Book picks similar to
The Varmint; by Owen Johnson


classic
fiction
historical
novels-short-stories

Murder at Saint Giles (Sir Law Kintour #5)


J.R. Tomlin - 2021
    Assisted by his loyal companion Cormac the minstrel, Sir Law sets out to solve the murders and the conspiracy behind them — whatever the cost...

A Grave Gala (Sugar Martin Vintage Cozy Mysteries Book 2)


Shéa MacLeod - 2019
    With some reluctance, she joins the rest of the glamorous attendees on the veranda for cocktails and dancing until the gala turns grave indeed when one of the guests is murdered. With the sure knowledge there’s a killer among them, Sugar sets out to unearth the secrets that led to the death of a peer of the realm. With the help of a grumpy corgi and a handsome Englishman, she’s on the hunt for a cold-blooded killer and she won’t stop until she gets her man! The second book in the Sugar Martin Vintage Cozy Mysteries set in post-WW2 England.

Under A Western Sky: Western Historical Romance Boxed Set


Cheryl Pierson - 2018
    Handsome marshals, Texas Rangers, gunslingers, and wealthy landowners meet their matches with the daring women they happen to fall in love with, and you won’t want to put this boxed set down until you’ve read the very last story! Authors Cheryl Pierson, Celia Yeary, Kaye Spencer, Tracy Garrett, Patti Sherry-Crews, and Agnes Alexander spin six incredible novel-length love stories filled with danger, excitement, and romance that will keep you turning page after incredible page until the very end. Saddle up and kick back for some excellent reading, as star-studded romance finds you UNDER A WESTERN SKY! FIRE EYES by Cheryl Pierson Beaten and wounded by a band of sadistic renegades that rules the borderlands of Indian Territory, U.S. Marshal Kaed Turner understands what the inevitable outcome will be for him: death. But Fate and a war party of Choctaw Indians intervene, delivering him instead to a beautiful angel with the skill to heal him. Jessica Monroe has already lost a husband and a brother to these outlaws. Can she afford to gamble with her heart one last time? ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS by Celia Yeary To escape an arranged marriage, beautiful, proper Cynthia Harrington impulsively marries Ricardo Romero, a sensual Spaniard who ranches on the edge of the Texas frontier. She struggles to gain a foothold in the hostile household, determined to make a place for herself—but will she also find a way to make her husband love her? TEXAS GOLD by Tracy Garrett Texas Ranger Jake McCain is hot on the trail of a band of murderous outlaws when they ambush him and leave him for dead in the blinding snow. The last thing Rachel Hudson expects the blizzard to bring is a wounded Ranger with a pack of trouble. She and Jake have more than a powerful mutual attraction in common—the dangerous gunmen he’s been chasing intend to steal Rachel and her brother, Nathan. But Jake’s not about to lose the woman who means everything to him—Rachel, his TEXAS GOLD…(Previously published as TOUCH OF TEXAS) THE COMANCHERO’S BRIDE by Kaye Spencer Beautiful heiress Elizabeth White is exiled to Texas until she agrees to marry the prominent politico her parents have chosen for her—Grayson Beal. When Elizabeth is approached at a fiesta by dark-eyed, handsome Mingo Valderas, her heart will never be her own again. But Mingo has a reputation as a Comanchero—a man who is as fast with his knives as he is with his gun. Still, Elizabeth gives her trust to him, and their whirlwind courtship begins. Beal will stop at nothing to claim Elizabeth—and only one man can protect her. Elizabeth and Mingo stay one step ahead of Beal…but will that be enough? MARGARITA AND THE HIRED GUN by Patti Sherry-Crews Pampered Margarita McIntosh is sent away by her father for her own safety—from what, she’s not sure. The long journey ahead and the secret she carries in her saddlebag could be the death of her. A rough Irish gunman, Rafferty, is entrusted with getting her to her destination—for a reward—his ticket to a new life. But will Rafferty’s protection be enough to save their lives? And will the heat of their passion seal their future—if they do survive? XENIA’S RENEGADE by Agnes Alexander An urgent plea for help from a family member calls for action from Xenia Poindexter and her sister. But traveling west to save their uncle, a raid on a stagecoach way station would have seen them dead if not for handsome half-Sioux rancher, Ty Eldridge.

A Man Named Cully:


Orris Slade - 2018
    Having worked both as a U.S. marshal and a bounty hunter he ruthlessly pursues villains who plague the West. The son of a clergyman, Cully has strayed from the faith but not from righteousness.As committed as Cully is to law and justice, shrewd and ruthless outlaw “Smiley” James lives a life of crime. With his hardened gang of killers he has created a horrific mail-order bride scam. Young women are lured from the East to become brides for ranchers or businessmen in the West. When they arrive they are taken captive and forced to work in a profession that has nothing to do with wedding rings.James fancies himself as a rich businessman and is more than willing to kill anyone and everyone who gets in his way. Cully is hired to find a young mail-order bride from Philadelphia who has gone missing. The evidence leads to Smiley and his gang. Cully is outnumbered and out-gunned. This is not the first time he has faced long odds, and it may be the most dangerous and bloodiest hunt of his career.Note: Each book in the Cully the Bounty Hunter series is a standalone story that can be read out of order.

A Mother’s Courage


Maggie Hope - 2018
    When she comes of age, Eleanor is married to Frances Tait, a missionary, and she is delighted to have a husband who shares her passion for helping others. It is not long before Eleanor starts a family of her own. But when Mr Tait’s work takes their family far from home, her children face dangers that Eleanor could never have imagined. She will need to put her family first, before everything else, if she wants to protect them… A gripping saga from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Coal Miner's Daughter

The Web of Karma


Anurag Shrivastava - 2019
    Control over law and order has long since passed from the hands of the administration to caste-based gangs and organized crime syndicates enjoying political patronage. Kidnapping has become one of the flourishing businesses of the state, while every other industry has dwindled down and the development plank has gone on a pause mode, on account of Rangdari, which is yet another booming business apart from contract killing, smuggling, illegal tree cutting, and vehicle snatching. Migration to other states is at peak: not only of big businessmen, but also of lowly laborers. And those who can’t leave the state are either sucked into the crime world or are forced to live under fear. Albeit the local newspapers everyday sketch the sordid saga of the state, the execrable condition is not likely to improve by any means in the near future. Digambar Babu, a middle-aged man of a small town Motihari (the place of Mahatma Gandhi's Champaran Satyagrah), is dejected and dismayed for his family falling apart, and so sets himself on a mission to make amends for the mistakes he has done in the past. Shakuntala Devi, his wife, infuriated at herself for having devoted her whole life selflessly and arduously for her ungrateful family, wants to make up for the injustice she has done to herself, by living the rest of her life selfishly. Sarvesh, their asthmatic son, whose first marriage perished about a decade ago, is still struggling with both his career and his married life, and Nisha, their daughter, is married to someone whom she thinks she will never be able to love. The biggest threat to the already troubled family is Nisha’s ex-lover Kanhaiya Tiwari, who is the youngest corporator of the town, and has sworn to ruin the family. Shyam, Nisha’s husband, who is ‘the absorber of the emotions’, in keeping with his fluidity, writhes in pain but transforms time and again, in order to win his wife’s heart, while Savita, Sarvesh’s current wife, colludes with Kanhaiya Tiwari in his evil intent, in order to have all the strings of the family in her hands. Benighted in Sodom, they weave their web of Karma, and fabricate their fates, but the biggest sufferer in the ruthless game of dominance and survival are the innocent children of the family.The story tries to draw parallels between Digambar Babu’s disarrayed family and the disordered town. The novel is inspired from the real events happened in the town during 90’s era of jungle-raaj.

Bad Blood: Lucius Dodge and the Redlands War (Lucius Dodge Westerns Book 2)


J. Lee Butts - 2005
    Caught in the crossfire, it’s everything Lucius and Boz can do to save Ruby from the slaughter and bring her back alive. Only thing is, they have to save themselves first . . .“A writer who can tell a great adventure with authority and wit.” —John S. McCord, author of the Baynes Clan novels“One of the top writers of Westerns working in the genre today.” —Peter BrandvoldAbout the Author:J. Lee Butts is the author of 22 published books and numerous magazine articles and short works. His book Brotherhood of Blood was runner-up for the Western Writers of America Spur Award in 2005. He’s worn many hats over the years (teacher, administrator, pool manager, IBM supervisor, and western author), and he and his late wife lived everywhere from Los Angeles to Dallas. Currently he’s hanging those hats back in White Hall, Arkansas.

Kept From The Earl


Charlotte Darcy - 2017
    What will her uncle do next? Hiding from her dreadful uncle, the new baron, Lucy finds herself in a cupboard. Only it is not quite big enough and she spills out in front of a mysterious and handsome man. The chance encounter is the start of a beautiful friendship and Lucy soon finds herself in love with Felix Godfrey, the Earl of Lyndon. It is the one bright light in her frightful life. Now she is living with her pompous uncle and his dark and dismal son. With her freedom curtailed she cannot see a way to escape and yet she knows she must. When her maid is frightened by the new baron Lucy finds help in a most unexpected ally. Can she escape? What will become of her maid? Will true love find a way?

The Ironwood Plantation Family Saga: The Complete Series


Stephenia H. McGee - 2020
    Civil War pits countrymen against one another and tears a nation asunder. Life and death are held in the balance where everyone is a slave to something. In a time when war brings the South to its knees, two women will forge a friendship in the fires of redemption and thrust Ironwood into a new future – where the battle for freedom has merely begun. Book Two: Heir of HopeA hidden diary. Dreams of the past. And a hope for a new future. Emily Burns grew up an orphan, so she never expected to inherit a southern plantation. When she discovers an old diary hidden in the attic, her life becomes strangely entwined with her Civil War ancestor and she soon begins to wonder how a woman long dead can keep showing up in her dreams.Book Three: Missing MercyThe venture ahead could leave their friendship behind.Made a safe-haven after the Civil War, Ironwood Plantation is a refuge of equality for former slaves. But twenty years and a new generation later, they have become an isolated community with little contact with the rest of the world.In a time where prejudices try to define them, Mercy Carpenter and Faith Harper must push the boundaries of their beliefs and trust in the God who holds the keys to freedom.

Three Classic Novels: Tobacco Road, God's Little Acre, and Place Called Estherville


Erskine Caldwell - 2017
    Bigotry, poverty, social injustice, and sexual squalor in the Deep South—hallmarks of one of the most daring and phenomenally popular bestselling novelists of the twentieth-century. Here, in one volume, are three of his best-known works. “None of [his] characters would be caught dead in a novel by John Steinbeck, Carson McCullers, or Eudora Welty” (The Daily Beast).  Tobacco Road: The Great Depression compromises the morals of a poor farming family in Georgia. This classic, a Modern Library 100 Best Novels selection, was adapted for the stage in 1933 and made into a 1941 film directed by John Ford.  God’s Little Acre: Desperation takes its toll on a deluded Southern farmer obsessed with sex, violence, and the promise of gold. Banned in Boston, censored in Georgia, and prosecuted by the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, this international bestseller was adapted into a film in 1958.  A Place Called Estherville: In the pre-civil-rights-era South, a biracial brother and sister move to a small segregated town to care for their aunt, only to be subjected to systematic racism, sexual violence, and prejudice.   “What William Faulkner implies, Erskine Caldwell records,” said the Chicago Tribune of the author who earned his reputation by writing about sex, racism, and religious hypocrisy when no one else was. Caldwell remains one of the most widely translated American authors of all time.  This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erskine Caldwell including rare photos and never-before-seen documents courtesy of the Dartmouth College Library.

The Crucible: Text and Criticism


Arthur MillerAldous Huxley - 1971
    Based on historical people and real events, Miller's drama is a searing portrait of a community engulfed by hysteria. In the rigid theocracy of Salem, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town's most basic fears and suspicions; and when a young girl accuses Elizabeth Proctor of being a witch, self-righteous church leaders and townspeople insist that Elizabeth be brought to trial. The ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor brilliantly illuminate the destructive power of socially sanctioned violence. Written in 1953, The Crucible is a mirror Miller uses to reflect the anti-communist hysteria inspired by Senator Joseph McCarthy's "witch-hunts" in the United States. Within the text itself, Miller contemplates the parallels, writing "Political opposition...is given an inhumane overlay, which then justifies the abrogation of all normally applied customs of civilized behavior. A political policy is equated with moral right, and opposition to it with diabolical malevolence." The Viking Critical Library edition of Arthur Miller's dramatic recreation of the Salem witch trials contains the complete text of The Crucible as well as extensive critical and contextual material about the play and the playwright, including:Selections from Miller's writings on his most frequently performed playEssays on the historical background of The Crucible, including personal narratives by participants in the trials and records of witchcraft in Salem from the original documentsReviews of The Crucible, in production by Brooks Atkinson, Walter Kerr, Eric Bentley, and othersExcerpts from Jean-Paul Sartre's Les Sorcières de Salem, a "spin-off" of Miller's play, and three analogous works by Twain, Shaw, and Budd SchulbergCritical essays on the play, on Miller, and on the play in the context of Miller's oeuvreAn introduction by the editor, a chronology, a list of topics for discussion and papers prepared by Malcolm Cowley, and a bibliography

The Girl Now Leaving


Betty Burton - 1997
    Stricken by diphtheria, she is sent to the Hampshire countryside where she discovers a robust fighting spirit and the first stirrings of attraction...But then must she follow her mother into the city’s grim corset-making trade. Lu realizes that things must change. And she can make it happen.  Her journey from shy child to energetic woman encompasses love, deep friendship, and a growing political awareness. Above all, Lu is a survivor – and one to be reckoned with.The Girl Now Leaving is a powerful and unputdownable saga perfect for fans of Diney Costeloe, Nadine Dorries and Mary Gibson.

A Scattering Of Daisies


Susan Sallis - 1984
    Will Rising had dragged himself from humble beginnings to his own small tailoring business in Gloucester - and on the way he'd fallen violently in love with Florence, refined, delicate, and wanting something better for her children. March was the eldest girl, the least loved, the plain, unattractive one who, as the family grew, became more and more the household drudge. But March, a strange, intelligent, unhappy child, had inherited some of her mother's dreams. March Rising was determined to break out of the round of poverty and hard work, to find wealth, and love, and happiness.

The Zane Grey Megapack


Zane Grey - 2013
    Included are:BETTY ZANE (1903)SPIRIT OF THE BORDER (1906)THE LAST OF THE PLAINSMEN (1908)THE LAST TRAIL (1909)THE SHORTSTOP (1909)THE HERITAGE OF THE DESERT (1910)THE YOUNG FORESTER (1910)THE YOUNG PITCHER (1911)THE YOUNG LION HUNTER (1911)THE HORSES OF BOSTIL’S FORD (1912)RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE (1912)TIGRE (1913)FANTOMS OF PEACE (1913)DESERT GOLD (1913)THE RUSTLERS OF PECOS COUNTY (1914)THE LIGHT OF WESTERN STARS (1914)THE LONE STAR RANGER (1915)THE RAINBOW TRAIL (1915)THE BORDER LEGION (1916)WILDFIRE (1917)THE U. P. TRAIL (1918)THE DESERT OF WHEAT (1919)TALES OF FISHES (1919)THE MAN OF THE FOREST (1920)THE REDHEADED OUTFIELD (1920)THE RUBE (1920)THE RUBE’S PENNANT (1920)THE RUBE’S HONEYMOON (1920)THE RUBE’S WATERLOO (1920)BREAKING INTO FAST COMPANY (1920)THE KNOCKER (1920)THE WINNING BALL (1920)FALSE COLORS (1920)THE MANAGER OF MADDEN’S HILL (1920)OLD WELL-WELL (1920)THE MYSTERIOUS RIDER (1921)TO THE LAST MAN (1921)THE DAY OF THE BEAST (1922)TALES OF LONELY TRAILS (1922)THE CALL OF THE CANYON (1924)VALLEY OF WILD HORSES (1927)THE WILD-HORSE HUNTER (1933)And don't forget to search this ebook store for "Wildside Megapack" to see many more entries in this series, covering westerns, mysteries, science fiction, and much, much more!"

They Do It with Mirrors


Agatha Christie - 2012
    Her fears are confirmed when a youth fires a gun at the administrator, but that isn't the only shooting!