Book picks similar to
Deception by C.J. Petit


western
cj-petit
historical-fiction
historical-western-romance

Haunted Falls


Ken Farmer - 2013
    Marshal Bass Reeves in their first book, entitled "The Nations". The story continues in "Haunted Falls", the story of Bass Reeves as he joins other U.S. Marshals in pursuit of the infamous Dalton gang. It is full of adventure, romance, some history, excitement and a unique paranormal twist. You will not want to miss this sequel.

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.

You're in Command Now, Mr. Fog (A Dusty Fog's Civil War Western Book 2)


J.T. Edson - 1973
    FOG The Yankee sharpshooter turned out to be a lousy judge of character. He had three officers in his sights, a captain and two lieutenants. If he killed the right one, the Union Army’s victory at the Battle of Martin’s Hill would be guaranteed. So he made his choice and killed the Rebel cavalry’s commanding officer, Captain von Hartz. Big mistake. He should have concentrated on the small, insignificant-looking first lieutenant instead. Because the death of Captain von Hertz put Dusty Fog in command of the Texas Light Cavalry’s hard-riding, harder-hitting Company ‘C’. And with Dusty at their head, there was going to be hell to pay for the Bluebellies. ABOUT THE AUTHOR John Thomas Edson was born at Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on February 17 1928, the son of a miner who was killed in an accident when John was nine. He left Shirebrook Selective Central School at 14 to work in a stone quarry and joined the Army four years later. As a sergeant in the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, Edson served in Kenya during the Emergency, on one occasion killing five Mau Mau on patrol. He started writing in Hong Kong, and when he won a large cash prize in a tombola he invested in a typewriter. On coming out of the Army after 12 years with a wife and children to support, Edson learned his craft while running a fish-and-chip shop and working on the production line at a local pet food factory. His efforts paid off when Trail Boss (1961) won second prize in a competition with a promise of publication and an outright payment of £50. The publishers offered £25 more for each subsequent book, and with the addition of earnings from serial-writing for the comic Victor, Edson was able to settle down to professional authorship. When the comic's owners decided that nobody read cowboy stories any more, he was forced to get a job as a postman (the job had the by-product of enabling him to lose six stone in weight from his original 18). Edson's prospects improved when Corgi Books took over his publisher, encouraged him to produce seven books a year and promised him royalties for the first time. In 1974 he made his first visit to the United States, to which he was to return regularly in search of reference books. He declared that he had no desire to live in the Wild West, adding: "I've never even been on a horse. I've seen those things, and they look highly dangerous at both ends and bloody uncomfortable in the middle. My only contact was to shoot them for dog meat." His heroes were often based on his favourite film stars, so that Dusty Fog resembled Audie Murphy, and the Ysabel Kid was an amalgam of Elvis Presley in Flaming Star and Jack Buetel in The Outlaw. Before becoming a recluse in his last years, JT's favourite boast was that Melton Mowbray was famous for three things: "The pie, Stilton cheese and myself but not necessarily in that order."

Medicine Wheel


Ron Schwab - 2016
    A murder trial would normally be of little interest to Thad Locke, who escaped the "family disease" of law wrangling, but two women--one the accused murderess, the other a member of her defense team--have intertwined themselves with both Thad and his lawyering family.Will Kirsten Cavelle be the first woman sent to the gallows in the state of Kansas? As some members of the community seek to take the law into their own hands, will she even live to see the end of the trial? As the trial unfolds, secrets from the past are revealed, lives are changed forever, and a little known piece of land grows to have resonance far beyond its size.Set amongst the Kansas Flint Hills and the growing city of Manhattan in the 1880s, Medicine Wheel further explores the stories of the Locke family, first introduced in the author's novel, Last Will.

Blood Storm: A John Henry Cole Western


Bill Brooks - 2012
    Recent unexpected gunplay has whittled his detective agency down to a single operative: a man named John Henry Cole. Cole is the only man left when a new assignment comes in from a former lover of Kelly’s, a woman operating an escort service in the new mining camp of Deadwood in Dakota Territory. Three of the young women working for her have been murdered, and someone is trying to cover up their deaths.It’s a dangerous job, and Cole is advised that he must take every precaution—as if he needed such advice. The legendary Wild Bill Hickok was recently murdered at Deadwood, and Calamity Jane Canary and Doc Holliday are among Cole’s potential suspects. Add that to a corrupt constable and a bounty hunter who just happens to be an old enemy of Cole’s, and it’s clear there are many who will not welcome his arrival in Deadwood. Cole is a lonely man in a lonely profession, and finding a murderer in the wild mining camp could be less of a challenge than simply staying alive.Using real-life characters and settings from one of the most notorious times in the history of the Wild West, veteran author Bill Brooks spins another edge-of-your-seat thriller.Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction that takes place in the old West. Westerns—books about outlaws, sheriffs, chiefs and warriors, cowboys and Indians—are a genre in which we publish regularly. Our list includes international bestselling authors like Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour, and many more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Name’s Corcoran, Terrence Corcoran


Johnny Gunn - 2018
    Now he’s returning to the Comstock looking to get his badge back and stumbles into a conspiracy that might put the sheriff, district attorney, and others in jail for a long time. A lovely working girl is brutally murdered, a Hungarian duke wants a Wells Fargo gold shipment, and the sheriff rehires him after first kicking him in a most tender spot. Corcoran was born on the ship bringing his family to this country, ran away to the frontier at an early age and brings his ideas of the old country and knowledge learned of the west to whatever mess he finds himself in. He’s carried a badge, found himself in jail, and stands four-square for right, honor, and truth. You gotta love the guy.

The Taming of Red Butte Western


Francis Lynde - 2005
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

The Long Shooters


Daniel C. Chamberlain - 2011
    Ballou perfected the art of the judicious killer. His ability with his cherished Stephens target rifle is legendary, making a nearly miraculous shot that no one else – North or South – could accomplish. After the war, he disappears… Samuel Roark is a small-time rancher and part-time lawyer. One personal tragedy after another leaves Samuel gripped by periodic bouts of depression. When a hidden marksman of uncommon skill murders his son, the death leaves Samuel on the brink of total madness.Roark’s wife Sarah, a woman of strength, grace and startling beauty is now both emotionally and physically exhausted by the tragic circumstances that have beset her family. After discovering her husband’s quest for revenge, she does everything in her power to prevent what she fears will ultimately destroy him.Matthew Shaw is a known manhunter and soldier of fortune that people call on when they’re willing to pay someone else to deal with obstacles in their lives. When required, Shaw reluctantly uses his considerable marksmanship to achieve those ends. Now Shaw finds himself caught between a job he truly believes in, and a very good reason to walk away when he realizes he’s falling in love with Sarah, the wife of the man who hired him.

War Wounds


Wyatt Cochrane - 2016
    Until that day, he would use all of his considerable fighting skills and risk everything he owned to keep her safe. He owed her. War Wounds is the first book in Wyatt Cochrane’s, Marshall Family classic western series. If you like stories of strong men and women struggling together to conquer evil men and survive the blasts of Mother Nature, you’ll love this fast-paced action adventure series set in the old west.Buy now or read for free in Kindle Unlimited to enjoy this fresh new voice in westerns—today!

Last Chance Mail Order Bride: Violet's Cowboy (Westward Wanted Book 4)


Crystal Anne Tilden - 2014
    She felt it was foolhardy for a woman to leave everything behind to marry a man she had never met. However, when her greedy fiancé Ned jilted her for a rich woman, her friend convinced her to answer an ad. Soon she was exchanging letters with a nice widower who wanted to wed her. For months, they wrote to each other. All his letters were charming, except the last one. It contained an ultimatum: marry him now or never. He could wait no longer. She wrote back that she would come right away, but she did not. Instead, when the time came, she turned in her ticket to Texas and posted an apologetic letter to the widower breaking off their engagement. When Ned heard Violet stayed, he accused her of holding a torch for him and offered to make her his mistress. Violet scoffed at his lewd offer and his vile conceit. In a flash he was in her face, pointing out that a strong-willed 27-year-old servant was too old, too poor, and too disagreeable to find a husband in man-starved postwar Georgia. He predicted she would live out her life, a spinster dwelling in the servants’ quarters while she pined away for what might have been. That was all it took for her to pen another letter asking the widower to forgive her fickleness, and informing him she was on her way. There was no way Ned was going to ruin her dreams. She left on the very next stagecoach bound for Texas. Her fury kept her doubts and fears at bay for some time, but when the road got rough as they travelled farther and farther into the frontier, she regretted leaving Atlanta. When she really thought about it, being a spinster seemed like a pleasant carefree lifestyle and the servants’ quarters a safe haven. Her rationalization was for naught; it was too late to turn back. Certain she had left the frying pan for the fire, she stared out the window of the stagecoach as it rattled down the bumpy dirt road heading to her uncertain future. What if the widower would not have her? This is the second edition. Each book of the Westward Wanted Series can serve as a stand-alone novel because the main characters do not carry over from the previous books. In each, new main characters take up the torch while the lives of many of the former characters continue to develop within the story. Last Chance Mail Order Bride: Violet’s Cowboy is a sweet Western romance by Crystal Anne Tilden, author of the Best-Selling Christian Westerns: Mail Order Bride: Savannah’s Cowboy, Nobody’s Mail Order Bride: Adeline, and Mail Order Bride: Carrie and the Cowboy.

Deadly Deadly


M. Vigna - 2013
    Due to a technical glitch you must include the author name to search this book. Title only will not bring it up.<br><br>Deadly Deadly is an exciting, larger than life epic that takes place during the growth of our nation westward that details the hardship encountered on a very special trail drive in the 1800s. Don’t let the cover fool you; this is a story for the more mature reader. This exciting novel tells a truly original story among a backdrop of harsh and extreme conditions. Crafted with an enormous passion, this amazing story pits an eclectic cast of characters against the unforgiving elements and the evils of men. A one-of-a-kind story, readers cannot afford to pass up.<br><br> Get lost in this western epic of adversity, despair, and triumph. This story revolves around the deep bond that is established after a young man, alone in the world, discovers a newborn Texas Longhorn bull and rescues him from deaths grip. The bull calf eventually captures his heart and an inseparable bond is formed. As the bull matures, due to his lethal seven-foot horn spread, he eventually becomes know as Deadly. Their unique relationship also grows into a working partnership and together they become an indomitable force, which will be a blessing for a beautiful ranch owner who ultimately depends on them as her only hope for survival after she hires them to drive her extremely valuable and “new” to the America, Herefords, from California to Texas. With the fate of her ranch in their hands, they set forth on a dangerous journey full of extreme wilderness, nature’s wrath, injuries, and illness in order to get these prized cattle to their distant destination.<br><br> With a Texan Longhorn bull as one of its main characters and events unfolding at a thrilling pace, Deadly Deadly stands out against the homogenous backdrop of today’s fiction with a character-driven story that is as gripping as it is heartfelt, and sure to hook readers within the first few pages. Whether it’s the loveable characters, unique relationships, budding romance, or facing challenging hazards both natural and manmade, this novel possesses something for everyone. This engrossing narrative uses a mesmerizing story to pepper in useful survival skills and actual training techniques used with herd animals.

Deputy U.S. Marshal


Tabor Evans - 2008
    Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long always gets his man—and his woman—in the two tales that started the series: Longarm and Longarm on the Border.

Deadman's Revenge (The Deadman Series Book 3)


Linell Jeppsen - 2014
     Heartsick, he traces a convoluted trail of murder, mayhem and deceit… from the high gates of the Walla Walla State penitentiary, to Seattle and on into Billings, Montana. Although Matthew feels that he must bear the burden of a “deadman’s revenge” by himself, he will find help and succor in his travels from his friends, Sheriff Roy Smithers, Deputy Dicky McNulty, Calamity Jane, Liver Eating Johnson… and his son Chance. Deadman’s Revenge- Book three of the best-selling, award-winning series of novels, Deadman’s Fury and Deadman’s Lament

RETURN OF WILDCAT: Sixty-Second in the Series of Jess Williams Westerns (A Jess Williams Western Book 62)


Robert J. Thomas - 2017
    The temporary governor of Texas has seen fit to appoint three hired guns as his county sheriff and deputies. Jess knows the three men and knows they shouldn’t be wearing badges. He hangs around Calico long enough to sort things out, but then he gets an urgent message from United States Marshal Frank Reedy. It seems his good friend, the female bounty hunter only known as Wildcat, has murdered a man in New Mexico Territory and now has a price on her head. Jess, knowing that she would never kill without good reason, enlists the help of both Reedy and Bodine to safely escort her to Stratton, but a lot of angry and hungry bounty hunters have other plans to kill Wildcat for the bounty, and put her out of the business; but the only way that will happen, is over Jess’s dead body. Lead flies and men die. Who will be left standing in the end?

The Comanche Kid


James Robert Daniels - 2021