Showing results by author "Ralph Compton" in All Categories

The legacy of Ralph Compton’s iconic Westerns lives on in this thrilling tale by Joseph A. West. When Apaches cut off incoming supply wagons, the citizens of Alma, New Mexico Territory, begin to panic. To save what little supplies they have left, the townsfolk decide to rid Alma of its worthless citizens - including town drunk Eddie Oates. Banished from the city, Oates is left to fend for himself with only a single rifle - and not a glass of whiskey in sight.

USA Today best-selling author Joseph A. West writes in a style befitting the literary legacy of legendary Western author Ralph Compton. In Stryker’s Revenge, Lieutenant Steve Stryker is bound and determined to settle an old score with Rake Pierce, who left him a scarred and broken man. Now Rake is running guns to the Apaches, and Stryker sees an opportunity for payback that he just can’t pass up.

In West Texas, Lucius Stark is regarded as a no-good killer with nothing to say in his favor. But when Stark goes tender for a woman he's hired to kill, he's shot in the back and left with a burning desire for revenge.

A deeply divided nation. A shamelessly partisan media. A president loathed by half the populace. Smuggling and gang warfare along the Mexican border. Armed citizens willing to stand their ground and take law into their own hands.... That was America in 1881. All those forces came to bear on the afternoon of October 26 when Doc Holliday and the Earp brothers faced off against the Clantons and the McLaurys in Tombstone, Arizona. It should have been a simple misdemeanor arrest. Thirty seconds and 30 bullets later, three officers were wounded, and three citizens lay dead in the dirt.

Nathan Stone returns to his Virginia home to discover that the horrors of the Civil War are not over; his family has been wiped out, and their home burned by seven renegades. Nathan swears an oath on his father’s grave to find and kill each of the men responsible. He begins a lonely journey that will take him south and west, on a vengeance trail that crosses the paths of some infamous figures, including “Wild Bill” Hickok, Roy Bean, and Frank and Jesse James.

Thad Taylor is no one's idea of a fine man. Usually drunk and shiftless, he's disapproved of by most - especially his father. But when his father doesn't return from a trip across the Kansas plains, Thad is the only one who can search for him. And he's far from ready for the ordeal. Because his father is already dead. He has fallen victim to the bloody Benders - a demented family who lures travelers into their cabin way station only to rob and brutally murder them.

When young Jarret Pekoe aims to bring a band of violent border-jumpers to justice, his sister hires rifleman Lem Beauchamp to scare some sense into him. But when trouble arrives, they must work together to defeat the outlaws once and for all. Jarrett Pekoe cares about two things: his ranch and his family. So when rustlers kill his kin and burn his land to the ground, Jarrett won't rest until the men responsible have their necks caught in the hangman's rope.

Doc Blaine must drive 3,000 head of cattle from Texas to Kansas, and needs his sons Jared and Miles to help. Unfortunately, his sons are in love with the same woman - and have vowed to kill each other on sight.

Chip Chippendale met Ransom Barnes after the War Between the States, when the two cowboys drove a herd up from Texas together. But when Chip first laid eyes on Wyoming, he knew he was home, and the two friends split off on different trails. Each man went on to own his own ranch, but when Ransom's home is attacked and burned by a marauding band of Cheyenne warriors, he is faced with ruin - and makes matters worse by gunning down the Cheyenne leader's son.

Brian Middleton left his father's ranch long ago to make his own way. But now, he's returned to claim the land his late father left him -- and learns the hard way that if you want to keep something in the wild West, you have to fight for it. With local lowlifes and shady con-men after the Dancing M ranch, Middleton has no choice but to make a stand....

Nathan Stone, The Gunfighter, lies dead in the street, a victim of the ruthless Sandlin gang. Behind him he leaves his guns and the son he had hardly known - a former lawman named Wes is about to teach these killers just what it means to be his father's son. Swearing vengeance, he takes up his father’s guns. But little does he know that the odds are even more against him than he thinks - and that to get revenge for a dead man, he might have to die himself.

The literary legacy of USA Today best-selling author and Medicine Pipe Bearer Award nominee Ralph Compton lives on in Ride the Hard Trail. Hiding from the law, brothers Lin and Chancy Bryce hire on as cowpunchers at a widow’s ranch. But soon they’re embroiled in a range war with a nefarious cattle baron who has a small army of hired guns protecting his interests.

Big for his age, young and impressionable drifter Charlie Chilton is taken in by the gruff leader of a gang of small-time crooks and ne'er do wells who sees something of himself in kindly, wayward Charlie. But Grady Haskell, ambitious ruffian with a shady past, soon joins the gang, convincing Charlie's friends to pursue a big score. Charlie fails to thwart the crime, and the heist turns bloody. As the only gang member caught alive, Big Charlie will soon swing for the crimes. He makes a daring escape, determined to track down Haskell and the gang and prove his innocence.

Nathan Stone returns to his Virginia home to discover that the horrors of the Civil War are not over; his family has been wiped out, and their home burned by seven renegades. Nathan swears an oath on his father’s grave to find and kill each of the men responsible. He begins a lonely journey that will take him south and west, on a vengeance trail that crosses the paths of some infamous figures.

In her disguise as "Danny Duggin," Danielle Strange has spent the past two years hunting down the outlaws who murdered her father. Reunited with her brothers, the twins Tim and Jed, she plans to take her war across the border into Mexico - unaware she's being pursued by a US Federal Marshal.... Saul Delmano comes from a powerful family of cattle-men whose business stretches from the Southwestern territories into Mexico. He's put a $2,000 reward on "Danny Duggin's" head, tempting every outlaw and bounty hunter across the West to try to collect it.

Young twins Jed and Tim Strange set out to find their sister, who left home to avenge their father's murder over a year ago. But when they're accused of a murder they didn't commit, they must go on the run to find the true killers.

It's in the lawless Indian Territory that Daniel Strange meets his demise. Riding his chestnut mare to Texas to buy himself some cattle, the best gunsmith in St. Joseph, Missouri gets waylaid by a pack of murdering outlaws. His lifeless body is left dangling at the end of a rope - robbing his family of a loving husband and father.

Dane Kramer looks forward to the day when his sprawling Oklahoma cattle ranch will truly be his - no strings attached. With only one more bank payment to make and a buyer in Omaha ready to pay top dollar for a herd of Herefords, he should finally have the banker, Earl Throckmorton, off his back. But Earl has a plan to keep the ranch for himself, and if he has his way, Dane's herd will never make it across the Omaha Trail - and Dane won't make it home alive.

Big Charlie Chilton knows better than to lose his temper, but when a loudmouth threatens to expose his long-buried secrets, he can't help but teach the man a lesson about being quiet. Unfortunately it turns out the man was about to make an important supply run for the town's marshal, and Marshal Watt knows just enough about Shotgun Charlie's past to draft him into service in his stead.

Captain Jack Starr served the Confederate cause with honor for four years. The town of Lost Dog Creek promised an opportunity for the war veteran to rebuild his life-and a woman to share it with. But not everyone is willing to roll out the welcome wagon....