Author Interview: The Rustler Hunter by R.J. Sloane

Welcome to the Blog Tour for The Rustler Hunter by R.J. Sloane, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: The Rustler Hunter
Series: Harper's Justice #1
Author: R.J. Sloane
Publisher: Desert Life Media
Release Date: September 23, 2025 
Genre: Western Action & Adventure, Christian Western, Western Romance

When forty-one successful manhunts make you a legend, there’s only one way left to go—down. 

J.J. Westin, the infamous Rustler Hunter, goes undercover at Arizona Territory's largest cattle ranch to expose the rustlers bleeding it dry. The thieves aren't just stealing cattle. They're trusted cowboys operating from inside the bunkhouse. 

What he doesn't expect is Hayley Harper, the tough-as-nails cook with secrets of her own. She's a Pinkerton agent working the same case and the daughter of notorious outlaw Galen Harper. 

When their covers are blown, they uncover something far deadlier than rustling. A corruption network spanning three territories. With enemies closing in and bullets flying, the legendary manhunter and the outlaw's daughter must survive the badlands of 1898 Arizona, where trust is deadly and justice comes at gunpoint.  

In the shadow of Canyon Diablo, where the historic Aztec Land & Cattle Company's Hashknife outfit controlled over a million acres of the Arizona Territory's most lawless land. 

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Desert Life Media | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Bookshop | BookBub

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Excerpt: Hayley's Kitchen Crisis

The beans were burning.

I'd been so focused on the hushed conversation outside the bunkhouse that I hadn't noticed the acrid scent rising from the cast-iron pot until dark smoke began curling up from the stove. Carter and Mac had been discussing something about "moving the stock" and "adjusting the count" in voices meant not to carry.

My wooden spoon scraped against the bottom of the pot, trying to salvage what I could of tonight's supper, but the damage was already done. I prided myself on my cooking—it was one of the few advantages I had in maintaining my cover—and letting a simple pot of beans burn felt like a failure.

"Problems, Miss Hayley?"

Hutch's voice carried a familiar edge of authority mixed with something darker. He sat at the large wooden table, arms crossed, watching me with the calculating stare of a man who missed nothing. Everything about him reminded me of my father. And that wasn’t a good thing. The way he commanded a room without raising his voice, the cold intelligence behind his eyes.

"Nothing I can't handle," I replied, dumping the burned beans into the slop bucket and reaching for the spare pot I always kept ready. Years of cooking for demanding men had taught me to plan for disasters. "Supper might be a few minutes late, that's all."

"Funny thing about problems, Miss Hayley," Hutch continued. "They have a way of showing a person's true character."

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About the Author

R.J. Sloane writes gritty western adventures where justice rides hard across the untamed Southwest. Inspired by shows like Longmire and Yellowstone, plus a childhood spent watching classic westerns with dad, R.J. brings authentic frontier spirit to every page. When not crafting tales of territorial lawmen, you'll find R.J. researching the legendary lawmen of the Southwest and the founding of pivotal frontier towns.

Connect with R.J. Sloane by visiting rjsloanewesterns.com to follow on social media or subscribe to email newsletter updates.

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Author Interview

Q: What inspired you to write The Rustler Hunter?

R.J.: When I was researching Arizona Territory's law enforcement history, I discovered the incredible story of Burt Mossman and the Aztec Land & Cattle Company. Here was this massive million-acre cattle operation (size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined) being bled dry by rustlers—not some gang hiding in the desert, but trusted cowboys stealing from the inside. Mossman's first day on the job, he arrested three rustlers from his own outfit. That's when I knew I had to tell this story.

The inspiration deepened when I learned about female Pinkerton agents working undercover in the 1890s. These women used society's assumptions about "harmless" cooks and laundresses to their advantage while solving crimes that stumped their male counterparts. I thought: what if one of these brilliant female detectives crossed paths with a legendary manhunter on the same case? That's where J.J. Westin and Hayley Harper's story was born.

Q:  How long did it take to write this book?

R.J.: I first started it back in 2023 and worked on it for a good bit of the year. I got about halfway through to a big secret being revealed and suddenly I was stuck! Here I had built up this moment, created all the tension, and I hated my outline for finishing the book. I set it aside for almost another year before picking it up again. After reading through it I knew I had something special. Just needed to put my big boy pants on and slog through the rest of it. After a few more chapters, the rest just flowed. Some stories are like that. They must sit and incubate, as one author friend says, before they are ready to hatch.

Q: What surprised you while researching/writing this novel?

R.J.: I was shocked to discover that female Pinkerton agents were doing undercover work as early as the 1850s. Allan Pinkerton hired women because criminals rarely suspected them of being detectives. Some of these women infiltrated criminal organizations for months, gathering intelligence that led to major arrests.

What really surprised me was learning about the corruption networks. When I started researching cattle rustling, I expected simple theft. Instead, I uncovered sophisticated criminal enterprises spanning multiple territories, complete with forged brands, fake bills of sale, and corrupt officials. The real-life rustling operations were far more complex than anything I initially imagined for my fictional story.

The Aztec Land & Cattle Company's cowboys were nicknamed "the fightin'est, thievin'est bunch in the United States"—and that was by people who liked them! Holbrook had 26 shooting deaths in one year when the population was only 250. These men lived hard and died young.

Q: Do you have a favorite quote from The Rustler Hunter?

R.J.: There’s a line early on which sticks with me. J.J. just got caught in a lie. Hayley’s furious, and rightly so. After she’s done flaying him with words sharp enough to draw blood, he thinks to himself: “Well, at least she didn’t jab her wicked bowie knife in my gut. Yet.”

That one word—yet—says it all. J.J.’s a seasoned manhunter, no stranger to danger. He’s faced down rustlers, killers, and worse. But Hayley? She’s something else entirely. Smart, relentless, and not afraid to draw steel if the moment calls for it. That quote captures the tension between them, the heat, the mistrust, the grudging respect. And it’s classic J.J.: bone-dry humor in the middle of a storm. He’s not just afraid of her knife. He’s afraid of what it means—that she’s unpredictable, formidable, and maybe the only person who can cut past his defenses.

Q: When did you first know you wanted to be an author?

R.J.: I didn’t set out to be an author. I set out to tell the kind of stories that echoed through my living room on Sunday afternoons. John Wayne squaring off against injustice, James Garner outwitting trouble, Clint Eastwood riding that fine line between vengeance and redemption. My dad and I watched them all. Those westerns taught me that the frontier wasn’t just about dust and gunfire. It was about ordinary folks doing the hard thing, the right thing, even when it cost them.

History’s always had a hold on me. I’d written a few studies for church, but fiction? That came later. One day the ideas started showing up—gritty, stubborn, full of heart—and I couldn’t shake them. I didn’t know everything, but I knew enough to start. So I did.

Now here I am, with The Rustler Hunter out in the world and a prequel that snuck in after the fact. Turns out, storytelling’s got its own kind of frontier—wild, unpredictable, and worth every mile. I’ve caught the bug, no doubt about it. Book two’s already in the works, and I’m not looking back.

Q: Would you share something about yourself that most readers wouldn't know?

R.J.: I’ve got a soft spot for old frontier slang. The kind of phrases you don’t hear anymore: “he’s all hat and no cattle,” “don’t squat with your spurs on,” “that feller’s windier than a sack of busted beans.” I keep a running list, not just for flavor but because language tells you how people thought, how they lived. Some of those sayings sneak into my dialogue. Others just make me smile. It’s my way of keeping the dust of history alive.

Q: What are you currently reading?

R.J.: Bill O’Neal’s The Arizona Rangers. It’s research material for Book 3 in the Harper’s Justice series.

I’m also reading a few modern western writers, like William W. Johnstone among others.

Q: What is your favorite genre to read?

R.J.: Historical westerns and crime fiction. I love authors like Louis L'Amour and William W. Johnstone for their authentic frontier settings.

I also read a lot of historical non-fiction. You can't write authentic frontier fiction without understanding what daily life was really like for a cattle rancher or a territorial marshal.

Q: What is your favorite hobby?

When I’m not writing, I’m usually chasing down pieces of history—old maps, frontier journals, anything that helps me understand the world my characters inhabit. I’ve got a soft spot for Arizona trails and the kind of quiet places where you can still hear the past if you listen close. Some folks call it research. I call it fuel. It’s where the stories live before they hit the page.

Q: What is your favorite season and why?

R.J.: Fall in Arizona. The brutal summer heat finally breaks, the desert transforms into something beautiful rather than hostile, and you can spend hours outdoors without feeling like you're being cooked alive. It's perfect weather for hiking to ghost towns and abandoned mines where my characters might have lived and worked.

Fall also feels like the season of stories. There's something about shorter days and cooler nights that makes me want to settle in with a good book or spend long hours writing. Maybe it goes back to childhood when fall meant the start of school and new adventures.

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Tour Giveaway

(1) winner will each receive a signed copy of The Rustler Hunter!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight September 24, 2025 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on October 1, 2025. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

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