Western Short Stories Collection

Lee Weston is as good-looking as he is quick tempered, and he’s got a lot to be angry about. His father murdered, his family ranch torched, he goes gunning for Harvey Dodge - the man who he's convinced is the killer - and it’s Lee who ends up on the wrong side of the law. Shot in a gunfight, on the run and running out of time, he holes up in a mountain hideout and waits for death to come find him. But he wakes up in the arms of a beautiful woman who has beat death to his door and nursed him back to life.

He’s handsome. He’s charming. He’s a total gentleman ... and he’s totally outgunned and outnumbered. He’s Michael Patrick Obañon. Obañon’s lost his inheritance—a 100,000-acre New Mexico spread—and he could lose his life if he’s not careful. A ruthless band of renegades have seized his land, and he’s determined to get it back... Obañon’s got one secret weapon: his fierce intelligence. He can’t outshoot the outlaws, so he’ll have to find a way to outwit them....

Eighteen-year-old Lee Thompson has a chip on his shoulder and a mission in his heart to save his dad, an aging sheriff who’s lost control of his town. Old Diehard’s lost control of his town, and it seems every outcast and outlaw west of the Mississippi is on the prowl in Wolf River, Montana. Now Lee’s come all the way from Texas to stand up for his father, a man who hasn’t seen him since he was a boy and who doesn’t know him from Adam.

Lance Gordon’s running out of room and time. Back in the Sierras he killed the man who murdered his father. Unfortunately that man turned out to be a Deputy Marshal, and now Lance has a price on his head. Like Alan Ladd as Shane, Lance wants only to live in peace, but he’ll have to go through hell to get there. Running from the law and the cavalry, Lance heads for the one place no sheriff or soldier will go—into the territory ruled by The Baron of Coyote River.

Forged in the hot sun and sand of the Arizona desert, Chinook Shannon is as tough as they come. But Chinook is far from home—in the north country of Montana—and facing a challenge as big as the territory itself. Following his grandfather’s suspicious death, he’s come to Montana to claim his inheritance—the family’s cattle ranch. But the territory’s crawling with bandits and bankers, and they all want a piece of Chinook’s land.

Tim Beckdolt, rangy and self-reliant, is as American as the frontier itself. But after spending eight treacherous months digging $175,000 in gold out of Desperation Peak - all he has left is desperation. Two sadistic strangers have taken his gold, and now they want to take his life. He's on the run - the target of a Devil’s Manhunt.

Saddle tramp Petey McGuire doesn’t have much to live for. The trail in front of him stretches out long and hot, and there’s no end in sight. He’s been beaten down, beaten up, and kicked around so long, he’d run away from his own shadow if he could. But there’s one fight he can’t run from - the fight against hunger. Petey needs a job quick, before he drops dead in the dust. But the only way to get one is to act cool and talk tough - in other words, become the exact opposite of Petey McGuire.

Every man walks with a shadow...but what happens when he acquires a second one? Just ask Brazos, a cold-blooded killer for hire with blood on his hands and a posse on his tail. Desperate for cash, Brazos accepts $200 to gun down a local man named Brant. He’ll earn every penny...but in the end there’ll be the devil to pay. Because to put a bullet in Brant means putting one in his partner as well - an eerie stranger schooled in the black art of witchcraft. This is one killing that brings with it a deadly curse - and a second shadow.

Lynn Taylor and his kid brother Frank may not be angels, but they’re not devils, either. They’re just a couple of men - two-fisted Texans who have landed on the wrong side of a corrupt lawman. Young Frank’s been framed for robbery, rustling, and murder, and if Lynn doesn’t think fast, his brother’s going to end up the guest of dishonor at a hanging party. Lynn cooks up a daring plan to clear his brother’s name and rope in the real outlaw.

Mart Kincaid may be the fastest gun in the state, but it does him no good - because his gun and his life are not his own. They belong to Gar Malone, the King of Concha Basin, a ruthless rancher driven by his thirst for power, wealth, and conquest. Now Gar has set his sights on the Singing Canyon spread - the richest land in the basin - and he commands Kincaid to run its true owners off. If not, he threatens to reveal a dark secret that could ruin Kincaid's brother.

When it comes to boiling up a pot of coffee or stirring up a pot of stew, Old Laramie’s about as good a man as you’re going to find. But other than cooking three squares a day for the cowpunchers over at the Lazy G ranch, Laramie’s not good for much. But Laramie’s luck - and life - are about to take an amazing turn. Quite by accident, he somehow manages to save a family of Mexicans from bandits, and as a token of their gratitude they give him The Magic Quirt - a horsewhip that he’s told will turn him into a new man.

Some men look to keep the peace. Others look to make trouble. But sometimes even the most law-abiding of men are compelled to cross the line. Easy Bill Gates is just such a man - quick with a smile and as slow to anger. He’s a model of restraint...until he’s forced to strap on a holster and kill the outlaw who murdered his brother. But more than his honor is at stake. A ruthless land baron is out to grab Bill's ranch and he's hired a gang of gunslingers to get Bill out of the way.

They call him Suicide, Smoke, or simply Sudden Death. His name is Kit Gordon, and from the banks of the Mississippi to the shores of the Pacific, he is King of the Gunmen. And Kit’s about to discover that sometimes it takes more than a quick draw and a sure aim to stand up like a man. Falsely accused of murder and one step ahead of a lynch mob, Kit escapes to the next county over - and a whole new identity. He changes his name and his whole outlook, teaming up with a lawman out to bring the rule of law to this untamed corner of Arizona.

As a young man Monte Calhoun was as wild as they come, thinking the measure of a man was how hard he could drink and how straight he can shoot. But several years of schooling back East have changed him. Monte has become The No-Gun Man. The East Coast has civilized him, and he’s bringing some of that civilization home to Superstition, Arizona...even if it means refusing to avenge the murder of his own father.

Sunset Maloney is about to find big trouble in the Big Sky country of Montana. He’s riding into the middle of a ruthless land grab, and his fight for what’s right takes an unexpected turn...in the face of a young, attractive woman. Slim Trotwood is a cruel, greedy tinhorn - a gambler with little money and less skill - who’s determined to take possession of all the land in Puma Pass, whether by fraud or by force. And Sunset’s the only man willing to take him on.