Historical Fiction from the Heartland

Book cover titled "The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats" by Mace Thornton. Illustration of a large house in the background, trees on either side framing a dirt road. In the foreground, a covered wagon with horses and two men riding horses, along with a dog.

The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats

Now Available

The sequel to Mace’s first solo novel, Jawbone Holler, The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats follows a freedman and his allies from the Kansas frontier to the haunted cotton fields of the south, where he seeks to reunite with his wife and children in the wake of the Civil War.

Available on Kindle and in paperback, with hardcover coming soon.

Buy The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats on Amazon

Books by Mace Thornton

  • cover of the book West Bottoms by Rogers Brazier and Mace Thornton, featuring a revolver handgun with red smoke rising from the barrel

    West Bottoms

    Against a backdrop of greed and ambition, lives collide and unravel in the rough-hewn streets of Kansas City’s West Bottoms. A reckless young couple, a gang of hardened detectives, and infamous gangsters become irrevocably entwined in a deadly, high-stakes struggle.

    Co-authored by Rogers Brazier & Mace Thornton, this gritty 1930’s crime thriller merges real Kansas City history with an original story that spans generations.

    Learn more about West Bottoms
  • cover of the novel Jawbone Holler by Mace Thornton, which features a man and horse using a horse-drawn plow in a field in the Kansas prairie

    Jawbone Holler

    The great-great-grandson of a pirate, Perry desires a fresh start far from the clutches of his abusive father. His dash for freedom brings him to the Kansas Territory, where his perils only compound.

    This historical fiction novel explores the thick tension leading up to the Civil War, the tipping point of the war’s declaration, and the complex impacts the war had on everyday people across what would become the American Heartland.

    Learn more about Jawbone Holler
  • the cover of the novel, The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats by Mace Thornton, which features a rear view of a covered wagon with a horse and rider to each side of it

    The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats

    Ghosts of betrayal don’t stay buried in Gumbo Flats. Moses, a freedman farmer in Kansas, is obsessed with returning to the South to rescue his wife and children torn from him by slavery.

    From the river bluffs of northeast Kansas to the haunted cotton fields of the Deep South, Moses and his allies must traverse a nation forever changed in the wake of the Civil War. Mace Thornton’s newest historical fiction novel releases in October 2025.

    Learn more about The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats

Mace Thornton is a Kansas native, husband, father, grandfather, dog lover, and communicator. His love of history and especially Kansas history has always inspired him. Learn more about Mace, author of Jawbone Holler, The Ghosts of Gumbo Flats, and West Bottoms.

Read More About Mace
View Mace's Amazon Author Page
A middle-aged man with glasses, a beard, wearing a dark blue suit, light blue shirt, and a red and blue striped tie, smiling outdoors with green foliage in the background.