After fifteen years at sea, First Mate Rhys Taylor walks away from the only life he has ever known. With his final payout in his pocket and no fixed destination, he sets out across America in a weathered camper van—searching not just for adventure, but for something he can't quite name.When he rescues an abandoned Labrador he calls Ted, the journey becomes a partnership forged in loyalty. Together they traverse small towns and big cities, deserts and coastlines, facing down bullies...

"The diversity of voices and songs reminds us that the home front and the battlefront are always connected and that music and war are deeply intertwined." —Heather Marie Stur, author of 21 Days to BaghdadFor a Kentucky rifleman who spent his tour trudging through Vietnam's Central Highlands, it was Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." For a black marine distraught over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., it was Aretha Franklin's "Ch...

Cold PursuitWinter in Lake Tahoe is supposed to be quiet.But when Rhys Taylor discovers the body of a former shipmate buried in a snowbank, the frozen mountains suddenly become the scene of a brutal murder—and a trail that leads straight into a ruthless fentanyl empire.With his loyal Labrador Ted at his side and his old friend Harold "Digger" Graves backing him up, Taylor begins a relentless hunt for the man responsible. Their search leads through d...

A desert vacation was supposed to be simple.A little rock hunting.A little peace.A few quiet days under a wide Arizona sky.But when Rhys "Taylor" Taylor and his family stumble across a sealed railroad spur buried deep in the Sonoran Desert, they uncover something far older—and far more dangerous—than forgotten copper ore.Hidden beneath the sand lies a wartime secret: a vanished Japanese submarine mission, a clandestine American cover-up, and a cache of...

Taylor Carter InvestigationsWhen former merchant seaman Rhys Taylor and retired New Orleans detective Annabelle Carter launch a new private investigation firm, they expect their first case to be a quiet one.Instead, they inherit a ghost from the Cold War.A long-dead double agent named Emil Varga has suddenly resurfaced—triggering a series of brutal assassinations targeting former intelligence operatives connected to a shadow operation known...

THE COLD CASE FILES: A Taylor & Carter InvestigationRhys Taylor was starting to believe the quiet might kill him.Six months after a blood-soaked takedown in California wine country, life at his Lake Tahoe cabin feels almost…normal. Too normal. Then Annabelle Carter shows up with a grin, a proposition, and the kind of restless energy that only comes from a retired New Orleans detective who misses the hunt.Together, they hang out a shingle—Tay...

Lost CargoA Rhys Taylor StoryWhen two massive container ships disappear on the same route to South Africa, the shipping world is left with nothing but questions—no distress calls, no wreckage, no survivors.World Trade Logistics turns to former merchant mariner Rhys Taylor, asking him to take command of a third vessel and deliver a replacement cargo while secretly investigating what happened to the missing ships.Reluctantly leaving h...

On a quiet spring afternoon in Lake Tahoe, Rhys "Taylor" Taylor is repairing a warped porch rail while his son plays nearby. It's the kind of peaceful moment he fought to earn—after years of maritime danger, covert operations, and enemies made in dark corners of the world.Then the phone rings.An attempted abduction.A professional hit on his closest friend.A warning carved in blood and smoke.What begins as a targeted strike against Taylor's family quick...

A quiet morning in the Tahoe pines turns into a nightmare when Rhys Taylor's chainsaw hits something that shouldn't be there.A steel spike—buried decades ago—explodes the chain in a spray of metal and blood, leaving Taylor fighting for his life in a Reno ICU. But the sabotage doesn't end in the woods.Minutes after surgery, the hospital goes dark. Monitors fail. Ventilators flicker. Patient records vanish behind a skull-and-crossbones ransom screen. A voice over the...

In 1968, a Soviet ballistic-missile submarine vanished into the Pacific with nuclear weapons still aboard. Officially, the wreck of K-129 became another Cold War ghost story—until someone starts killing ships in the same waters, with no distress calls and no survivors.When a U.S. Navy research vessel is destroyed near the long-lost wreck site, Rhys Taylor is pulled from his hard-won quiet life into an operation that feels bigger—and darker—than anything he's faced. Alongside his tr...

Castles and VikingsA Rhys Taylor StoryWhat begins as a simple genealogy search turns into a journey across centuries—and into danger.When Kat Taylor uncovers evidence that one of her ancestors was executed for murder in nineteenth-century Bavaria, the discovery raises more questions than answers. At the same time, Rhys Taylor's DNA reveals a startling connection to a Viking bloodline tied to an ancient Scandinavian feud.Curiosity soo...

A COOL HEADRhys Taylor thought the worst days were behind him.A quiet life in Lake Tahoe. A steady job plowing winter roads. A warm cabin where Kat and their six-year-old son, Eddie, should be waiting—along with Ted, the Labrador who never misses a homecoming.But when Taylor steps inside, the silence is wrong.Kat is bound and gagged. Eddie is gone. And the name Kat whispers turns Taylor's blood to ice: Vincent Kane—the ruthl...