Old Western Adventures

National Book Award nominee and five-time Spur Award-winner Loren D. Estleman is widely considered one of America's finest Western authors. In this riotous and action-packed tale of Old West high jinks, a band of thieves posing as a traveling theater troupe runs afoul of a clever Pinkerton agent.

Card-player-extraordinaire Poker Alice knows when hold 'em, when to fold 'em, and when to team up with master gunman Newt "Widowmaker" Jones. She's betting on Jones to protect her - and her money - on a treasure hunt in the California desert. Legend has it that a shipwreck is buried in the Salton sands. Some say it's a Spanish galleon that got stuck when the sea ran dry. Other says it's a Chinese junk full of pearls or a Viking ship filled with Aztec treasure. Either way, a lot of very mean and dangerously violent folks would kill to find it.

Luke Jensen has seen some sorry-looking bounties in his time, but this one takes the cake. A wanted poster is offering a reward of one dollar and 42 cents - plus one busted harmonica - to capture Three-Fingered Jack McKinney. Turns out, McKinney's 12-year-old son Aaron wants revenge on his daddy for abandoning him and his mom. The reward is all the money Aaron can scrape together. Luke can't say no to the poor boy - or his beautiful mother - so he agrees to go after McKinney and his bank-robbing gang.

Although American author Bret Harte is most readily associated with stories about the West, it is his skill with characterization that distinguishes him from the hundreds of others who set fictional tales in the region. The miners, soldiers, gamblers, entrepreneurs, and lost souls who populate these pages are limned with Harte's unique combination of dry wit and tender pathos. This charming collection of Harte's short stories focuses on life in old California.

John Garrett is my image of a real cowboy, and my heroes are still cowboys. He's good with his gun and his fists, but doesn't fight except when forced. Smart, loyal and tough, John captures your heart, and the heart of Andy Blaine the heroine. Andrea is a bit of a tom-boy, but a beautiful, strong and true western woman. John gets involved in the war for water rights on Silver Creek and neighboring ranches because his father seems to be involved on the wrong side of the law.

Hewey Calloway is between a rock and a hard place: The open range and simple life of his childhood are disappearing. He can't live a cowboy life whose time has passed and he's not ready yet for the new challenges of the 20th century, like automobiles, telephones, and barbed wire fences. He and his friends, all of them good old boys, must learn that even the best choices involve some kind of sacrifice.

The old cowboys try to take a herd of cattle north to the rail head.

Something new and exciting from best-selling author Russ Towne. These are Western adventures that are filled with guns, guts, and the spirit of the Old West