Book picks similar to
Long Ride Home by W. Michael Gear


western
fiction
westerns
historical-fiction

The Legend Begins


S.A. Ferkey - 2013
     The Jailer's Son: The Legend Begins is Book #1 of The Jailer's Son series of action adventure westerns. Maxwell Beck is no average boy. Thanks to his Pa’s insistence, he’s a sharpshooter, sleight of hand artist, acrobat, and cardsharp. These are handy, yet highly unusual skills for the son of a traveling salesman. Even so, Max thinks he's living a normal life, until one fateful day when he inadvertently sets a chain of monumental events in motion. Just days after his Ma dies, Max accidentally shoots his Pa. It's then that Max learns a secret about his past that will change his life forever, and maybe even chase him to the ends of the earth. Max's Pa might be dying, but he's insistent that they reach the Old West town of Deadwood before he leaves this earth. Max does as he asks only to find himself face to face with an uncle he never knew existed. Uncle Chase "Turtle" Beck, the sheriff of Deadwood, is not pleased to see his dying "no good" brother, nor his son. Turtle's displeasure seems to linger even after Max's Pa dies. However, as Max rides out of Deadwood, his uncle intercepts him and offers him a job at his ranch. It isn't clear what Turtle's intentions are -- Max saved him from being shot in the back by two outlaw brothers shortly after riding into Deadwood, or maybe it's because he's kin -- but Max decides to give ranch life a try. His uncle has only one request: that Max keeps his special skill set to himself. It's an easy adjustment for Max. He enjoys the company of the other cowboys, and meets Patience, a sassy-mouthed blond who he believes is destined to be his wife. It turns out this happy time in Max's life is only the quiet before the storm. When an outlaw gang savagely attacks Turtle and threatens to strip Max of all he holds dear, he is forced to break his promise to his uncle. As Max sets out to stop the evil that has the power to destroy all he loves, he tries to put the events his birth mother predicted for him out of his mind -- even as they come true, one by one. The ensuing battle of good against evil gives birth to a legend for the ages: the legend of the jailer’s son. Like westerns with action and intriguing characters? Scroll up and click the BUY button now to begin your adventure!

No Peace (Steve Dancy Tales Book 7)


James D. Best - 2019
    He can hardly remember his days of wanderlust, and he’s grateful to have left behind the violence of a raw frontier. In a celebratory mood, Steve invites his mother to a meet her new grandchild in a chic resort in Monterey, California. With the delivery of a handwritten note, his world suddenly reverts to the savagery of his bygone days. There will be no peace.

Ketcham's Land


Douglas Hirt - 2002
    After a card game with Benny Gellerman, a man good with a gun, but bad with cards, Ketcham decides it is time to head out again. He finds a place to bed down on a lonely New Mexico farm run by old Corely Mattlin and his widowed daughter-in-law, Margaret. Ketcham has his eye on pretty Margaret, but he'd better keep his eyes open wide for trouble. A local rancher named Jeb Ollfinger is trying to run the Mattlins off their land, and he is not above using violence, even murder, to get what he wants. Margaret is sure her husband's killer was one of Ollfinger's men, a gunman named Gellerman. If Ketcham knew what was good for him, he would head out again. But this time he has a job to do first.

Unflinching


Stuart G. Yates - 2015
     When a famous ex-general's daughter is kidnapped, Detective Simms is assigned with bringing her home. Forged in the Mexican War, this man of steel knows how to survive and how to kill. But he will need all of his skill and guile to survive this unforgiving land, and bring the general's daughter home. And then, it gets personal...

A Man to Call My Own


Johanna Lindsey - 2003
    It is a harrowing journey, but plain-looking Marian welcomes the challenge of their adventure, while beautiful Amanda complains at every turn. And when they need rescuing, cowboy Chad Kinkaid is the strong, sexy hero for the job. Amanda's beauty catches Chad's eye, but it is Marian's daring spirit and hidden passion that spark his desire for her — a sensual attraction that lands them in a romantic entanglement Marian is not prepare to handle. Tied to him by the fate of her aunt's ranch, Marian must face a proud cowboy who's determined to convince her — whether it means wooing her under the stars of the open range or following her back East — that she's the only woman for him...

Blood Dance (The Lost Lansdale #3)


Joe R. Lansdale - 2000
    Family, friends and farms lost in the conflict, they’ve been drifting for the past decade—driving sheep, punching cattle, chasing Indians. It pays a man’s bills, mostly… but just mostly. More than panning for gold, it turns out, though that had seemed like a good idea at the time.And so they find themselves in the Dakota Territory, looking at a cold December with empty pockets and emptier prospects. Which is how otherwise (mostly) upstanding southern gentlemen come to contemplate signing-on as hired guns for a train robbery.If the robbery came off well, no one was double-crossed, and the boys retired to live a comfortable life south of the border, it wouldn’t be much of a Western. Fortunately, Lansdale knows better, and has written a rip-roarer. You probably guessed that from the title, though. Long-unavailable, having fallen between the cracks of the publishing industry, Joe R. Lansdale's Blood Dance is a genuine Western Adventure to rival any of the classics. Fans of Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour, take note.

River God (Ancient Egypt, #1) / Gold Mine (Omnibus)


Wilbur Smith - 2005
    But Tanus will have to defy the same gods to attain the reward they have forbidden him, an object more prized than battle's glory: possession of the Lady Lostris, a rare beauty with skin the color of oiled ceder--destined for the adoration of a nation, and the love of one extraordinary man.Gold MineNorth of Johannesburg, five companies share the Kitchenerville fields, furiously blasting and digging deep into the earth. For some men, gold mining is a way of life--and death. For some it's just a business. For one man, it's the most dangerous game of all...Rod Ironsides makes love to his boss's wife and drives his miners faster and harder than anyone has ever dared. A few weeks ago, Ironsides had a passion for golf and one-night stands. Now, he has been handed a prize and a curse: to blast through rock and reap a fortune--or be destroyed.From a split-second, oxygen-sucking explosion to a looming underground wall of water, there are a dozen ways Rod can fail. But his passion and fury won't let him back down from a conspiracy he cannot see: men who want to turn his mine into a death trap--for the bloodiest pay-day of all...

Dances with Wolves


Michael Blake - 1988
    Thievery and survival soon forced him into the Indian camp, where he began a dangerous adventure that changed his life forever. Relive the adventure and beauty of the incredible movie, Dances with Wolves.

The Women in Pants: Sidesaddle No More


Stan Himes - 2017
    Will they overcome with hearts and humor intact? Will they survive at all? Reader Reviews: "I know if you enjoy reading about strong confident and brave women you will love this book as much as I did!" "Recommend this books to all who enjoy Westerns, or even if you have never read one. I think you would perhaps see some of the personalities, philosophies and behavior in yourself and those you know and only read about! A very HUMAN book!" "WOW. Bought this book with the thoughts of perhaps a light read.... I'm telling you, the detail, the writing, the story were all superb." "This book is for everyone. I couldn't wait to see what happened but I didn't want it to end." "If this book doesn't get made into a big-budget movie with an ensemble of major actresses, Hollywood will have missed out on a blockbuster." "I loved this book from beginning to end. And the unique way the author told it. A most fun read. If I had lived in that time period I would have wanted to be one of those women in pants!"

Red Lands Outlaw: the Ballad of Henry Starr


Phil Truman - 2012
    A good read.” -- Dusty Richards, Spur and Wrangler Award winning author “Author Phil Truman captured a slice of Indian Territory history and has woven it into an interesting period novel. Anyone who loves the history of the West will enjoy Red Lands Outlaw: the Ballad of Henry Starr.” -- Tammy Hinton, author and winner of the Will Rogers Medallion Award for Unbridled "Truman’s storytelling shines throughout..." -- Kathleen Rice Adams, Western Fictioneers In the last years of the tough and woolly land called Indian Territory, and the first of the new state of Oklahoma, the outlaw Henry Starr rides roughshod through its midst. A native son of “The Nations” he’s more Scotch-Irish than Cherokee, but scorned by both. Never really wanted to journey west of the law, yet fate seems to insist. He’s falsely accused of horse-thieving at sixteen, sentenced to hang for murder at nineteen by Judge Isaac Parker, but escapes the gallows on a technicality. Given that opportunity, the charming, handsome, mild-mannered Henry Starr spends the rest of his life becoming the most prolific bank robber the West has ever known.

Hunt-U.S. Marshal


W.L. Cox - 2013
    Hunt is the Sheriff in a small Tennessee town run and controlled by a ruthless Mayor that virtually owns the town. Hunt turns bounty hunter after he is fired for punching the Mayor in the nose and arresting the Mayor's son. Hunt tracks a man across the plains to the Missouri River and returns with a criminal that is on the run from the law. Hunt meets a U.S. Deputy Marshal during his journey and is recruited into the U.S. Marshal Service.

Sundog Comanche


Ash Lingam - 2017
    His father, Maxwell Creek provided him with his namesake of the town, Ridge. At thirteen taken on to work in the general store of a retired western gunfighter and lawman, Ridge Creek learned the tricks of his future trade. At sixteen he rides off on the trail to Austin to join the Texas Rangers. The rest is history. The whole story of Captain Ridge Creek. The year was 1848, and the young Ranger was posted in Laredo, Texas. This is the story of his battles with Iron Jacket and Lopez the Outlaw among other tales of this man the Comanche call 'With Dead Eyes'. Captain Creek’s first five years in the Texas Rangers. This is the dawn of his younger years.

The Silver Widows


C.J. Petit - 2019
    But even as she began that long ride down from the mining camp, a silver coin was being tossed into the air a few miles away that would change everything.