Showing results by author "Max Brand" in All Categories

He went by the name of Speedy. Some called him a tramp - and others called him worse. Speedy was a young con man who knew the fastest way to a rich man's wallet and a pretty girl's heart.

To Speedy, Durfee didn't look any different from a hundred other towns he'd seen before. There were fat bankers waiting for his smooth talk, and lovely young ladies ready to swoon over his smile and his guitar playing. But this time the charming trickster was about to meet his match - in a girl out to steal his heart!

Every fall Tom Reynard, ramrod for the Bar L, had a hard time finding cowpunchers willing to work the winter range in the bleak badlands near the Sioux reservation. So when Jigger Bunts, an 18-year-old from New York who was familiar with riding and roping, happened along, he was hired even though his youth was a red flag to Reynard. To pass the time in the bunkhouse, the other cowhands spin tall tales for Bunts, whom they call the kid, about the exploits of Reynard, and soon Reynard becomes Bunts' hero and role model.

This was the first effort by Frederick Faust aimed at writing a Western, and he used the pen name of Max Brand to produce it. There was a different style of literary focus, a variance that brought forth feelings of melodrama. However, as the story developed, that impression was changed drastically with startling examples of action, conflict, and revenge that set it apart. It was regarded as one of his most successful efforts in a career that produced perhaps as many as 25 to 30 million words, resulting in well more than 500 novels and short stories.

Alfred Larribee is sent by his father to live with his cousin’s family in the West. Larribee proves to be lazy and shiftless…spending most of his time in town…drinking and gambling…even cheating at cards. What changes all this is the appearance of Sky Blue…a magnificent stallion that has never been ridden. Dan Gurry is the owner and hopes to find a cowboy who can ride Sky Blue…but the first one to try is seriously injured. After that no one is willing to volunteer to try again except Larribee.

"Steady, Borgen," said a terrible and familiar murmur behind him. "Steady, man. If you turn, I shoot."

There was a tidal wave of crime, of murder, of robbery. Here and there, separated at distances of 500 or even 1000 miles, crimes were committed which were carefully prepared with a painful and laborious hand; and then they were executed in an instant by one or two bold spirits directed by one man - one quiet-voiced, uncannily brilliant outlaw who seemed to know everything.

This Raging Bull Publishing box set contains four classic Western books by Max Brand: Black Jack, Harrigan, Riders of the Silence, and The Untamed.

Dick Rutherford, known simply as the Colonel, had set out into the West to find his fortune, accompanied only by his young companion, Christy Deever. But it looked like the frontier would provide more danger than money...until the Colonel and Christy met Stone-That-Shines, a Mandan warrior who possessed a medicine stone that gave him his name. As soon as the Colonel got a close look at the medicine stone, he knew immediately what made it shine — a rich vein of quartz gold.

Winsor Glanvil pays court to Louise Carney, heiress to a fortune, and she agrees to marry him. The marriage is opposed by big Jack Rutledge, a jealous rival and formidable foe, so Glanvil and Louise plan to be married in a sequestered valley by a local clergyman. Rutledge and his supporters, learning of the plan, arrive in the valley ahead of the two and seize Glanvil. Glanvil is beaten mercilessly and Rutledge disfigures him, destroying one side of his face with the cutting edge of a spur. Rutledge then rejoins his gang in the clergyman’s house.

When Harry French left home he was just another kid looking to make his way. But when he comes back four years later, things are different. He's different. Or at least the town thinks so. Now nobody looks him in the eye. He isn't just Harry anymore, he's the Shifter, a gunfighter who brings trouble with him wherever he goes. And as hard as Harry tries, he finds that a reputation is a lot harder to put down than a gun.

In the black darkness of night, Ronicky Doone overhears the plans of Jack Moon's ruthless gang of cutthroats to kill someone named Hugh Dawn for deserting the gang. While Ronicky doesn't know Hugh Dawn or Jack Moon, he is always ready for adventure. With the aid of his trusty, well-trained horse, Lou, he outraces Moon's gang and successfully warns Hugh Dawn of his danger.

When Lorrimer Weldon rode into San Trinidad, he found he immediately had two job offers: the outlaw Roger Cunningham wants Weldon to join his smuggling operation as a hired gun, and Dr. Henry Watts wants to hire Weldon's gun as well, but as muscle to protect a patient dying of consumption, the beautiful Helen O'Mallock. Weldon finds Watts' proposition far more attractive, so he accepts the offer, knowing that Cunningham will resent the decision.

James Geraldi is one of the most legendary thieves in the West. But he is not an ordinary thief, preying on the unwitting and defenseless. James Geraldi is a very exclusive thief, stealing only from other thieves. From the largest towns to the loneliest outposts of the desert his name is known, but few could identify him, although many an honest rancher or townsman has become a loyal friend when Geraldi rescued their savings, and many a bandit has been conned or bested by him.

Bull Hunter was a young Western boy of unusual size who eventually became known as the “Gentle Giant”. Because of his stature and prodigious strength, along with a sort of natural timidity, Bull was often derided, even by his cousins, as being “slow” mentally. Eventually, he met and was befriended by a famous gunfighter who taught him how to use a gun. That changed a lot of derogatory opinions about him, and he didn’t get bullied any more.

The Jericho mountain race - five hundred miles of spongy desert sand and impossible rocks and mountain cliffs. It takes a special breed of man, riding a very special horse, to win that grueling contest. Colonel Robert Dinsmore knows he has the horse that can do it - Crusader, a magnificent black stallion. Master storyteller, Texas-born and raised Barry Corbin, horseman, rancher, and star of the hit TV series Northern Exposure reads this classic Western story by Max Brand.

After hitting a rich vein of gold on the back of Champion Mountain, Blondy Kitchin heads to the big city to have a good time, but there his luck runs out and he ends up spending two years in prison. The prison's chaplain helps educate him, smooth out his rough edges, and convinces him that the range is the place for Kitchin to make use of his brute strength and free spirit.

Within 10 days of stepping out of the woods near the town of Moose Creek, Duval is the most popular man in the district. After all, what's not to like? He is a good listener, generous with his money, a great cook and host, and a hard worker on old Dad Wilbur's place, which he bought for $1,500. He wins the admiration of Sheriff Nat Adare when he quells and befriends the often-wild Charlie Nash and pays for the damages Charlie has caused in the town saloon. The only person in the town that he doesn't win over is the sheriff's niece, Marian Lane.

Jeremy Dice leaves New York City for the Far West. His career as a tailor had been anything but spectacular. But arriving on the frontier, he witnesses two notorious bank robbers kill each other over the division of their spoils. When the sheriff and a posse arrive, they hail Jeremy as a great hero, believing he killed both men. And then there is the hefty cash reward.

When two men riding on horseback meet on a trail in the mountains, it proves to be so narrow that neither man's horse can be turned around, or aside, or backwards. So the two now have no choice but to determine who is to be pushed off the trail to certain death.

A back-stabbing murderer meets Happy Jack, the deadliest fighter in the southwest, and tells him about a safe full of cash. It's too well guarded for gunplay, but a dangerous trick might work. Has Happy Jack got the nerve?

Versatility was a key talent of author Frederick Faust using the pseudonym Max Brand. What you’re about to hear is one of his lesser known stories that ranks as a prime example of his stupendous ability.