Book picks similar to
Bloody Season by Loren D. Estleman
western
westerns
fiction
historical-fiction
Paradise Sky
Joe R. Lansdale - 2015
A man named Loving takes him in and trains him in the fine arts of shooting, riding, reading, and gardening. When Loving dies, Willie re-christens himself Nat Love in tribute to his mentor, and heads west.In Deadwood, South Dakota Territory, Nat becomes a Buffalo Soldier and is befriended by Wild Bill Hickok. After winning a famous shooting match, Nat's peerless marksmanship and charm earn him the nickname Deadwood Dick, as well as a beautiful woman. But the hellhounds are still on his trail, and they brutally attack Nat Love's love. Pursuing the men who have driven his wife mad, Nat heads south for a final, deadly showdown against those who would strip him of his home, his love, his freedom, and his life.
The Big Rock Candy Mountain
Wallace Stegner - 1943
Drifting from town to town and from state to state, the violent, ruthless Bo seeks out his fortune—in the hotel business, in new farmland, and, eventually, in illegal rum-running through the treacherous back roads of the American Northwest. Stegner portrays more than thirty years in the life of the Mason family in this masterful, harrowing saga of people trying to survive during the lean years of the early twentieth century.
Where There's Fire, There's Smoke
William W. Johnstone - 2019
THE LAW OF THE LAST MAN STANDING. His country burning with war, his family shattered, a young man strikes off on his own and builds a legend with his fists, a pistol, knife, and long gun. This collection includes the classic westerns Trail of the Mountain Man and Return of the Mountain Man, long unavailable and here together for the first time in one action-packed volume … Where There’s Gold, There’s Blood, Bullets, and Smoke When the Missouri farm boy named Jensen came west, he started fighting, surviving, and learning every brutal step of the way. He learned from a mountain man named Preacher. He learned from Indians. And from outlaws. And he learned that nothing burns the souls of men faster than the lure of glimmering gold. From one ramshackle frontier mountain town to another, Smoke sees gold strikes—and gold fever—drawing crooks and cold-blooded killers from across the nation. Faced with an explosion of horrifying violence—along with some demons from his past—Smoke has no choice but to lay down the law. Once he does, it doesn’t matter how many men and guns the outlaws bring. Because if Smoke Jensen has learned anything, it’s this: in a vast, savage land, you don’t back down, don’t give up, and don’t stop shooting until the last bad man goes to his Maker.
Inland
Téa Obreht - 2019
Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life--her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home.Meanwhile, Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. The way in which Lurie's death-defying trek at last intersects with Nora's plight is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel.Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of Téa Obreht's talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely--and unforgettably--her own.
Legends of the Fall
Jim Harrison - 1979
This magnificent trilogy also contains two other superb short novels. In Revenge, love causes the course of a man's life to be savagely and irrevocably altered. Nordstrom, in The Man Who Gave up his Name, is unable to relinquish his consuming obsessions with women, dancing and food.'
Texas
James A. Michener - 1985
Michener’s monumental saga chronicles the epic history of Texas, from its Spanish roots in the age of the conquistadors to its current reputation as one of America’s most affluent, diverse, and provocative states. Among his finely drawn cast of characters, emotional and political alliances are made and broken, as the loyalties established over the course of each turbulent age inevitably collapse under the weight of wealth and industry. With Michener as our guide, Texas is a tale of patriotism and statesmanship, growth and development, violence and betrayal—a stunning achievement by a literary master. Praise for Texas “Fascinating.”—Time “A book about oil and water, rangers and outlaws, frontier and settlement, money and power . . . [James A. Michener] manages to make history vivid.”—The Boston Globe “A sweeping panorama . . . [Michener] grapples earnestly with the Texas character in a way that Texas’s own writers often don’t.”—The Washington Post Book World “Vast, sprawling, and eclectic in population and geography, the state has just the sort of larger-than-life history that lends itself to Mr. Michener’s taste for multigenerational epics.”—The New York Times
Death Rides a Chestnut Mare
Ralph Compton - 1999
Riding to Texas to buy 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.Now a mysterious gunslinger is on the vengeance trail, packing Daniel Strange's Colt and answering to the same name. With fiery green eyes and a temper to match, the vigilante won't stop until every last man who killed Daniel Strange shares the same fate. And as each bullet finds its mark, the avenger's victims die never knowing the truth: Daniel Strange may be dead and buried, but his daughter is alive -- and killing.
The Twelve-Mile Straight
Eleanor Henderson - 2017
Accused of her rape, field hand Genus Jackson is lynched and dragged behind a truck down the Twelve-Mile Straight, the road to the nearby town. In the aftermath, the farm’s inhabitants are forced to contend with their complicity in a series of events that left a man dead and a family irrevocably fractured.Despite the prying eyes and curious whispers of the townspeople, Elma begins to raise her babies as best as she can, under the roof of her mercurial father, Juke, and with the help of Nan, the young black housekeeper who is as close to Elma as a sister. But soon it becomes clear that the ties that bind all of them together are more intricate than any could have ever imagined. As startling revelations mount, a web of lies begins to collapse around the family, destabilizing their precarious world and forcing all to reckon with the painful truth.
Finding Moon
Tony Hillerman - 1995
In a chilling world of mystery and silence, disguise and deception, he'll risk everything for the sake of one little girl—and discover a Moon Mathias who's a better man than he ever thought he could be.
The 19th Wife
David Ebershoff - 2008
It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of a family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how a young woman became a plural wife.Soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death.And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love and faith.
The Kid
Ron Hansen - 2016
He was smart, well-spoken, attractive to both white and Mexican women, a good dancer, and a man with a nose for money, horses, and trouble. His spree of crimes and murders has been immortalized in dime westerns, novels, and movies. But the whole story of his short, epically violent life has never been told as it has been here. “The Kid’s story has been told many times. But not like this” (The New York Times Book Review). In his incredible novel, Ron Hansen showcases his masterful research and inimitable style as he breathes life into history, bringing readers back into the late 1800s and into Billy’s boyhood as a ranch hand just trying to wrest a fortune from an unforgiving landscape. We are with Billy in every gunfight and horse theft and get to know him in full before his grand death in a hail of bullets in 1881 at the age of twenty-one. Original, powerful, and swiftly told, The Kid is an “entertaining and lively…an excellent, transportive read” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
Stone Song: A Novel of the Life of Crazy Horse
Win Blevins - 1995
Of all the iconic figures of Native American history, Crazy Horse remains the most enigmatic. To this day he strides across American history as a man who lived—and died—on his own terms.
“’Stone Song’ is a deeply spiritual story about the soul journey of a great and mysterious American hero.” ~ The Dallas Morning News.
Ridiculed as a boy for his white-man looks, he called for a vision, and received a great one . . . a vision that would shape his life. He was to fight for his people. In order to be successful, he must not accept traditional Lakota finery, rewards, and would sacrifice the dream of a wife and children. By following his vision, and his destiny of that as a mystic warrior, he was able to lead his people to their greatest victory—the defeat of General Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.Called to his monumental task, and tortured by his deeply passionate love of a woman, Crazy Horse found peace only in battle. Drawing inspiration from the eternal wisdom of his people, he discovered the means to defeat the U.S. Army at its own deadly game.
Come enjoy this new 20th century Anniversary Edition with an intimate introduction by the author, Win Blevins.
Appaloosa
Robert B. Parker - 2005
Cole and Hitch are used to cleaning up after scavengers, but this one raises the stakes by playing not with the rules—but with emotion.
Logan's Word: A Logan Family Western - Book 1
Donald L. Robertson - 2014
Now, two years later, deep in the Comancheria, Josh Logan rides to fulfill his dying friend’s request. As he rides through the rolling, West Texas hills, blood-thirsty Comanches could wait in the next ravine or around the next hill. Yet, he is determined to fulfill his promise. His message delivered, he must make a decision that could cost him his life. Will Josh stay and help Rory’s father save his ranch from sharp-shooters, murderers, and land-grabbers, or continue to Colorado to join his brother Callum before the snow flies? Logan’s Word, Logan Family Western Series Book One, is a fast-paced, action-packed Western in the tradition of the great Western writer, Louis L’Amour.
Let Him Go
Larry Watson - 2013
Now Margaret is steadfast, resolved to find and retrieve her grandson Jimmy—the one person in this world keeping her son’s memory alive—while George, a retired sheriff, is none too eager to stir up trouble with Donnie Weboy. Unable to sway his wife from her mission, George takes to the road with Margaret by his side, traveling through the Dakota badlands to Bentrock, Montana, in unstoppable pursuit. When Margaret tries to convince Lorna to return home to North Dakota, bringing little Jimmy with her, the Blackledges find themselves mixed up with the entire Weboy clan, a fearsome family determined not to give the boy up without a fight.With gutsy characters and suspense-filled prose, Bring Him Back speaks to the extraordinary measures we take for family and the overpowering instinct to protect those we love. From the award-winning author who gave us Montana 1948, Justice, and American Boy, Larry Watson is at his storytelling finest in this unforgettable return to the American West.