COMING JULY 2026:

In the gaslit streets of 1887 London, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West brings the American frontier roaring to life, with cowboys, buffalo hunts, sharpshooting, and war dances thrilling tens of thousands.

But when a young Lakota performer is arrested for the brutal Whitechapel murders, Colonel Thomas Scoundrel, the show’s quietest hero, uncovers a conspiracy that reaches into the highest circles of European aristocracy.

The Last Wild West is a gripping historical thriller of justice, prejudice, and the thin line between staged savagery and the real thing.

“O’Hagan’s Thomas Scoundrel series is literary historical fiction at its finest," The Telegraph

1884- Two years after the action in Scoundrel in the Thick, Thomas Scoundrel has grown bored training new recruits for the Mexican Army and chasing bandits in the northern territories. He jumps at an offer to write an article about the new Paris to Istanbul luxury train called the Orient Express for his former newspaper editor. Onboard the train he meets Heléne de Bovet, the beautiful daughter of a famous Egyptologist who is on a quest to salvage her father’s reputation and save his life. When Thomas accompanies Hélene to the site of her father’s last dig at Luxor in Egypt, they are swept up into the war that is brewing between British forces under the command of General Charles Gordon, and the fanatical warrior chieftain known as the Mahdi whose thousands of devoted followers are bent on ripping off the shackles of European control. In the ensuing weeks Thomas will be flung into pitched battles on the shores of the Nile, captured by the Mahdi, and tossed into a hellish Sudanese prison. He escapes, but only to face another fight for survival as he races across the blistering Sahara Desert to rescue Hélene, who is being held for ransom by a Bedouin warlord.

The Ghost of Khartoum delivers grand adventure, historical realism, and the familiar touch of gourmet food and wine that readers of the Thomas Scoundrel series have come to expect.

a new cover for Jonathan Marvel’s Christmas Pockets

LA Opera Production of Figaro Stars Craig Colclough, the 'Voice' of Thomas Scoundrel

This Saturday, February 4th, internationally acclaimed opera performer Craig Colclough takes center stage as the title character in the Los Angeles Opera production of Mozart's delightful comedy, The Marriage  of Figaro. This role catapults Craig to the top tier of opera singers in the world.Craig did a magnificent job with the audio version of Scoundrel in the Thick, and we are excited to announce that he will be recording  the 2nd book in the Thomas Scoundrel series, Scoundrel in Paradise.

By way of celebrating, we are giving away 25 free downloads of the audio version of In the Thick. Go HERE for details, and if you are in LA between February 4-26 you might want to drop by the opera. When you do, please say hello for us!

Gatsby Books Complete Review of Scoundrel in the Thick:

“Sometimes you start a novel and you quickly realize that you don’t want it to end.  So, you begin reading slowly and savor each chapter.  You turn the page and let it breathe like a bottle of fine wine that you’ve been saving for just the right occasion.  Scoundrel in the Thick is that kind of novel.  Honestly, I’ve not read anything this satisfying since Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove.  

Author B.R. O'Hagan has crafted a relentless page-turner with moments of well-earned reflection.  It’s both a rip-roaring journey into the American frontier and a heartfelt study of the American character.  Thomas Scoundrel, a circumstantial Civil War hero, leans into his reputation and becomes a hero in the truest sense of the word.  I don’t want to give any spoilers, but it’s rare to find a character in literature who has such a firm moral compass. I wish that I had read this book as a young man.  It’s the young man in me that hangs on every word and the old man in me that says, “that’s enough adventure for tonight, let’s save the next chapter for tomorrow.”

Despite the blockbuster movie aspect of this novel, the best thing about Scoundrel in the Thick are the characters.  B.R. O’Hagan has created fully-fleshed characters that you care deeply about.  When a character dies in this novel, you will cry like a baby because every voice in this story rings true and clear.  Best of all, the author has masterfully interwoven his novel with historical figures including Buffalo Bill Cody, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde.  It takes a lot of guts to give Mark Twain a two-page speech in your novel and what’s amazing about Scoundrel in the Thick is that the historical figures never feel forced and you’ll never doubt that the words weren’t spoken by Twain himself.

At the end of this novel I felt saddle-sore and emotionally wrung out.  I felt lucky to be alive and ready for the next adventure. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but what surprised me the most – was that this book, while ostensibly set in the past, made me feel hopeful for the future.  In a real sense, Scoundrel in the Thick is an adventure story that asks us all to become the hero of our own stories.

B.R. O’Hagan is at once the king of the wild frontier and an intrepid explorer of the human heart.  Read this book and then pass it to someone else. Scoundrel in the Thick reminds us that life is equal parts circumstance, luck, courage, skill and some really good friends that come to the rescue when we need them the most.” Reviewed by Sean Moor

First major review is in! The Midwest Review of Books says: “Scoundrel in the Thick is a historical novel set in 1882 Colorado, where former Civil War hero Thomas Scoundrel sets out on a mission to rescue his best friend's kidnapped fiancée. B.R. O'Hagan adds plenty of real characters and historical events to further spice the tale as Scoundrel partners with Bat Masterson, encounters old friend Buffalo Bill Cody, and interacts with famous literary figures during the course of what can only be described as a rollicking ride through the icons and images of America's past.Scoundrel in the Thick represents historical novel writing at its best. O’Hagan excels in both recreating this period of time and its famous personalities. With its blend of fictional and real events and attention to strong character development, it's a story that will captivate even those who may have little prior knowledge of these times. Historical fiction library collections will find this book a worthy addition.” D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review