Western Action

Unlike his brothers Jacob, Sam, and Patrick, Shawn O'Brien isn't content to settle down on the family ranch in New Mexico territory. With his razor-sharp eye, lightning-fast draw, and burning thirst for justice, Shawn is carving out a reputation of his own. As a town tamer, he takes the most dangerous, lawless towns in the West and makes them safe for decent men, women, and children. When a stagecoach accident leaves Shawn stranded in Holy Rood, Utah, it doesn't take long to realize he's landed in one ornery circle of hell.

The Byrnes family has fought fiercely for its ranching empire. And with success comes the fate of empires: The Byrnes have taken in far-flung family members, hired hands, and folks looking for another chance at life. The Byrnes clan has taken their fair share of hurt, too, taking on outlaws too deadly and powerful for the law.

Chet Byrnes has built a ranching empire from the ground up. And he’s defended it with his sweat, blood, and a ragtag band of ranch-hand fighters. Now a beautiful young Spanish widow comes into Chet’s life, just as he starts off in search of a lost cattle drive. The search leads into the eye of a sprawling, violent storm. Chet and his men — and his seductive new woman — end up on a wild ride through Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas, where authorities want to confiscate the beeves for trespassing.

For Chet Byrnes, building a ranching empire means adding new land, hiring good men, finding water, and trying new breeds of cattle. But outlaws and Tuscon's idle rich want to take it all away - and Arizona just may be too lawless to stop it. So while the Byrnes family expands its reach, Chet must do his job hunting down outlaws on either side of the border.

This third volume of Louis L'Amour's collected stories is a thrilling tribute to the unique spirit of our frontier heritage and proves again the enduring popularity of America's favorite storyteller.

A rash of deadly train robberies has the chief investor of Dover Station feeling itchier than a quick draw without a target. And he wants Sheriff Aaron Mackey to scratch that itch with every bullet his battered badge authorizes him to shoot. When Mackey and his backup gun down four kill-crazy bandits, they uncover a plot cooked up by respected citizens of Dover Station - someone who can pull enough strings to replace Mackey with a disgraced marshal from Texas.

The Indians around Fort Laramie, Wyoming, are peaceful. Or so it has seemed - until killers ambush a detail of US soldiers and an officer's wife. One man, an ambitious cavalry officer, flees the carnage and lives to tell the story - his own story, an outright lie. When Duff MacCallister and a few brave men go after the attackers, they discover the officer's wife is very much alive and at the cold merciless hands of the sadistic warrior Yellow Hawk. To free the woman, Duff touches off a fierce battle.

Mild-mannered sheep farmer Albert Stark is fed up with the harsh life of the American frontier, where it seems everything and anything can kill you: Duels at high noon. Barroom brawls. Poisonous snakes. Cholera-infected drinking water. Tumbleweed abrasion. Something called “toe-foot.” Even a trip to the outhouse. Yes, there are a million ways to die in the wild, wild West, and Albert plans to avoid them all. Some people think that makes him a coward. Albert calls it common sense.

Smoke Jensen is mighty proud of his son Louis for finishing law school. But he can't help being a little disappointed that Louis isn't returning to the Sugarloaf Ranch. Instead, he's setting up his own law practice in nearby Big Rock - a career choice that turns out to be every bit as dangerous as fending off cattle rustlers. The boy's first case lands him smack in the middle of a heated dispute between two riled-up ranchers over water rights. The whole thing could blow up into a bloody range war. Then a scheming con man shows up in town to stir up trouble - and ends up dead.

The Buchanans are no strangers to hard times—or making hard choices. After losing a hefty number of livestock to a killer grizzly, Hunter Buchanan is forced to sell a dozen broncs down in Denver for some badly needed cash. Everything goes smoothly—until he's ambushed on the way home. The culprits are a murderous bunch of prairie rat outlaws, as dangerous as any Buchanan has ever tangled with. But Hunter is hell-bent on getting his money back. Even if means pursuing the thieves into Dakota Territory—where even deadlier dangers await.

In a North American British province, a group of Norweigan settlers have carved a life for themselves in a lakeshore village called Skarkavik. Hunters and fishermen, they raise their families in peace under the natural cover of the surrounding forest. Decker Galloway believes the land's natural resources are being wasted on the few when so many have a greater need. Having made his fortune logging the wilderness of the eastern provinces, he wants to turn his axes and saws loose on the untouched western region. And no villagers are going to stand in his way.

Building a ranch takes heart and grit. Smoke and Sally Jensen are more than capable of meeting the challenges of shaping the land, raising the livestock, and establishing their brand. But Smoke wasn’t always an entrepreneur. He’s more apt to settle accounts with a fast draw than a checkbook. And when he learns his old friend Preacher has been ambushed by outlaws, he wastes no time saddling up and hitting the vengeance trail with his fellow mountain men Audie and Nighthawk.

Set in New Mexico, A Man Called Trent opens with a nester named Dick Moffitt lying dead where he was killed by King Bill Hale's riders. Sally Crane, who is 16 and was adopted by Moffitt, and Moffitt's 14-year-old Jack witnessed the murder from their hiding place.

There's serious trouble brewing in the Choctaw nation, and it goes by the name of Tiny McCoy. This small-time cattle rustler is expanding his brand by brewing batches of whiskey in the Chocktaw territory of Muddy Boggy Creek. Tiny and his partner have also turned the illegal brewery into a robber's roost for outlaws, cutthroats, and killers of every bent. Local lawman Jim Little Eagle is under attack and outgunned. But when he sends a wire to Fort Smith asking for backup and the US Deputy Marshal Tanner shows up, Little Eagle knows they're in for one hell of a bloodbath.

Smoke Jensen looks forward to spending a quiet holiday with the family. But an unexpected arrival from south of the border has him reaching for his guns, defending his land - and risking everything he loves. Sally Jensen strikes up a friendship with a lovely Mexican woman - who turns out to be married to the mysterious stranger plotting to steal her ranch. Ace and Chance prepare to fight a gang of outlaws trying to kill the man who raised them - but they're going to need the help of the father they never knew.

J. A. Johnstone - niece and former writing partner of the late Western legend William W. Johnstone - carries on her uncle’s legacy with this second book from her Loner series. After his wife is murdered, Conrad “Kid Morgan” Browning hunts down the men responsible - then visits his wife’s grave in New Mexico. There, he is shocked to discover his ex-fiancée waiting for him - along with armed backup.

Led by a charismatic fool, a group of pioneers are crossing Apache territory, blind to the danger around them. The Loner would ignore the passing pilgrims if it weren’t for a beautiful woman. Then, when he turns his back, the Apaches strike. The night is lit with an unholy fire. Mutilated bodies are left behind. And four women are taken prisoner across the Rio Grande....

For a posse chasing a murderous band of outlaws, a quiet kid with a lightning fast gun is good company. And when the outlaws turn around and attack the posse, The Loner doesn’t have a choice: he’s now caught up in a running gun battle across West Texas. The Loner knows the men he’s fighting are bad to the bone - led by a merciless killer named Warren Latch. But what about the guys on his side?

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in the High Sierras. But Smoke Jensen and his children, Louis and Denise, won’t let a little snow stop them from heading to Reno for the holidays. There are two ways for them to get there: the long way, going around the Sierra Nevada Mountains, or the short way, going right through them. Smoke decides to take a gamble. They’ll follow the trail that, decades earlier, brought the legendary Donner Party to a gruesome, tragic end....

Born and bred in the Texas Pandhandle town of Comanche Crossing, William "Wild Bill" Longley gunned down a dozen of its men in cold blood before he got around to the sheriff and deputy - so he could take over the job himself. Then he found the perfect sidekick in a vicious career criminal named Booker Tate.