Bender

Murder Runs in the Family.In the wake of the Civil War, a family of serial killers preys on unwary travelers along the edge of the new frontier. Fortune hunters trek the Osage Trail, heading west as the Gold Rush beckons. Others seek cheap land with fertile ground on which to put down roots. Outside the sleepy hamlet of Cherryvale, Kansas, the Bender Inn greets weary travelers. Kate Bender, an enchanting, effervescent beauty, is the Inn's mysterious proprietor. Single men, pockets stuffed with cash, line up to sit with this Venus of the plains and discuss their prospects for finding riches or starting a family. So beguiling is she, they never suspect her to be anything but genuine. When reports of disappearances along the Osage Trail mount, an investigation leads the U.S. Marshals to Cherryvale and the Bender Inn, only to find the property abandoned and livestock rotting in the field. The Benders have disappeared without a trace, leaving behind a dozen bodies in shallow graves-and parts of many others. Even more disturbing are the satanic runes carved into the slab under what the locals have dubbed The Devil's Inn.Built upon historical record as well as legend, Bender: The Complete Saga's terrifying narrative is as haunting as it is alluring-and may well become the definitive work on the exploits and ultimate fate of the West's First Family of Murder.