Jim Buchanan - the first entry in the Jim Buchanan Characters Series

Jim Buchanan, the protagonist in my novels is of mixed-blood. Banished from the Crow tribe in 1978 for an indiscretion when he was just 16 years old, Jim fled to Thompson Falls to live with his Scottish father. Using high school athletics as an outlet, Jim’s success led to a four year football scholarship at the University of Montana. A recipient of the Outland Trophy, given annually to the best college interior defensive lineman in the country, Jim parlayed that into a first round draft selection by the Chicago Bears. Wearing number 92, Jim spent three long seasons toiling in the trenches for the Bears until a knee injury convinced him to retire. A four year hitch in the US Air Force as a military policeman with time spent in Kuwait led to his epiphany. In 1992, Jim applied for and graduated from the Montana Highway Patrol Academy. Two years later, Sanders County Sheriff Dan McCoy’s retirement presented an opportunity for Jim. At the urging of his wife Kate and most of the townspeople, Jim ran for the office and won election to a four year term. The first few months in office were a breeze but in his second year, a personal attack, chronicled in my novel, ‘Montana Harvest’, puts Kate's life at risk.