It takes him from the Hasinai Caddo villages of eastern Spanish Tejas to the Rocky Mountains and parts in between. Along the way, he encounters colorful and unsavory frontiersmen, hostile and friendly Indians as well as struggles with wild nature. But he also finds loyal friends and unconditional love.

    Praise for Alan David 'A classic of the genre.' – Tom Kasey, bestselling author of Trade Off.Alan David is a prolific writer of over 500 novels in a wide range of genres, from classic westerns, to historical thrillers. His other western novels include Fight or Die, Gun Hell, Gun Wages, Wildmen and Draw or Die. Pioneering Press is an imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. We publish new and classic westerns by authors from the US and the UK. Sign up to our newsletterFollow us on Twitter: @PioneeringPress

    This boxed set includes 10 western novels by an American author William MacLeod Raine:BRAND BLOTTERSTHE YUKON TRAIL (A TALE OF THE NORTH)BUCKY O'CONNOR (A TALE OF THE UNFENCED BORDER)MAVERICKSCROOKED TRAILS AND STRAIGHTTHE VISION SPLENDIDA DAUGHTER OF THE DONS (A STORY OF NEW MEXICO) THE HIGHGRADERSTEVE YEAGER THE SHERIFF'S SON

     In the aftermath, Ethan Brody returns from the war to find everything he knows and loves reduced to nothing but ashes. Hell bent on revenge, he sets off to find the murderous gang, only to have them slip away. Losing his faith, he sets off on a life of bounty hunting, vowing to never again let justice go astray. "Alive" is no longer an option and in the process, the legend of the Rider is born. 1894: Oliver Kingston Dukes a man of remittance finds his way to the town of Adobe Wells, immediately becoming embroiled in the town's struggle with the wealthy and powerful Katy brothers. Enter the Rider, on the trail of the notorious bandit Hector Salazar. He joins Dukes and the townsfolk to take back the town once and for all, and perhaps...take back his own salvation.

    Former Texas Ranger Emmett Strong seems to be just the man Benficklin’s town fathers are looking for, once they’re satisfied that his Chinese wife, Li, is “sufficiently civilized.” But Benficklin doesn’t want to pay a deputy. That leaves Emmett’s sidekick, Juanito, with little choice but to take his own bride, the former saloon girl Geneve, up the road to Santa Angela, looking for honest work in a crooked town.Reputations aside, it turns out that Benficklin—not Santa Angela—is the town with the next scandal on its hands. Only days after Emmett’s arrival, he steps out first thing in the morning to find a dozen men standing in the middle of the street, all in a dither over the ravaged, scantily clad body of a young, murdered Mexican girl who’s been left lying there in the dirt. Initial indications suggest hard-drinking cowboy Quirt Langdon may have done the dirty work.It doesn’t take long, however, for Emmett to sense that things aren’t exactly as they appear. Fort Concho’s Captain Roderick Prentiss seems peculiarly interested in what is clearly a civilian case. The debonair—if somewhat eccentric—gambler Nate Chaffin, who has taken up residence in Santa Angela, gives the impression that he knows things he’s not telling. And to top it all off, Benficklin’s mayor and first lady end up assassinated in their own backyard.While local officials pressure Emmett to hastily hang either a suspect or a scapegoat, honor drives the former Ranger to seek true justice for the poor murdered girl, as well as for the mayor and his wife. Ill-tempered townsfolk, pilfered evidence, and somebody taking potshots at him and his wife make Emmett wonder whether he’ll live to unravel the mystery or become the next corpse folks find in the dusty streets of Benficklin

    On the way, he makes friends and enemies. Once there, he finds danger and the love of his life.

    Growing up they were inseparable. When he joined the Marines she did too. Then disaster struck. After leaving the Marines, she returns to the family ranch in Montana hoping to heal her shattered heart. On a ride into the foothills she sees something glowing in the side of the mountain. When she goes to investigate she discovers a fist-sized sapphire that turns her already fragile world upside down. 1882: Jake Barrow is a part-time gambler, full-time hired gun. His decisions are based on hunches and the turn of a card. He’s in the foothills when a young woman comes tumbling down the mountain. Unsure whether Lady Luck has dealt him a good hand or a bad, he takes one look at the beauty at his feet and doesn’t need to shuffle the deck to know she’s his destiny.

    

    MARSHAL MATT BANNISTER COMES FACE TO FACE WITH HIS PAINFUL PAST.U.S. Marshal Matt Bannister’s bitter side comes out when his father, Floyd Bannister, comes to town unexpectedly. He wants nothing to do with his father and makes his thoughts known. Floyd, though heartbroken, agrees to leave Matt alone.Matt is dealing with the murder of two Chinese immigrants and the brutal scourging of a third. When he finds the men responsible, and makes an arrest, he is faced with a turning tide as those who dislike him twist the truth and turn the mining community against him with destructive consequences.Tiffany Foster, who Matt brought back from Prairieville, tells her friend Gabriel Smith, that Matt is his real father. Gabriel confronts his parents and then runs away to Branson to confront Matt. Matt is caught off guard but learns a great lesson, that he and his father have more in common than he realized… Sometimes, you must have the chimney swept clean of its past fires before you can start a new flame confidently…