The Foreign Service Journal, November 2020

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2020 55 little cabin near Bear Creek, Colorado, even though he’ll miss Ben’s wife, Wenona, a Shoshone princess, and her two sons. Finally, it’s time. Caleb saddles his horse, Horse, and calls his dog, Dog, and returns home. It’s a journey that is neither routine nor peaceful. When he arrives in Wenona’s tribal village in Utah, he finds his Shoshone friend threatened by a greedy rancher and land poacher who is moving to take over their traditional hunting ground. While Caleb is a peace-loving man, he’s not one to let his friends be threatened. A prolific writer with more than 150 titles to his name, Charles Ray is a retired FSO and former ambassador to Cambodia and Zimbabwe. Before beginning his Foreign Service career, Ray was in the U.S. Army for 20 years and retired in 1982 as a major. This year, in addition to Back to Bear Creek , he published four more novels. They are described below. Caleb Johnson: Mountain Man: Menace in the Mountain Mist: A Frontier Western Adventure (Book 2) Charles Ray, independently published, 2020, $4.99/paperback, e-book available, 98 pages. Caleb’s wife calls herself by a new name, Flora, to better integrate into Bear Creek society. One day while shopping in Bear Creek, Flora is both- ered by three ruffians until Caleb soundly beats them in an alter- cation. The incident fades into memory until months later. As the spring mist envelopes their quiet mountain home, old grudges come calling, and a bloody confrontation looms. Return to Dead Man’s Cove: An Al Pennyback Mystery Charles Ray, independently published, 2020, $6.95/paperback, e-book available, 154 pages. In this installment of the Al Penny- back Mystery series, Al’s best friend, Quincy Chang, invites him and his friends to come along on Quincy’s new yacht for a weeklong cruise through the Chesapeake Bay. After witnessing a drug smuggling operation, they are set upon by smugglers who try to eliminate them. In their flight to elude certain death, Al and friends end up in Dead Man’s Cove, a place that holds unpleasant memories for Al. Toby Giles: One More River to Cross: A Western Adventure Charles Ray, independently published, 2020, $5.99/paperback, e-book available, 76 pages. After helping the town of Jericho fight off a Confederate offensive, Toby Giles starts to settle down in his job as Jericho’s sheriff. His friend, Cully Ransom, announces his engage- ment to the daughter of Jericho’s mayor. But Cully puts his wedding plans on hold after he and Toby learn that a slave patrol is lurking across the river and is on the hunt for Toby. Toby and Cully organize a force to thwart the raiders, and in the process, Toby learns the meaning of true friendship in this new installment in the Toby Giles: Lawman Western series. Calico Cowboy: The Guns of Isom Dart: A Western Adventure Charles Ray, independently published, 2020, $6.99/paperback, e-book available, 134 pages. When Isom Dart was a 12-year-old slave, his master took him to war and taught him how to steal. Now the war is over, and Isom has gained his freedom. He has a thirst for adventure and wanders the countryside, taking odd jobs from camp cook to rodeo clown. The lure of a life of crime draws him in, and he joins the notorious Tip Gault gang. After narrowly escap- ing death, Isom decides to become an honest horse rancher in Brown’s Hole, Colorado. Unfortunately, Brown’s Hole is the hangout of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and other gangs, and Isom is soon drawn back into a life of crime.