THE FOSSIL HUNTER
Irene sandell
NEW RELEASE - FALL 2025
From Award-Winning author, Irene Sandell
A flower child of the 60’s, Meredith Bannon’s life journey has been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. When she moves back to her grandmother’s house after fifty years, she hopes that she can finally make peace with her present and her past.
However, the journey, she finds, also causes her to dig deep into the mysteries of her grandparents and mother in the process and leads her on a new exploration through the many layers of her family’s story.
The tales of these generations are woven into the triumphs and tragedies, wars and social conflicts of the last one hundred years and uncover a saga that encompasses the 20th Century.
"Read Irene Sandell for wonderful multi-layered characters, vivid description of the sweeping Texas landscape, and a history lesson wrapped in a good solid story." - Maryann Miller, Best Selling author of The Seasons
A flower child of the 60’s, Meredith Bannon’s life journey has been a roller coaster ride of highs and lows. When she moves back to her grandmother’s house after fifty years, she hopes that she can finally make peace with her present and her past.
However, the journey, she finds, also causes her to dig deep into the mysteries of her grandparents and mother in the process and leads her on a new exploration through the many layers of her family’s story.
The tales of these generations are woven into the triumphs and tragedies, wars and social conflicts of the last one hundred years and uncover a saga that encompasses the 20th Century.
"Read Irene Sandell for wonderful multi-layered characters, vivid description of the sweeping Texas landscape, and a history lesson wrapped in a good solid story." - Maryann Miller, Best Selling author of The Seasons
Untamed Texas Frontier: Land of blood and hope
Historical fiction
WILLA Award winner for Best Softcover Fiction, Women Writing the WestWill Rogers Medallion Award Winner for Western Fiction
Three destinies, one relentless struggle-and a land that promises everything but forgives nothing.This thrilling saga is set against the backdrop of the conquest of the American West and the bitter battles against the Comanche, who are fighting bloody conflicts to defend their homeland of endless prairies and huge bison herds.
Stella Carter flees with her husband from racism in the East to Texas and narrowly survives one of these raids. She must fight for survival as a slave to the Comanches in the hope of seeing her abducted daughter again.
Meanwhile, the young Benjamin rises from fugitive hitman to the ranks of the cavalry, where, contrary to his past, he becomes a life-saving hero to his troops.
Henry is also on the run from the law and a dangerous gang of outlaws who won't let him escape. He soon realizes that even among the cowboys of the great cattle drives, he cannot escape the law of the loaded gun.
In the fort of the badly battered army, the paths, and destinies of the main characters cross. Will Texas be the land of opportunity for them - or are they doomed, just like the roaming, fugitive warriors?
Irene Sandell has created an exciting epic. The main characters will captivate you. With over 25 years of professional experience as a history teacher and countless specialist books and documentaries to her name, this author is an award-winning expert on this period.Immerse yourself in a story full of courage, loss, and hope-and experience the Wild West as you've never read it before. Read now and join the excitement!
In A Fevered Land
Irene sandell
In A Fevered Land – Selected Book of the Month by Barnes and Noble (2004)
Lon Prather and his cousin Emory Campbell are determined to escape the drought and financial ruin of cotton farming during the Great Depression. They follow promises of money and adventure to the oil field towns of Wink, Kilgore and Odessa. Their quest leads them to the boisterous life of the Texas boomtowns where they find love and hatred, hope and regret, failure and success.
“An absorbing novel where a single event sets off a series of adventures climaxed by a startling twist. Once started, it is hard to put down.”
“A well-crafted novel with rich characters, thorough historical detail, and a fast paced style.”
River of the Arms of God
Historical fiction
River of the Arms of God – Finalist for the WILLA Award from Women Writing the West (2009)
“An artfully rendered story with fully fleshed characters and an engrossing plot, in which the beautiful and harsh Texas landscape plays an important role, honoring the human spirit to endure.” Cynthia Massey, award-winning author
“Texas, two women, a century apart. They are seeking shelter and find instead a tempest. With vivid imagery, finely researched historical detail, wrenching scenes of desperation, and delights of unexpected joy, Irene Sandell weaves their choices, failures, and triumphs into a story that carries us along on the River of the Arms of God. It’s a saga to remember.” Jane Kirkpatrick, award-winning author
Kate Walters believes she is escaping her controlling father for the life of her dreams when she hastily marries Colby Walters and moves to his ranching empire, Pantera. But she soon finds that the wide open lands of West Texas have a host of their own secrets that hold her captive. Only when she is shown the strength to stand on her own by Sarah Graham, a youn woman who lived along the Butterfield State Route and walked the same ground 100 years before, does Kate find true freedom. The life lessons that both women learn lead them on journeys that reach across the years and span the continent.
Kate Walters believes she is escaping her controlling father for the life of her dreams when she hastily marries Colby Walters and moves to his ranching empire, Pantera. But she soon finds that the wide open lands of West Texas have a host of their own secrets that hold her captive. Only when she is shown the strength to stand on her own by Sarah Graham, a youn woman who lived along the Butterfield State Route and walked the same ground 100 years before, does Kate find true freedom. The life lessons that both women learn lead them on journeys that reach across the years and span the continent.
The House on Swiss Avenue
Historical fiction
The House on Swiss Avenue – Duncanville Public Library – Southwest Author of the Year (2014)
Women Writing the West Finalist for the WILLA Award (2013)
Robyn Merrill hopes that starting a new life in a new place will help to heal her broken heart, but the path she chooses and the people she encounters touch her life in ways she could never have expected. Secluded in her family mansion, Adeline Sinclair has spent a lifetime devoted to memories and to the history of her family only to question her choices in her twilight years. Her historic house on Swiss Avenue brings the two women to together to solve mysteries from the past.
“The House on Swiss Avenue weaves the history of Dallas into the lives of two women as they unlock secrets that alter both of their lives and help them make peace with the past and welcome the future.”