The Ponderosa Empire — Stephen Calder

BEN CARTWRIGHT AND HIS SONS HAD BUILT THEIR RANCH ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF HONESTY AND HARD WORK -- BUT NOW THEY WERE THREATENED BY MEN OF GUILE AND GEED

The legend of the Cartwright clan, which thrilled generations of Americans on the beloved series Bonanza, lives once again in this stirring, all-new saga of the Western frontier.

He refused his neighbors nothing, treated his friends like family, and struggled to help others with a farsightedness that is rare. Ben Cartwright possessed courage and a big heart -- these had seen him from his time at sea to carving out a ranch among the High Sierra. But the principles that served Ben so well in the rough country of clean air and crisp-scented ponderosa pine can earn him hatred and envy in the scheming hearts of boomtown thugs.

Cartwright travels to San Francisco only to cross paths with the Bay City's waterfront king of crime -- and has to fight for his life against an armed gang of roughnecks. The outcome has dark consequences back at his ranch, where Ben's sons are driven from their home in a battle that threatens to envelop the Cartwright clan in a wave of bloodshed and roaring flame....