Western Thriller

When Kevin Kerney, deputy chief of the New Mexico State Police, inherits an unexpected windfall of 6,400 acres of high-county land, the last thing he wants to think about is work. But while visiting his new property, he comes across an ailing stray dog that leads him to the butchered bones of a murder victim near the rugged mountain of Hermit's Peak.

Before he set down his pen, seven-time Spur Award winner Elmer Kelton—the Western Writers of America’s “Best Western Writer of All Time”—cut 50 notches on his gunbelt of classics. In this final novel of the Texas Rangers, a young lawman finds his mettle put to the test while bringing justice to a remote settlement. To stop a series of baffling killings and thefts, newly married ranger Andy Pickard is dispatched to a central Texas community where locals are quick to pin the crimes on two feuding cattlemen.

Somewhere in his past, Smoke crossed paths with a lowlife who has now built a little kingdom as a frontier sheriff. For the corrupt lawman, holding Smoke's friend hostage is the perfect way to lure Smoke into a deathtrap. Now there's no choice for the mountain man. He knows how many guns are waiting up ahead. But he won't ever leave a brother behind. And this time, there won't be an enemy left standing — or a bullet left in Smoke's gun....

Frank Morgan survived his first trip to Alaska. Barely. Now, in Western Canada, Morgan and a band of survivors encounter an arch enemy with a fortune in ill-gotten gains - money he'll use to supply murderous Metis rebels with stolen U.S. Army Gatling guns to use for a bloodbath - and the Last Gunfighter is now in their way. But before the rebels can kill him, a daring U.S. secret agent joins his side. In a harsh and untamed land, Frank Morgan will soon face the ultimate battle for survival - before an all-out civil war explodes.

If Lauralee had her way, all the saloons in the great Northwest would be closed down. Her crusade was successful - except for the prosperous saloon that McCallum was determined to save from her indignation. But their conflict could not quell their growing attraction for each other. Slowly the proud, powerful man melted Lauralee's defiant heart...yet as she surrendered to a rich and wild desire, her joy was shadowed by the haunting mystery of McCallum's brother's death...a mystery whose shocking outcome could forever destroy their love!

William Bonney, a.k.a. "Billy the Kid", killed his first man when he was 12. By the time he was 21 he had, by his own reckoning, slain 19 more. In the intervening years, he had become "Billy the Kid", bloodthirsty ogre and outlaw saint.

Drawing on contemporary accounts, period photographs, dime novels, and his own fund of empathy and imagination, Michael Ondaatje traces Billy's passage across the blasted landscape of 1880 New Mexico and the collective unconscious of his country.

Dreams tell old man Paul T'Sosi he's dying. So why is Navajo trickster Magpie trying to tell him a far more terrifying secret? Hungry for revenge, Ma'iitsoh Dine', the Navajo Wolf, is out for blood. Summoning his darkest powers, the Witch of Ganado circles tribal investigator Charlie Yazzie's young son and close friends. Some may survive the witch's evil vendetta, but others will die to settle an old score.

From the best-selling author of Riders of the Purple Sage, comes another classic Western tale. In the spirit and glory of a classic Western, and published exactly as the author originally intended, Knights of the Range, is one of Zane Grey's swiftest and most exciting novels.

The Loner didn’t just bust out of jail, he busted out twice. The third time might be the charm — or a bullet in the belly. He didn’t want much — just the chance to drift out of Texas into New Mexico Territory. That’s when the Loner discovered there was a price on his head. A victim of mistaken identity, he broke out of Hell Gate Prison a few years back. Now, he’s behind bars again, until a sheriff’s love-struck daughter decides to come to his aid and a beautiful bounty hunter — who also has eyes for the Loner — joins in.

In a saloon north of El Paso, the legendary Doc Holliday is forced to kill a rancher's son in self defense. His father, Colonel Robert McHenry, is desperate for revenge. And now Doc is a hunted man on the run. Heading west, he turns to Jacob O'Brien, hoping to find refuge at the family ranch. Jacob knows it's a lose-lose situation — one that's bound to end in violence and blood. Colonel McHenry is the famous "Lion of Lynchburg," whose relentless courage in the Civil War earned the respect of fighting men everywhere.

The harsh, unforgiving frontier is no place for innocents. And when an old friend of the Preacher's asks him to guide a gaggle of wide-eyed Easterners through the Rockies, Preacher responds with a polite: "Hell no." But the pilgrims are pursued by a gang of outlaws...and then ambushed by angry Indians. With his friend caught up in the melee, Preacher has no choice but to try to rescue him...and anyone else who happens to be within reach.

They ride after sundown. Black robed figures with skulls for faces, terrorizing the town of Recoil like the horsemen of the Apocalypse. If the sheriff hopes to defeat this hellish band of outlaws, he'll need back-up. Enter Colonel Shamus O'Brien. The seasoned ranch hand and patriarch has fought off more than his share of horse thieves and marauders. But he's never seen anything like these ornery devils.

Cotton Pickens made it through fifth grade. That and a tin star were good enough to make him the sheriff in the boomtown of Doubtful, Wyoming. And Doubtful's name is no accident. The saying around town is, "If you're a lawman, it's doubtful you'll last a day." Spoiled, brash King Bragg is going to hang for the murder of three men in a barroom. But King's arrogant father - and his beautiful sister - use their powers of persuasion to convince Cotton to look into the shooting.

Cotton Pickens’s parents had a cussed sense of humor, but there’s nothing funny about the way the man can draw a gun. Now he’s in the middle of a mining camp district slowly being crushed under the iron fist of another misnamed, hardheaded fellow, Carter Scruples. With Cotton facing off against Scruples, a beautiful young woman caught in-between and a band of outlaws living high and mighty in a dry-docked Pullman Palace Car, the town of Swamp Creek is surely going to get blown sky high.

In the town of 34 Corners, Colorado, Matt Jensen rides into a savage blood feud. Thirty years ago two friends came West and built a thriving cattle business. Now, their families have become kill-crazy enemies and the town is awash in a frenzy of killing. Add in hired gunmen on both sides of the fight, and two lovers crossing the dividing line, and the terror will never end. Eager to put as many miles between himself and 34 Corners, Matt Jensen just can't bring himself to leave without trying to stop the bloodshed.

Shady Rest, Texas, has the dubious reputation for being the deadliest town in America. Getting yourself killed is as easy as blinking and twice as quick. Sure enough, Matt Jensen hasn't swallowed his whisky before the town's marshal is gunned down.

Ignatius O’Reilly is famous for his beautifully crafted counterfeit money. John Henry Sixkiller is famous for hunting criminals into the most violent and dangerous worlds most lawman dare not go. Now, the Deputy U.S. Marshal is zeroing on O’Reilly in San Francisco, when the case blows up in his face. Instead of O’Reilly, Sixkiller finds a beautiful woman and a meddling Federal agent from the Secret Service. O’Reilly gets away and the hunt leads Sixkiller after the woman, the counterfeiter, and the Fed into the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains.

With his wife's killers dead and buried, Conrad Morgan - known as The Loner - is on his way to Mexico for some peace and quiet. But on the way he's sidetracked by some intriguing travelers who are hunting down a valuable golden artifact. They're not the only ones who want to get a hold of the treasure. A running gun battle with some killers lands The Loner and his cohorts in the Jornada del Muerto - a hellish, waterless wasteland in New Mexico Territory.

In the best-selling novels of William W. Johnstone, mountain man Smoke Jensen is a legend. Now, Johnstone presents the adventures of Smoke's long-lost brother Luke, who was reported killed during the Civil War. The war is over and Luke is very much alive, his soul forged by the violence he witnessed on the battlefields. His job is now tracking down the worst outlaws - by any means necessary.

When a hunted military whistleblower and his family need someplace to hide and someone to trust, Toussaint, Montana, is the place, and Gabriel Du Pre the man. The Metis Indian former cattle inspector and sometimes deputy is happy to offer protection, even though he's got his hands full with an ailing granddaughter, a meddling medicine man, and a Kazakh eagle hunter prowling the hills above town. As a guard at a Kabul prison, Hoyt Poe witnessed his fellow soldiers abusing the Afghan inmates. Poe's testimony threatens to expose the military contractor that led the interrogation program.