It's been a life-long dream of mine to write Westerns (as you can clearly see from the photo below of Little M. William Phelps, the cowboy, LOL). The old-school, plot-driven, big character stories pitting good verses evil, good guys against bad guys, which is not so much different from what I normally do for my day job of true crime reporting and investigation for the podcasts I am most known for and the 40-plus true crime books I have published.

THEY CAME FOR BLOOD is book 1 in a three-book Tom Callahan Western series, and releases May 12, 2026, from Hatcreek, an imprint within the Roan & Weatherford Publishing enterprise.

WHEN THE PAST COMES FOR BLOOD, YOU EITHER DRAW FIRST OR DIE TRYING

Tom Callahan was once the government's deadliest secret-a lethal gun-for-hire leading a team of assassins no one knew existed. Now those days are long gone. Or so he thought.

Now an aging cowboy trying to keep his ranch alive, Callahan wants nothing more than peace... and a sliver of forgiveness. But when word reaches him that his wife and son-long believed dead-may still be alive, that peace turns to dust.

From railroad corruption to a secret slave trade, outlaw towns to Washington DC's back rooms, every mile drags Callahan deeper into the rot of the nation he once served. Hunted, framed, and haunted by the men he used to ride with, he's forced to become the one thing he swore he'd never be again-a killer.

In a world built on blood, there's no clean way out. To save his family, Callahan will have to face the ghosts of his past-and decide if redemption is worth the price in bodies.

New York Times bestselling author M. William Phelps delivers a brutal, timely, and cinematic Western thriller where the trail to the truth runs red and redemption rides a pale horse.