Painting the Town Red

Dead Broke, Colorado, Book 2

By: William W. Johnstone, J. A. Johnstone

Narrated by: Cody Roberts

Welcome back to Dead Broke, Colorado. Where the latest discovery—a giant boulder of zinc—ignites a kill-crazy war that rocks the Rockies to their core.

Ever since the silver market crashed, the mining town of Dead Broke has been awfully quiet. The local marshal—legendary gunman Duncan "Mick" MacMicking—doesn't have much to do besides outshoot the occasional greenhorn looking to challenge him. But all this peace and quiet is about to end. Mayor Nugget has unearthed a mineral to rival his famous "Hope Diamond of Silver." He calls it the "Zinc of Zion," a 1,776-pound boulder of pure zinc carbonate. And when he announces his discovery, the quiet boomtown of Dead Broke goes boom—again—with a vengeance.

First, a mining expert from Germany shows up—with his eyes on the prize. Then, a reporter from Baltimore arrives—and ends up dead in one of the mines. It doesn't take long for the town marshal and mayor to realize they've got a full-blown zinc war on their hands. Fueled by greed—and backed by gunpower—the German's business proposition turns into a hostile takeover. And then the German himself turns out to be a notorious outlaw with a long history of stealing whatever—and killing whoever—he wants. There's just one thing stopping him from painting the whole town red: a gunfighting legend who happens to be the town marshal they call Mick.

©2025 J. A. Johnstone (P)2025 Tantor Media