Shadows on the Trail - A Prehistoric Adventure Novel

Shadows on the Trail takes place at the end of the last Ice Age on the plains and mountains of Texas and Colorado. The end of the Ice Age was a dramatic time of global warming, rising air temperatures and melting ice caps and glaciers. It was a time when many large mammal species went extinct and small bands of humans roamed the land attempting to survive in an unforgiving and violent world.  This is a tale of three prehistoric tribes whose paths collide, culminating into an emotional thriller filled with predatory animals, natural disasters, good and evil people.        

Chayton, our hero, is an orphan and hunter in a tribe called the Folsom People. Forced to deal with a catastrophic drought, Chayton and the Folsom People abandon their peaceful canyon home and make their way north to an idyllic land called the North Country. While the Folsom People make their way across a desolate prairie, a barbaric tribe called the Mountain People brutally attack a peaceful tribe called the River People. A fortunate encounter between a young boy from the River People and the Folsom People, pull the three tribes into the same whirlwind conflict.

The plot of the book takes a surprising turn when the surviving members of the River People convince the Folsom People to help them free part of their tribe from the fortified mountain village of the Mountain People. Together, the two good tribes devise an intricate plan to trap the lethal Mountain People and rescue the River People captives.        

Chayton’s lonely life takes a joyous turn when he rescues a beautiful young woman named Namid. While the independence of both Chayton and Namid keep their relationship at arm’s length in the near term, their attraction for each other break down their independence and true love blossoms.

Just when the reader is lulled into believing that ‘good will triumph over evil’ in this book, an unexpected and diabolical twist causes the River People and the Folsom People to scramble for survival against one of the deadliest forces of nature. 

Shadows on the Trail by John Bradford Branney is available at www.Amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and  www.blackrosewriting.com.