Ambush of the Heart – Coming next month!

58 thoughts on “Ambush of the Heart – Coming next month!”

1. My parents live on a mountain in East Tennessee. The property originally was my grandparents–it was a dirt road then. It’s not a paved road now, just crushed gravel. The Appalachian Trail is on top of the mountain. Beautiful, rural, and it would be easy to get lost around there.

   • Denise, how cool. I love the idea of the Appalachian Trail…but If I wanted to hike it, I should have gone about twenty years ago!!!

     • Agreed! It’s not flat with benches neatly spaced out like a local park.

2. Never really been to the mountains

   • Debra, I am a LONG WAY from the mountains here in Nebraska. I did finally see them though. I’ve got a daughter in Denver and we’ve waded in.

3. I was silly enough to scare myself half to death thinking about our car falling down the mountain (there were no guard rails on that section of the road) when we were driving to a ski resort. Thankfully, my husband’s a good driver; nothing untoward occurred.

   • Mary, My husband and I have taken two bus trips, out of Denver, into the mountains and for this exact reason. Those ROADS. And an opportunity to plunge to your death at all times!!!

4. The only mountains I’ve have ever visited is the Smoky Mountains when I was a kid. I wanted to live there!

   • Rhonda, I’ve heard the Smoky Mountains are just spectacular. I’ve never seen them. I’ve gone through north and seen those mountains…the Adirondacks, maybe? But never the Smokies.

5. I love going to the mountains. I’m in NC, so the closest mountains are in VA and NC. I’ve also been to the TN mountains, which have so many fun things to do there.

   • Susan those are all their own ranges along the east coast, aren’t they? I’m writing westerns so I focus more on the Rockies, but I did have Falcon come out of the Tennessee Mountains in A Man with a Past.

6. My dad lived at the foothills of the Rockies and we would get up early in the morning to take drives to try to catch wildlife. We saw the backside of a grizzly going over one of the peaks, and I spotted a mama moose and her baby on one outing.

   • I got chills when you said you saw a moose. NOW I WANT TO SEE A MOOSE!!!

7. Just took my daughter and grandson to see the Rockies this past summer. I wondered how in the world did the pioneers take covered wagons over those mountains.

   • What a good grandma, Rhonda. Wow. I mostly just sneak them candy

8. I just went to the mountains of Montana in Big Sky last summer–first time in the West and it was just spectacular. Loved every moment except I was struck with altitude sickness the first couple of days. Not bad enough to put me in bed, but kinda rough.

9. I actually climbed a mountain part way in Alaska 15 years ago. It was hard because of the altitude but the views were so worth it.

   Congratulations on your new book series. It sounds like a great book to read. I am looking forward to it.

10. going down the mountain from Flagstaff into Phoenix is not something I want to do ever again – once was enough in a vehicle – cannot imagine in a horse drawn wagon!

11. Our high school was in the mountains so buses to school in winter was already an interesting trip. Still is there today.

12. I live very close to Fort Smith, Arkansas, but I only visited the US Marshal’s Museum for the first time late last year. It was such an amazing place and I definitely want to go back! The last time I got lost in the mountains was in the Ozarks of Missouri in December. I had dropped my friend off at her house in Reeds Spring, and was trying to get back to Hwy 65 so I could head back to my home in Arkansas. I had only been to her house once, and we came in the back way when I dropped her off, so I wasn’t quite sure that I was going the right way. It was late at night, very dark, and I was starting to feel a little afraid. I didn’t have good cell signal, and there really wasn’t anywhere to pull over and check for directions anyway. I was really starting to panic when I came around a corner and caught a glimpse of the huge cross that is on the side of Hwy 65. I knew then that as long as I could see the cross, I would be OK. The metaphor definitely wasn’t lost on me! I was able to find the highway and knew my way home from there.

13. Once when we went to the mountains for the day when I was little, there was unexpected snow to the point that my family got snowed in and had to find a motel to stay in. The motel was at the top of a hill and our car kept sliding while trying to going up.

14. Congratulations on your new series. Woohoo. This sounds fabulous. I have always loved stories about the western marshals. They are tough and some of them have a soft heart for something. I especially love it when they are christians and live by God’s code. Can’t wait until your book comes out. Thanks for letting us know. I have driven through the mountains, and have always wondered what it was like to live there.

15. Oh, this sounds good!! I live in FL, it’s FLAT here! However, I have been to Ridgecrest, NC, and LOVED sitting on the rockers on the 2nd floor of the Conference Center and looking out at the mountains! We also did a walk around the area, which was nice. I see mountains when I go to visit my extended family in NW GA, too. I’ve been to Rock City and Lookout Mountain. I LOVE mountains!!! On my bucket list is going to out west to see mountains, too!

16. Mary, huge congrats on the upcoming book! The plot of three US Marshals really draws me. This will be a great series. Tough men coupled with your sense of humor…oh Man! It’s really easy to get lost in the mountains even now. I’ve been in the Rockies many times. Our writing group used to have regular retreats to cabins around and in Red River, NM and Taos. And I never knew which pig trail to turn on so I never drove. EVERYTHING looks the same when you’re in a wooded forest. You can’t even see the sky much of the time. Wishing you every success, my Filly sister.

17. I love visiting the mountains and had to the Asheville, NC, at least once a year. One year as I was driving down the mountain from Mt. Mitchell, it was REALLY foggy. I couldn’t see very far ahead so I was driving very slow and a black bear crossed the road in front of me.

18. One year on my dad’s birthday, we drove over a mountain, stopped at the top and looked at the view for a while. It was beautiful! It wasn’t peak season, so it was just our family up there enjoying the overlook. 🙂

19. I remember one time our youth group had church camp in Colorado. We were informed to get some good tennis shoes to wear because we would be doing a lot of walking. One day we divided into groups and we did different fun activites. My group went hiking. Our youth minister wanted us to take a picture out on this ledge. I am extremely scared of heights and I was not going out on that ledge for a picture. So later when we were hiking and it was extremely steep and I started slipping down the hill. Thankfully the pastor’s son grabbed my hand and pulled me up. My shoes though new did not have good grips on them for hiking. It was a beautiful location but still kind of scary. I love the mountains. I would much rather be there than the ocean.

20. We took a back road one that we thought was a short cut. It may have been but it filled with switch backs and debris. The views were amazing and made it worth while.

21. I lived in the mountains in Alabama for several years. I loved the views!

22. Sis and I got lost hiking in the mountains last summer. Alls well as we finally came out a few miles from our starting point, but what should have been a a 15 minute trip turned into a scary couple of hours lost.

    (During the trip we came upon a ramshakle house and barn but were too afraid to aproach) lol

    Look forward to reading this series, Mary. Thanks for all you do!

23. Due to poor planning on my part, I ended up driving through the mountains of Tennessee in the middle of the night. It was cold, dark and sleeting. If slipping and sliding wasn’t scary enough, seeing headlights coming at you form all the switchbacks was terrifying. I was never so happy as to see flat ground again!

24. I’m originally a NE girl too but we moved to the Black Hills 10 years ago. Those are mountain enough for me! When we first moved here I could hardly ride on the roads with some of the drop offs! But now I can even drive them! The Black Hills are amazing and beautiful!

25. Dave and I were traveling by motorcycle in Colorado and found a room at a ski resort after an exceptionally long , cold, wet day. It was the only room in the area and we had to travel 30 more minutes up the mountain to get there. They were calling for more rain overnight and falling temperatures so we were concerned about getting down the mountain. The next morning we woke to above freezing temperatures but light rain so we headed down the mountain. The rain fell harder as we travelled. At one point, with me riding behind Dave on the motorcycle, he said, “Man, I wish I could see!” The rain was rolling down the windshield of the bike and over the visor of his helmet and down his glasses. I said, “Oh! I wish you could see, too!”
    We made it down the mountain and the rain stopped, the sun shone and we dried out. It ended up being a beautiful day!

26. Our family went to Snowy Range mountains in Wyoming one year with my aunt, uncle and a cousin. I remember my dad having to drive very carefully as there was a steep drop-off on one side and a high rock wall on the other side. Nowhere to pull over. Every time daddy would come up on a turn, he would honk. One time there was an answering honk. Daddy ended up backing up to a place where there was a pull off. We were either hiding our eyes (us girls and my mom and aunt and mom) praying hard or my cousin and brother excited chattering away. Looking back, it was a very exciting day.

27. My parents and I went on car trips periodically (after I reached the age to more appreciate and remember). I still recall rather vividly, when I was probably about nine years old, a trip to Colorado, primarily the western and central part of the state – beautiful mountains. However, a route way back then that we took over Independence Pass was not totally paved. Was even worse for motion sickness issues!

    Looking forward to this book series! I always appreciate your interesting settings and the relevant history.

28. I love reading about strong, honest men like U.S. Marshals, so can’t wait to read your books. We got lost in the mountains once, years ago, before GPS. No place to ask for directions even if my husband would have asked. lol We just kept driving, turning whenever we had to and eventually made it back to a main road. Not fun! Some beautiful scenery though.

29. Sounds like a great series!

    I remember in one of my stories having my characters check for moss on the trees as a direction indicator (NOT infallible) so they wouldn’t head in the wrong direction absent sun as a guide. Not everyone had a compass…despite its ancient origins. But they were on a known trail. In the mountains, with ups and downs and switchbacks, it would be dreadfully easy to get turned around in unknown territory. Climbing trees to try to get a layout of the land, and following streams (which run downhill, not NESW) could give clues, depending on a basic general knowledge of the area, but LOST could become Hansel & Gretel!

    Since I’ve explored most of the states (plus parts of Canada and Mexico) over the years, I’ve been on everything from barely there dirt trails to full US Interstates, and am amazed at the variety of formations and landscape!

30. I love the mountains. My Mom was born and raised in West Virginia. The first time I drove the mountain roads, I was hooked. We have family that has as a cemetery on top of a mountain. The only way to get there is by four wheel drive. It is a challenging dirt road. We were taken there by my uncle in a jeep. The view was beautiful. Thank you for the opportunity. God bless you..

31. Sounds like an amazing series! One memory from the mountains is when I went riding with my husband on an ATV – I was a little nervous as we made our way over the trails. They seemed to twist and turn and I couldn’t help look over the edge and think that it was a long way down and hoping we were not going to get off the trail and wind up in the bottom. We had fun and we made it back in one piece but it was an adventure.

32. Oh, Mary! You don’t know what you’re missing! I think Roger and I have been to most of the mountain ranges except for any in mid to southern California. From the Olympics and Cascades in Washington state, to the Blue Ridge and Smokies in NC, VA, and TN. We even visited Alaska this year (2025) as I am researching for my upcoming Mountain Man series.
    I live in the gorgeous foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, but I think the most magnificent are in Glacier National Park. The scariest was probably Pikes Peak in Colorado…NO GUARDRAILS! Going up Mt. Ranier was a bit scary too – There was a cloud sitting on the mountain, and no one could see to get through, and since there are no shoulders on the road (no room for error), no one tried.
    Can’t wait to read your new series! I love lawmen! I’ve been looking at your audiobooks recently and trying to decide which I want next! I always love your books!

33. I Love The Great Smoky Mountains in TN.

34. I live in the mountains now, actually between two mountains. It’s so beautiful and we get to see so many wildlife daily. I did get to go horseback riding in the Smokey Mountains once when I was a teenager too.

35. I grew up in the foothills of the Adirondacks. Each fall we kids would get to hike in to help set up hunting camp for my dad and uncles. It was in a “no motorized vehicles” area three miles from the road and across a river. The first leg of the trail was over Eleventh Mountain and very rocky. I was always glad the uncles were very familiar with the trail because it could have been easy to get lost especially where the trail branched. We were all taught if you do get separated from the group follow the river downstream. Eventually you will come to the trail or a road. When you do wait there for someone to find you.

    Now living in Central Washington I have been to the Cascades and Rockies. We used to take our church youth group to a national forest to cut Christmas trees. As long as you can find a road or maintained trail you are okay. But how did those early mountain men and settlers find their way. They seemed to travel from one place to another without worrying about being lost. Maybe they didn’t worry about how long it took to go somewhere so they had a different sense of what it meant to be lost. From old letters my dad’s family had and ones my husband’s family has I know they did a lot of traveling and I’ve wondered how they were able to go off on horseback or in a buggy to places unknown to them without getting lost.

36. Good Thursday Afternoon Mary,

    Would love to win AMBUSH!

    Thank you,

    Julie Bullock

37. Hikes in the Smokey Mountains and had a juvenile black bear frolicking in the woods about 7 feet from us. Fortunately, the rangers were aware of him and kept us safe. We are off to Sedona Az for our next hike.

38. Some friends and me and my husband were driving through the mountains and it was very curving. My friends husband was about to get sick from all the curves but we made it through with no one getting sick.

39. I have been in the mountains a lot of times in my life, me and my family has went camping , we go huckleberry picking, fishing, hunting ( I don’t go hunting very often), thank you for the giveaway opportunity!

40. had fun hiking in the mountains

41. I have never really been to the mountains.

42. The mountains are my happy place.

43. I’ve only been to the mountains a couple times. But each time, it struck by the ruggedness of them. And how tough the first settlers to live on them had to be.

44. I live in East Tennessee and have been to the Smokies many times. On the Cades Cove Loop Road there is a side road that takes you back to one of the original churches. The banks on either side of the road are very high and were created by so much traffic going through. It always makes me think of what some of the places on the Oregon Trail must have looked like. You would love the Smoky Mountains!

45. I am really looking forward to this series. I love the mountains. I grew up in the Adirondacks of Northern NY, hiked the Appalachian chain in Maine, NH, Vermont, and Virginia. We lived on the Front Range in the Rockies for 3 years and also hiked in the Sierras. Growing up, we had a cabin for a camp on a small lake in the Adirondacks. There were no hiking trails, but that didn’t stop us. There was a mountain with a bald (clear area on top) to the West of the lake. I hiked to the top many times often by myself. I would cross the causeway over the swamp area and just turn into the woods from the road. In all those years, I don’t think I ever took the same route to the top. I found a deer yard on one trip (where the deer may stay when the snow is deep and food is short. It is in a grove of cedar and the branches are all at the same level like a ceiling. That is how high they can reach to eat. Not nutritious but filling). One time I found a rock shelf full of quartz crystals. Pretty, but I had no way to collect any. I never could find it again. I always made it to the top and never had a problem getting back to the road. I even did a white tailed deer study there one winter. That was a long time ago. I’m not sure I could manage that today.

46. I’ve never been lost in the mountains, but I have driven through them. One drive I remember most was through the high meadows of Wyoming in the north-central area going into Montana near Billings. Everything was lush and green that year, the skies beautiful blue, flowers and wild animal spottings as I climbed. Then, I started down the other side, and it was like moving to Mars…everything a dusty, treeless rocky crater. Stunning in its own way, but it gave me this odd, hollow feeling as I navigated down that steep, rugged road. But I think t was in that moment that I fell in love with the West.

47. I meet my husband at a church retreat in the Big Bear Mountains of California.

48. I grew up near mountains in NW Montana and lived at the base of a mountain for nearly 50 years.

49. I’ve been to several mountains in New Hampshire mount Lafayette part of Franconia range and White Mountain and also Vermont Dorset mountain and Maine at Baxter State park. New York as well. I live in New England so it’s not far, so can spend weekend there easily. Love camping, hiking absolutely love the outdoors. I haven’t gone in several yrs. I miss seeing the breathtaking Mountains.

50. Hi! Your new book, sounds like a Awesome one. Will never forget our trip to California when we got lost on the back trails at Yosemite. One-lane road & straight down if you got off the road or met someone coming the other way. All of us, including my Mother, the driver; were scared sh– less!!!!
    Loved, the rest of our trip, but; not that experience.

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