Book picks similar to
No Mercy by Philip McCormac


western
civil-war
free-reads
historical-fiction

The Keystone Kid


Frank Roderus - 1978
    It was no surprise to anyone when he almost instantly became the butt of some unpleasant jokes in the local bar.What was surprising was that he made no attempt to fight back against the bully who had decided to make a show of it. He gained two things that day - his name, the "Keystone Kid," and his reputation as a coward. The Kid made one friend, though, who helped him learn the ropes - horses and cattle, the way the ranch was really run - and he soon took on the look and ways of a true cowhand.But there was still that sore point of his cowardice. No one could help the Kid with that. When the time finally came to prove himself, he had to stand alone...and his life depended on it.

The Quiet Village


T.J. Walter - 2017
    He discovers a quiet village deep in the countryside and settles there. He makes new friends and finds a new love, but there are undercurrents; events that threaten his newfound peace. Then a murder occurs and he finds himself drawn into the investigation, unsure of who among his new friends he can trust. How will he overcome this without losing all he has gained?

Misty Hill Reckoning


R.B. Tetro - 2016
    When that peace is threatened by a corrupt sheriff, and the ruthless drug dealers he’s protecting, they’ll have to stand together with their friends and some unlikely allies if they hope to survive. Jake Dillon has come to Misty Hill looking for answers about his missing brother; who’s been working undercover for the DEA. He finds the Sanders standing alone against the people connected to his brother’s disappearance. He also finds the family that he’s always wanted, and the love he’s never had. The odds are stacked against them surviving, but Laura and her family won’t back down, and Jake won’t back off, until he finds his brother and his new friends are safe. In the Great Smoky Mountains, people have their own brand of justice. It’s been passed down from generation to generation. It’s called a reckoning, and it’s coming to Misty Hill.

Devlin's Ride


Carson McCloud - 2016
    A quiet spot to settle down. He's found the perfect place on the edge of Eastern Oregon's high desert. At the base of the rolling Ochoco Mountains there's a canyon with a steady spring called the Clearwater. Clearwater offers rich grazing for Nate's herd and room to grow. But perfection comes at a cost. Nate isn't the only one who has plans for the Clearwater. Rhett Baron and his crew of gunhands will stop at nothing to take the spring. Nate may have gotten to the water first, but can he keep it? In the tradition of Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey comes Devlin's Ride by Carson McCloud.

Wade's War


Chet Cunningham - 2010
    Chet Cunningham is on top of the heap of western action-adventure writers with over 300 books, and Wade's War is one you won't put down.

Shadows of Nemesis


L.J. Martin - 2018
    He's on the hunt. When the task is done and blood soaks the Nemesis, NV desert, he receives a shock—his sister is still alive. Now, with posters on every trail in Idaho and Montana territories, and a killer’s price on his head, he’s on the prowl. What he finds is an equal shock, but not so much as to those who hunt him. When the hunter becomes the hunted, there’s pure hell to pay.

Rocky Mountain Reckoning


Kurt James
     What the Verdugo brothers did not count on is that Lucas Eldridge is a dangerous man that is not to be trifled with. For over two years Lucas is a man driven to exact justice and revenge from the bandit brothers that took everything he ever wanted and everything he ever loved when his wife died at their hands. In a pursuit through the Colorado Rocky Mountain wilderness that cover towns such as Breckenridge, Como, and Silver Plume and across the "Great Divide" Lucas sole purpose for living is to take the life from the Verdugos and condemn them to the depths of Hell. Lucas has become a hard and haunted man until he rescues the beautiful redheaded, green eyed Devon King the sister of a surveyor working for the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railroad from Jose the youngest of the Verdugo brothers on top of Boreas Pass. Devon King is everything that Lucas departed wife was and his heart knows it, but his hatred for the Verdugos leaves no room for love. Or does it? Follow Lucas Eldridge in his western adventure as he battles the Verdugos and other outlaw's, mountain lions, wolves and the deadly cold and snow of a Colorado winter in the high country of the Rocky Mountains in his quest for justice and finally love.

The Loner


Clinton Spurr - 2017
     In his thirst for revenge, he hunted not just their killers but every killer who had a price on his head. It’s not long before his way of life sickens him, but when he tries to start afresh and leave his way of life behind him, he realises that it’s already too late. Everywhere he went he was known as the bounty hunter with badmen slinging lead his way and whole communities questioning his motives and character. In an attempt to escape this judgement, Clint tries to lose himself in the vast hinterland of the West, and eventually arrives at the Arrowhead ranch in Kansas. It was there that he realised that he was not the only one to suffer from the violence of the times. There’s a woman and a boy who need a man, and Branch himself has two aching voids in his wearied heart. He can only hope that things will work out for once as he fights big odds with impassive courage and a fast gun. Or will his quest for justice ultimately cost him his life…? Either way Branch is hell-bent on a quest that will send him into legend either as a hero, or The Loner... Praise for Clinton Spurr ‘A classic gun-toting adventure that will transport you straight back to the old west’ – bestselling author Tom Casey Clinton Spurr (1928), is one of fifty pseudonyms for British author, Donald S. Rowland, who was born in Norfolk, England. Rowland is married with three children, and previously had a variety of jobs, including film projectionist and Senior Clerk and Local Government Officer. It was only in 1964 that he dedicated his time to writing full-time and has since written a variety of novels, from science-fiction to westerns.

The Outlaw Hunter


Kathy E. Fisher - 2014
    He hunted outlaws like some men hunted wolves or mountain lions. The bounties he collected were simply payments rendered to a workman, and he was a man good at his work. Under Eli’s flint-hard exterior, that was merciless to outlaws, ran a wide streak of kindness that showed itself the day he picked up a starving orphan in Dodge City and took him along. He soon learned that the twelve-year-old Rob Slater harbored a common intent with him – to run down the elusive Parson gang. He for the $10,000 reward, and Rob, because Jude Parson had murdered his folks. Rob asked Eli to teach him the trade so one day he could look Jude Parson in the eye and square things with the killer. Under Eli’s tutorage the two came to turn the outlaw world on its ear until the day Eli honored his brother’s dying request and took his young daughter into his care touching off a series of unexpected changes that would forever mold their futures.

Tread


Clayton Lindemuth - 2014
    Soon he stumbles onto a packet of photos showing Governor Virginia Rentier lustily paired with three high-ranking women in state government. Though Cinder and the Governor clashed sixteen years before when his wife died in a car accident, Cinder prefers to keep his dislike of Rentier focused on her politics. He's too busy blaming himself for his wife's death, fighting his way back into his son's life, and leading a crew of lazy secessionist misfits to become involved in an intrigue about the Governor's sex partners. But when the bullets fly, Nat asks questions, and learns that his sudden war with the Governor traces back sixteen years. And that the photos were put in his path by a provocateur who knows Nat Cinder's a rough-hewn rebel with enough weaponry cached across Arizona to start a revolution, and that the secret at the bottom of his wife's death will turn him into a powder keg. TREAD is what fans of Clayton Lindemuth's "thrilling, visceral, and unsparing" prose (Publishers Weekly) have been waiting for: a novel that pairs his lean noir voice with the explosive tempo of the modern political thriller.

West Point to Mexico


Bob Mayer - 2014
     They swore oaths, both personal and professional. They were fighting for country, for a way of life and for family. Classmates carried more than rifles and sabers into battle. They had friendships, memories, children and wives. They had innocence lost, promises broken and glory found. Duty, Honor, Country is history told both epic and personal so we can understand what happened, but more importantly feel the heart-wrenching clash of duty, honor, country and loyalty. And realize that sometimes, the people who changed history, weren’t recorded by it. In the vein of HBO’s Rome miniseries, two fictional characters, Rumble and Cord are standing at many of the major crossroads of our history. Our story starts in 1840, in Benny Havens tavern, just outside post limits of the United States Military Academy. With William Tecumseh Sherman, Rumble, Cord, and Benny Havens’ daughter coming together in a crucible of honor and loyalty. And on post, in the West Point stables, where Ulysses S. Grant and a classmate are preparing to saddle the Hell-Beast, a horse with which Grant would eventually set an academy record, and both make fateful decisions that will change the course of their lives and history. We follow these men forward to the eve of the Mexican War, tracing their steps at West Point and ranging to a plantation at Natchez on the Mississippi, Major Lee at Arlington, and Charleson, SC. We travel aboard the USS Somers and the US Navy mutiny that led to the founding of the Naval Academy at Annapolis. We end with Grant and company in New Orleans, preparing to sale to Mexico and war, and Kit Carson and Fremont at Pilot Peak in Utah during his great expedition west.

The Bordeaux Connection


John Paul Davis - 2015
    - KEITH HOUGHTON, international bestselling author of Killing Hope A clever, absorbing tale...The Templar Agenda grabs you right from the murderous beginning and takes you on a fast-paced, thoroughly researched thrill-ride... - DAVID LEADBEATER, UK #1 bestselling thriller author of The Bones of OdinFROM THE BACK PAGE     In Medieval England, the defence of the realm in times of need rested on the shoulders of twelve men - a secret brotherhood of knights, who answered only to the ruler of England. They were called The White Hart.As they are now...When a series of explosions rock the Scottish capital, The White Hart is once again called into action. While the attackers flee Edinburgh with a hoard of priceless historical manuscripts, in a lonely village in England recent intelligence photographs suggest a potentially shocking connection between the suspected culprits and the wife of the Deputy Prime Minister...For White Hart agents Mike Hansen and Kit Masterson, the new lead is just the first piece of a potentially explosive puzzle that threatens to tear a hole in the heart of government. As a new threat soon reveals itself, their only chance to bring to an end the recent chain of ruthless activities is to follow the trail to the bitter end. Right to the heart of its deadly conspiracy...Part one of a brand new series...

California Bound


Frank Kelso - 2017
    Jeb & Zach are God-fearing, hard-working, honest southern boys--if you don’t count stealing Gen. Sherman’s horse. A border war raged on the Rio Bravo near Eagle Pass TX! Cattle rustled! Ranches burnt! Innocents killed or kidnapped! Confronting 2 Cortina men in a saloon turns ugly … Jeb is wounded … one Cortina man escapes to alert Cortina. A young widow tends Jeb in healing after the Doc sews him. Jeb and Zach take a shine to the bold and sassy lady. “Aww, man. After all the time we been together, are we gonna fight over a woman” … “No fight needed,” Jeb said. “She’s gonna decide, then get us think it was our idea.” … “She always does,” Zach replied. Jeb & Zach trick Cortina to rescue Rebecca but Cortina cross the Rio Bravo to take Eagle Pass hostage! Either Jeb & Zach surrender to him or he burns the town! Will they ever get to California?

Rendezvous Series: Books 4 - 6


Win Blevins - 2017
     From NY Times Bestselling author, Win Blevins, the story of legendary mountain man, Sam Morgan, comes to a roaring climax, filled with narrow escapes, a search for peace, and a home for his mixed-race family. “Blevins has painted an epic saga of life in the early West on a huge canvas of vivid colors. –Tony Hillerman.” “Through clever storytelling, and the seamless insertion of important background information, Blevins has made sure that readers unfamiliar with the series can follow each book on its own.” – Booklist ….... HEAVEN IS A LONG WAY OFF Sam Morgan faces the most daunting task of his adventuresome life. It is 1827 and he, with the trapping brigade commanded by Jedediah Smith, has been expelled from Mexican California. Sam must make a trek to the Wind Rivers for the sake of his Crow wife and their infant daughter, Eperanza.Nursing a broken heart, and in need of income, Sam rides to Santa Fe—and there he meets a beautiful widow. Soon after leaving, the herd of horses belonging to Sam and his companions are sold for a healthy profit. He returns to California to reunite with his daughter only to learn she has been taken captive in an Indian raid.Sam's desperate mission to rescue his daughter, their escape in a frail craft down a rampaging river, and their long trek home, is a harrowing tale told by a master of the historical novel. "Win Blevins's novel about venturesome Sam Morgan, and the fur trade and mountain men, is both authentic and entertaining!" —Dallas Morning News. A LONG AND WINDING ROAD A decade has passed since Sam Morgan took up the rough-and-tumble life of a mountain man in the Far West. In those ten years, Sam has made his mark as a trapper, fighter, and survivor.Sam has also endured tragedy.Distraught, Sam finds a mission for himself when he determines to find and rescue two Mexican girls, Lupe and Rosalita. They have been kidnapped from their village by Navajo raiders and spirited off into the New Mexico wilderness.The search for the captive girls takes him deep into Navajo, Ute, and Blackfeet Indian territory, to Bent's Fort in Colorado, near death at the hands of a companion, and finally to a surprise at the end of the trail, involving the missing girls and a trapper called Pegleg Smith. “The glory years of frontier life, fresh and rich.” — Kirkus Reviews DREAMS BENEATH YOUR FEET Eighteen years have passed since Sam Morgan came West from Pennsylvania and learned the perilous business of trapping in the Rocky Mountain wilderness.Now, in 1840, the world has changed. The fur trade has played out, and he must find other means to make a living.Sam decides to return to California with his daughter Esperanza and start a new life. The great golden land holds a harsh memory, but friends convince him that his destiny, and that of his mixed-race family, lies on the Pacific shore.Meadowlark's uncle, Flat Dog, his family, and Hannibal MacKye, the half-Delaware Indian mountain man, join Sam and Esperanza for the journey west, where they hope to trade for a herd of Appaloosa horses to sell at a profit in California.

Valley of the Lesser Evil


Carl Dane - 2018
    Bareknuckle fighter, gunman, and itinerant marshal Josiah Hawke is up against a stacked deck: He’s been called in to investigate the murder of an old friend and lawman in a town that’s suddenly and inexplicably been overrun by thugs and goons. As he gets closer to the truth, the outlaw gang draws on seemingly unlimited resources to up the ante, and Hawke faces a series of increasingly determined and deadly adversaries who want him dead. But Hawke, a former college professor who became addicted to the rush of combat a decade earlier during the Civil War, brings a very special set of skills to the table – trickery, deception, and battlefield smarts he acquired in a secret unit conducting raids and sabotage behind enemy lines. And he teams up with a formidable Tennessee mountain man named Tom Carmody, a giant woodsman who can read tracks like anyone else reads a newspaper. Together, this Old West odd couple battles hired shootists, a gang of hired gunmen, and raiding Comanche war parties – and in their spare time occupies themselves by creatively getting on each other’s nerves. At the end lies the shocking solution to the mystery and a final confrontation with one of the West’s deadliest hired guns – along with the realization that behind the puzzle lurks an unspeakable secret that has been hushed in the shadows of the Valley of the Lesser Evil. VISIT WWW.RAGINGBULLPUBLISHING.COM AND DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE WESTERN STARTER LIBRARY