prairies.
He’s an Adirondack 46’er which means that he’s hiked to the
top of every mountain in the park. In 2018, Dave completed the 1960s fitness
craze by hiking 50 miles in one day. That’s one heck of a long walk, but
not nearly as grueling as the iconic trails that he chases in his fiction.
Even after all these years, Dave still has his head in the clouds like Ken
from MY FRIEND FLICKA, and a quiet, self-reliant spirit like Sam from THE
TRUMPET OF THE SWAN. That blend of wonder, heart, and spirit runs through the
characters he portrays. His editor states he is “exceptionally good at
creating real moments between characters”—and readers seem to
agree.
Dave’s breakthrough series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail won
Chanticleer’s Grand Prize for Book Series. He’s now the author of
nearly twenty novels and counting, and as long as there’s coffee in the
kitchen, Dave will be plotting one adventurous story after another.
Contact Links
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Bookbub
Purchase Link
Audible
Amazon
https://mybook.to/RathuunKingofPrairie
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