Book picks similar to
Sun River by Richard S. Wheeler


western
historical-fiction
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Ronicky Doone


Max Brand - 1920
    The wind from behind had kept the dust moving forward at a pace just equal to the gallop of his horse. Not until he had brought his mount to a halt in front of the hotel and swung down to the ground did either he or his horse become distinctly visible. Then it was seen that the animal was in the last stages of exhaustion, with dull eyes and hanging head and forelegs braced widely apart, while the sweat dripped steadily from his flanks into the white dust on the street. Plainly he had been pushed to the last limit of his strength. The rider was almost as far spent as his mount, for he went up the steps of the hotel with his shoulders sagging with weariness, a wide-shouldered, gaunt-ribbed man. Thick layers of dust had turned his red kerchief and his blue shirt to a common gray. Dust, too, made a mask of his face, and through that mask the eyes peered out, surrounded by pink skin. Even at its best the long, solemn face could never have been called handsome. But, on this particular day, he seemed a haunted man, or one fleeing from an inescapable danger. . . .

A Bad Place to Die


Easy Jackson - 2018
    It takes guts, grit, gunslinging--and one hell of a woman . . .MEET TENNESSEE SMITH: SHE SHOOTS FROM THE HIP.There aren't many options for an eighteen-year-old girl in the Old West. Especially an orphan like Tennessee Smith. She can either sell her body in a seedy saloon or take her chances as a mail-order bride. Tennie chooses the latter. Joining a wagonload of women across Indian territory, she arrives in the God-forsaken town of Ring Bit, Texas. Her husband-to-be is surprisingly decent. But after tying the knot in a quickie ceremony, he pops even more surprises on her. First, he introduces Tennie to his three young sons. Then he drops dead on their wedding night . . .Some women would hightail it out of there. Not Tennie. She'll do whatever it takes to save the ranch and raise those boys. Rusty is thirteen, Lucas is ten, and Badger is six. They need a mother. Tennie needs a job. And the town needs a marshal. Sure, the local gamblers, outlaws, and thieves have no use for the law. Then again, they never met a lawman, or woman, like Tennessee Smith . . .

Montana Rose


Deann Smallwood - 2016
    There’s no doubt in her mind that if given another chance, she can make a success of homesteading. She will not fail this time. People scoff, saying ranching is too much of a job for a lone woman to undertake. But Rose is no ordinary woman. She may be petite, stylish, and beautiful, but she is also strong and driven. Every aspect of ranching brings joy to her heart. Then why is she here in Wise River, Montana, taking orders from a mean-spirited school board and attempting something she has no clue how to do? Teaching? Jesse Rivers carries his own baggage on his wide shoulders. He’s been called home by a dying stepmother to take over the Rocking R Ranch and the care of a belligerent and wounded brother. A rugged, lanky cowboy, Jesse is also demanding, surly, and afraid to love. No, he can’t love. What if he has buried inside him the same volatile anger as his father, resulting in brutality by strong fists or a whip? Then Jesse meets Rose. Strong willed, outspoken, determined, and oh-so-desirable.

The Englishman's Boy


Guy Vanderhaeghe - 1996
    As Richard Ford has noted, "Vanderhaeghe is simply a wonderful writer. The Englishman's Boy, spanning as it does two countries, two centuries, two views of history—the Canadian Wild West as 'imagined' by Hollywood—is a great accomplishment. Readers, I think, will find this book irresistible."

The Lawless West


Jon Tuska - 2007
    Now three of their best short novels are collected in a single volume. Zane Grey’s From Missouri has been restored from the author’s own manuscript and is appearing in paperback in its corrected form. Max Brand’s Over the Northern Border is a classic tale of stage coach robbery and relentless pursuit, also corrected and restored from the author’s original manuscript. Louis L’Amour’s Riders of the Dawn debuted in Giant Western magazine in 1951 and appears here in that original version, as L’Amour himself first intended it. Enjoy these three classic tales and experience the Western the way it was meant to be.

Roughing It


Mark Twain - 1872
    He wrote it during 1870–71 and published in 1872, as a prequel to his first book The Innocents Abroad (1869). This book tells of Twain's adventures prior to his pleasure cruise related in Innocents Abroad.

Cry of the Hawk


Terry C. Johnston - 1992
    Forced to serve as a Yankee after his capture at Pea Ridge, Confederate soldier Jonah Hook returns from the war to find his Missouri farm in shambles.

CHASE THE SUN


Rosanne Bittner - 1995
    He joins the army purposely to fight Indians – any Indians. Iris Gray is a colonel’s daughter, who joins her father in America’s Northwest Territory and tries to bring peace between settlers and the Nez Perce Nation. Circumstances bring Iris and Zack together in a memorable love story as Iris struggles to help Zack find peace in his own heart. An unlikely friendship forms between these two and a Nez Perce warrior, Strong Runner, and his wife, Morning Star, teaching all four characters about cultural tolerance. CHASE THE SUN is the true story of the last flight of the Nez Perce to Canada in 1876, and a stunning depiction of the reasons for war and misunderstandings in a land deeply torn by its own unstoppable growth. A memorable tale of real history, abiding love, and a Nation’s unique struggle through tragedy and triumph.

Gone to Texas


Forrest Carter - 1973
    The Union Army slaughtered his family and lured his friends into a death trap under the guise of a white flag. The war may be over, but he refuses to surrender. No matter how far he has to ride, no matter how high the price on his head, no matter how much he hurts or hungers - he will get his vengeance.

The Doctor's Lady


Jody Hedlund - 2011
    Dr. Eli Ernest is back from Oregon Country only long enough to raise awareness of missions to the natives before heading out West once more. But then Priscilla and Eli both receive news from the mission board: No longer will they send unmarried men and women into the field. Left scrambling for options, the two realize the other might be the answer to their needs. Priscilla and Eli agree to a partnership, a marriage in name only that will allow them to follow God's leading into the mission field. But as they journey west, this decision will be tested by the hardships of the trip and by the unexpected turnings of their hearts.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre


B. Traven - 1927
    Traven. Evidence suggests that he was born Otto Feige in Schlewsig-Holstein and that he escaped a death sentence for his involvement with the anarchist underground in Bavaria. Traven spent most of his adult life in Mexico, where, under various names, he wrote several bestsellers and was an outspoken defender of the rights of Mexico's indigenous people. First published in 1935, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is Traven's most famous and enduring work, the dark, savagely ironic, and riveting story of three down-and-out Americans hunting for gold in Sonora.

A Book of Tongues


Gemma Files - 2010
    Morrow's task: get close enough to map the extent of Rook's power, then bring that knowledge back to help Professor Joachim Asbury unlock the secrets of magic itself.Magicians, cursed by their gift to a solitary and painful existence, have never been more than a footnote in history. But Rook, driven by desperation, has a plan to shatter the natural law that prevents hexes from cooperation, and change the face of the world-a plan sealed by an unholy marriage-oath with the goddess Ixchel, mother of all hanged men. To accomplish this, he must raise her bloodthirsty pantheon from its collective grave through sacrifice, destruction, and apotheosis.Caught between a passel of dead gods and monsters, hexes galore, Rook's witchery, and the ruthless calculations of his own masters, Morrow's only real hope of survival lies with the man without whom Rook cannot succeed: Chess Pargeter himself. But Morrow and Chess will have to literally ride through Hell before the truth of Chess's fate comes clear-the doom written for him, and the entire world.

Breakheart Pass


Alistair MacLean - 1974
    Travelling along it is a crowded troop train, bound for the cholera-stricken garrison at Fort Humboldt. On board are the Governor of Nevada, the daughter of the fort’s commander and a US marshal escorting a notorious outlaw. Between them and safety are the hostile Paiute Indians – and a man who will stop at nothing, not even murder…

The Adventures of Charlie Smithers


C.W. Lovatt - 2012
    Make way for Charlie Smithers.The time is the nineteenth century. The place, the Serengeti Plain, where one Charlie Smithers – faithful manservant to the arrogant bone-head, Lord Brampton (with five lines in Debrett, and a hopeless shot to boot) – becomes separated from his master during an unfortunate episode with an angry rhinoceros, thereby launching Charlie on an odyssey into Deepest Darkest Africa, and subsequently into the arms of the beautiful Loiyan…and that’s where the trouble really begins.Maasai warriors, xenophobic locals, or evil Arab slavers, the two forbidden lovers encounter everything that the unforgiving jungle can throw at them."A truly engaging read that will keep anyone’s attention from the hilarious beginning until the last word. I highly recommend this 5 star novel." ~ Chapters & Chats

Black Horse Creek


Charles G. West - 2012
    He’s cut from the same rough cloth as his father, Jacob, the man who built the town of Black Horse Creek from nothing. Jacob takes pride in Billy’s lawless, wild ways. But when the boy returns home with a stolen horse, having just killed a U.S. Marshal, Jacob knows trouble will be coming. Called in on special assignment, enigmatic former deputy marshal Grayson is asked to find Billy. The marshals would prefer to have him brought in alive. But Grayson knows Billy. He knows his father. And he knows that things don’t always go the way the law would like….