"This is a fun and exciting story, written with the utmost respect for the Osage culture." —Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center
A cursed stone.
A horde of zombie outlaws.
With his home destroyed and his family lost, Keech will have to use the lessons he learned from Pa Abner to hunt down the powerful Char Stone. Luckily, he has the help of a ragtag team of orphans. Together, they'll travel through treacherous forests, fight off the risen dead, and discover that they share mysterious bonds as they search for the legendary stone. Now it's a race against the clock, because if Bad Whiskey finds the stone first... all is lost.
But Keech and the other orphans won't hesitate. Because they're more than just heroes.
They're Lost Causes.
Praise for Legends of the Lost Causes
A Junior Library Guild Selection
"A rip-roaring adventure in the Wild West, filled with cowboys, magic, and a horde of undead villains that'll have you hunkered down in your bedroll, turning pages long after the campfire has died down." —Heidi Schulz, author of Hook's Revenge
"A rollicking adventure filled with mystery and magic that crackles like a brush fire." —Emma Trevayne, author of The House of Months and Years
"Thrilling, dark, and full of heart, this is a Western like none I’ve ever read. I loved it." —Stefan Bachmann, author of The Peculiar and The Whatnot
"Vividly drawn characters, evocative writing, thrilling suspense." —The Buffalo News
"McLelland and Sylvester imbue the adventure with a Louis L’Amour-esque flair refreshed for today’s readers by the thoughtful incorporation of American frontier history and Osage culture." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Dark magic meets the Old West in this rip-roaring middle-grade adventure series filled with scrappy heroes and diabolical villains.
Keech Blackwood and his band of fellow orphans demand justice for their fallen families. But the road to retribution is a long and hard-fought journey.
After defeating Bad Whiskey Nelson, the man who burned Keech’s home to the ground, the Lost Causes have a new mission: find Bonfire Crossing, the mysterious land that holds clues to the whereabouts of the all-powerful Char Stone. Along the way they’ll have to fend off a shapeshifting beast, a swarm of river monsters, and a fearsome desperado named Big Ben Loving who conjures tornadoes out of thin air. It’s an epic standoff between the Lost Causes and the outlaw Reverend Rose, a powerful sorcerer who would be unstoppable with the Stone in his possession.
With the world—and vengeance—hanging in the balance, the Lost Causes are ready for battle.
Keech Blackwood and his fellow Lost Causes have won their share of battles, but the war against the forces of darkness still rages on.
In their final standoff against the ruthless outlaw and sorcerer, Reverend Rose, the Lost Causes face their most perilous trial yet: stopping Rose and his henchmen from retrieving the ancient, powerful objects that would return him to his full, frightening strength. As the vigilante orphans race to the dangerous depths of Skeleton Peak, the sight of the Key that would free the Reverend from his wicked prison, they’ll have to outmaneuver Rose’s most faithful—and menacing—ally: a creature spawned by darkness and shadow.
Born and raised in Arkansas, Brad McLelland spent several years working as a crime journalist in the South before earning his MFA in creative writing from Oklahoma State University. A part-time drummer and singer, Brad lives in Oklahoma with his wife, stepdaughter, a mini-Aussie who gives hugs, and a chubby cat who begs for ham.
Louis Sylvester is a professor at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho. He earned his PhD from Oklahoma State University. He enjoys playing tabletop games from his collection of over 1,000 card and board games, watching western films, reading fantasy novels, and spending time with his wife and two dogs.
