Dramatized Adaptation Western

Shaw's forte was her ability to create interesting casts of characters through whom and between whom she was able to develop a suspenseful and unpredictable interplay. This story is a good example of her character driven Western fiction.

Mountain man Smoke Jensen lives by the rules of the frontier. The first rule is: the strongest survive. But when bad breaks, bad weather and bad bovines back Smoke into a corner, he needs something to go right. Instead, he faces the kind of tough luck only a gun can beat....A contract to deliver 3000 head of cattle might just do the trick. But a renegade Cheyenne warrior uses an early winter blizzard to attack Smoke and his out-gunned cowboys.

In 1864, the frontier cavalry had been withdrawn to fight in the War Between the States, and the able-bodied men had enlisted to join the cause, leaving the families in the Brazos River valley very much on their own...and nearly defenseless. The Comanches and the Kiowas decided this was the perfect time to rid their land forever of the invaders who had threatened their very existence.

Mexico in 1914. On the verge of a bloody civil war that's spiraling out of control — a place where only real men survive — an officer for the US War Department, Myles Adams knows all about keeping a cool head. And he's just the man who can help his former partner-in-arms Stewart Cook rescue his soon-to-be fiancee, Alexia Garcia, from rebel forces.

Travis Ross and Chase McAlister were infamous Indian hunters, scouts, and Texas Rangers turned ranchers. In a war of independence, they fought against desperate odds. Travis lost a woman, the daughter of a proud Mexican rancher, and both made the kind of enemies that never go away. Now, a new war is brewing and the two friends are looking across the Rio Grande, knowing what they left behind, facing a chance to settle scores, recapture what they lost, and many more ways to die....

The town called Fury, Arizona was started with a lick and a prayer and has been fighting for its life ever since. But in spite of drought, strife, and an attack by Mexican bandits, Fury has managed to grow and thrive. Jason Fury, the sheriff, is partly responsible for the town's success. He should be; Fury was named after his father. But now, a new relentless threat has appeared on the horizon. Lone Wolf and his Apaches are determined to bring the town to its knees.

Lou Prophet is accompanying his sometime-partner, sometime-lover Louisa Bonaventure to Seven Devils, Arizona. She’s chosen to give up bounty hunting and settle down - and wants Prophet to settle down with her. Although flattered by her offer, he isn’t willing to retire his guns. But Louisa’s dreams are shattered when they arrive at the scorched earth that was once Seven Devils - and the graves of her cousin’s family.

When a farmer's wife is murdered, an innocent man is accused: Patrick O'Brien. The book-loving brother had shared his love of literature with the woman, but her husband claims she spurned Pat's advances and that's why he killed her. Now it looks like Patrick will swing from the gallows - especially after his lawyer is targeted, too.

The accidental gunslinger Dooley Monahan has quit wandering and settled down to a farmer’s life. But when the itch for adventure gets too strong, he packs up and rides west. Along with his horse General Grant, and Blue, a dog who’s too smart for his own good, Dooley rides for the Black Hills to strike it rich in the gold fields of Colorado. But fate has other ideas.

After the disappearance of a suspect and a hastily organized election, the power balance in Leadville and the friendship of Sheriff Gannon and Marshal Spencer are thrown into turmoil. But the unknown forces driving the election, push both men to decide on which side of justice they are willing to reside; lawman or outlaw.

Ranger Andy Pickard is assigned to the Texas-Mexico border, along with Len Tanner and Farley Brackett, to help stop rival cattle barons, Texan Jericho Jackson and Mexicano Guadalupe Chavez, who rob each other, and any ranchers in their path, driving the stolen animals across the border. Caught in the crossfire is rancher Big Jim McCawley and his family. A showdown is looming, and the only hope for avoiding bloodshed is the Texas Rangers.

Luke Jensen has earned this bounty, hunting down the violent man charged with murdering a preacher's daughter. The outlaw Judd Tyler confesses to many crimes, but not the girl's murder. And he tells Luke they won't reach the town of White Fork alive because a corrupt sheriff does the bidding of a cattle baron, and that man's son is the true killer. Sure enough, halfway to White Fork, Luke and his prisoner are battling for their lives, and when they finally reach town, they're greeted by a storm of bullets, betrayal, and blood.

The son of legendary gunman Frank Morgan, Conrad Browning goes by the name Kid Morgan - the Loner - and forged a growing reputation of his own. But in the midst of a fight for his life, the Kid discovered that he too was a father: of twins he'd never met. Now, the Kid heads back east to pierce a mystery guarded by murderous criminals for hire. Why is his ex-fiancée hiding his children from him? And why is this secret worth killing to keep?

On the trail west with his trusty horse and dog, the hapless gunslinger stops a mean, hungry bear from making lunch out of the legendary Buffalo Bill Cody. In turn, Cody grubstakes Dooley for the purchase of a silver mine in the lawless, violent boomtown of Leadville, Colorado. Dooley can’t believe his good luck. But when he guns down three deadly outlaws, the grateful townsfolk pin a sheriff’s badge on Dooley. And that’s when his luck runs out....

Ranger Andy Pickard and new partner Logan Daggett become involved in an investigation of killings and stolen cattle, and find themselves in the middle of a four-way fight, among two powerful cattlemen, a group of masked vigilantes called "regulators", and a hired assassin. Old resentments, mixed loyalties, and misplaced trust feed the flames of battle. Andy and Logan may lose their jobs, even their lives, before their work is done.

Federal Deputy Sullivan Hart thinks he has broken up the outlaw organization Los Pistoleros after he arrests its leader, J.T. Priest - the man who killed his father. But Priest escapes from jail and he's determined to rebuild his criminal empire. Only Quick Charlie Sims knows where Priest is headed. And Hart is none too sure he can trust the wily gambler, who has his own debt to settle with Los Pistoleros.

When Luke Jensen traps fugitive Ben Craddock in Arapaho Springs, he’s ready to collect on his bounty. But the job’s not done - not by a long shot. A raid by a savage gang known as the Legion of Fire has left the peaceful settlement looted, burned to the ground, and the ashes scoured for female hostages - including the marshal’s daughter. For Luke this is more than a hunt. It’s now a rescue. And with Craddock busted out of jail and thrown in with the gang, it’s also revenge. Wrangling a small posse, Luke heads for the Legion’s hideout in the Kansas badlands.

Kansas doesn’t want it. Neither does Texas. The 35-mile wide strip of land destined to become the Oklahoma panhandle is a place unlike any other on the frontier: with no laws, no rules and a powerful attraction for killers, looters and fugitives. Frank Morgan, a gunfighter feared by all and hated by some, has been warned to stay the hell out of "the strip." But warnings never did work well on Morgan. So when an ambush robs him of his heart’s desire and nearly takes his life and his would - be murderers take refuge in the strip, the die is cast....

When an old friend’s family is massacred, legendary mountain man Smoke Jensen hits the vengeance trail. He’s soon riding into a bloody Colorado war that has militia cavalry volunteers and Kiowa warriors stalking each other across the territory — matching kill for kill, outrage for outrage. Defying both sides, Smoke uncovers a sinister conspiracy to set ranchers and Kiowas at each other’s throats.

John Henry Cole is an operative of Ike Kelly's Detective Agency, based out of Cheyenne, Wyoming Territory. Returning to Cheyenne from what had been a deadly assignment in Deadwood, Dakota Territory, Cole has decided that he has no alternative but to resign from the agency and pursue a different line of work. However, in Cheyenne, Cole learns that Ike Kelly has been murdered and his body burned in a fire that destroyed both the agency office and the shop next door.