Fool’s Gold by Christy Award winning western author Stephen Bly – Book 1, The Skinners of Goldfield family saga/historical fiction series

In this 1905 historical fiction series, in a town full of folks seeking to get rich quick, the Skinner family has already found their real treasure. Alkali dust blowing throughout 100-degree days. Saloons lining every block. A gold rush has put gamblers and gunfighters, prospectors and promoters on every corner. It is Goldfield, Nevada, at the end of the Gold Rush era and it is no place for a family such as the Skinners to settle.

O. T. Skinner and his family have no intention of staying more than a day or two — just long enough to replenish their supplies before continuing their journey west. But next to their tent is a starving family with a drunken father. Nearby an eccentric old lady insists she’s sitting atop a gold mine and won’t let anyone near her. And somehow the Skinners are in the middle of a deadly feud — and they’ve only been there one day!

So many in need of a helping hand. Someone to share the riches of their faith in God. But everyone in Goldfield, Nevada would rather search for a quick fortune than seek lasting treasure. Everyone, that is, except the Skinner family.

Scene Excerpt

Mama told them not to look, but Corrie Lou Skinner peeked between her fingers. She knew that her sister Rita Ann also was spying but would never admit it …

A tall, thin man wearing a bowler took a roundhouse swing at a dirty-faced man with thick eyebrows and mustache. The sound of knuckles hitting chin caused Corrie to flinch. Her bangs bounced over her fingers. Both men tumbled out into the hard-packed dirt street. Fine gray dust fogged about them as they rolled to their knees. The dirty-faced man slammed his hand into a pile of dried horse manure and wiped it off on the sleeve of his suit coat.

Then two more men, in worn three-piece suits and scuffed boots, began a shooting and shoving match … a few yards away from the Skinner wagon … Nine-year-old Tommy-Blue Skinner climbed upon the canvas-covered steamer trunk strapped to the back of the farm wagon and peered over his father’s shoulder … “What are they fightin’ about, Daddy?”

Mr. Skinner pulled a wooden toothpick from the slight gap between his two front teeth. His chapped lips tasted of alkali dust and breakfast bacon. “Don’t reckon I know, son. Some men don’t need much excuse to throw punches.”

“Are you going to make them stop it?” Tommy-Blue queried.

“Nope. They’re too big to scold and too foolish to protect.”

— excerpt from Fool’s Gold, historical fiction series by Stephen Bly

In the first book of this historical fiction series, this simple family with their sincere faith is about to make a bigger difference than all the gold in Goldfield. Family saga series by Crossway Books. Two other novels in this family life, adventure historical fiction series include Picture Rock and Hidden Treasure.

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Stuart Brannon cameo appearance in Skinners of Goldfield Series BRANNON CAMEO