This is vivid, cinematic storytelling at its best. Peopled by a cast of exquisitely drawn characters-unique as much in dialogue as exposition-In His Hands is at once a solid genre piece and an engaging, enthralling story that defies any restrictive category. Never mind watering rights, cattle rustling or bounty hunting: This is about real people facing real challenges, real pain, real life-or-death struggles day after day: betrayal, wonder, hypocrisy and redemption. The Old West setting is not incidental ... the setting of In His Hands is as much a character as Callon, Daniel or Mary. But the life events, challenges, relationships, emotions-all of it is universal, relatable, immediate and deeply involving. Through the melancholy, the stars were bright, clear, and eternal. Packed with emotion, action and musical writing. Brilliant. - Eddie Cruz, Xulon Press Editor A native of San Diego, California, married with four children; R. J. Conn is a veteran of the Vietnam War and thirty-seven years of teaching. He has hiked, hunted, and fished the backcountry of the Sierra Nevada; he has a deep love for the mountains, for their geography, and their history. He also has a love for the Old West, for the trials, failures, faith and victories of those who lived through its stormy-sometimes beautiful, sometimes terrible-history. Above all, from the darkness of the Vietnam War to the majesty of the Minarets, he has found God to be constant, tender, and powerful.