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.

    Instead, it authorized the State of Texas to raise its own troops.Many kinds of men drifted into the Texas Mounted Rifles. Some thought it might be safer than fighting in far off Virginia. Many were merely young men a-thirst for adventure. Some were settlers who saw this as the best way to protect their families and homes against the murderous thrusts of the Comanche. And some were men who still loved the Union, who had lived too long under that gallant flag to turn their guns against it now. Such a man was Scout Sam Houston Cloud...

    He knew about the exhausting terrain, and he was expecting the punishing elements. What he worried about was having to use violence against other men—men who would follow him and try to steal the riches that he didn’t even possess.Yet bandits were only part of McKaskel’s worries. For a mysterious stranger, Con Vallian, had appeared one night and saved his life. But was Vallian’s true interest Duncan’s wife, Susanna? And, more important, how did she feel about him?As they push on into the wilderness, Duncan must discover who is the greater threat—the thieves outside his camp or the enigmatic stranger within.…

    Will Anderson, a flinty old rancher, has a huge herd of cattle ripe for market when his regular hands, inflamed by gold fever, desert him. In desperation, he hires the only "men" available for the perilous 400 mile drive - a pack of scraggly schoolboys. Through skill and harsh discipline, Wil Anderson whips them from greenhorns into seasoned cowhands. But before the long drive is over, the boys discover that the price they must pay for manhood is a terrible one- murder and revenge! the stunning, heartbreaking climax of this extraordinary story will surprise you - and perhaps even sock you.

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

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

    A New Legend in the Making. The bestselling Johnstones kick off their blazing new western series with a real bang—a fatal, fateful shootout that sends a man named Buck Trammel on the ride of his life . . .   WHEN WYATT EARP TELLS YOU TO RUN, YOU RUN.   Once upon a time in the Old West, Buck Trammel was a Pinkerton agent with a promising future. But after a tragic incident in a case gone wrong, he struck out for the wide-open spaces of Wichita, Kansas. Working as a bouncer at The Gilded Lily Saloon, he hopes to stay out of trouble. But soon enough, his gun skills are put to the test. The Bowman gang shows up, turning a friendly card game with a Wyoming cattleman into a killer-takes-all shooting match. Buck saves the cattleman’s life, but at the cost of Bowman’s two sons. That’s when Deputy Wyatt Earp arrives. He warns Buck that he’d better get out of town, pronto, and take the cattle baron with him. The rest is history—if he lives long enough to tell it . . .   This is the story of Buck Trammel. Hunted by outlaws. Fighting for justice. Marked for death. This is how legends are born . . .   Live Free. Read Hard.

    Her desire to provide a secure future for her child has led her to accept a proposal of marriage from Isaac, a man twice her age. In her heart, she knows that Isaac lacks the fire and zest for life that defines Abby, but her son will be cared for. Can she be happy with only that? Despite her reservations, Abby joins her fiancé on the journey to the Endowment House in Salt Lake City, unprepared for the challenges that begin soon after they embark. When their trouble turns dangerous, it is a group of rough frontiersmen that come to their aid. The incident provides Abby the excuse she needs to turn back and postpone the wedding—and in truth, she simply can’t forget the connection she felt with Scooter, the leader of their rescuers. But as hostilities arise between the local Indians and the white frontiersmen, Abby’s focus turns again to the safety of her son. When the young boy disappears following an attack, Abby disregards propriety and turns not to her fiancé for help, but to Scooter. In the face of unimaginable odds, the pair embarks on a quest to find Abby’s son, a journey that will test their courage and faith as never before . . .

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

    Excerpt and one of them, Gavin, was reputed to be the strongest man in the neighborhood. The daughter, a long-limbed slip of a girl who rode like a cow-puncher, was about the boy's age. Though Godfrey French had a ranch it was worked scarcely at all. The boys did not like work, and apparently did not have to. Godfrey French was reputed to have money. His ranch was a hang-out for what were known as "remittance men," young Englishmen who received more or less regular allowances from home--or perhaps to keep away from home. There were rumors of gambling and hard drinking at French's ranch. "Well, I'll take you home," the boy said. "You can ride my pony. He's on a rope a mile from here. But I'll have to hang up this buck, or the coyotes will chew him." He found two small saplings close together, bent them down, trimmed them and lashed their tops. Over these he placed the tied legs of the buck. With a little search he found a long dry pole. With this he had a tripod. As he hoisted with the pole the spring

    

    He had been saving the pay he sweated so hard for, and he reckoned there was enough to set himself up with a spread of his own. He thought he might look into the Triple X Ranch, the one they called the Whiskey Brand. It had prime cattle land and was a bargain... or so it seemed.

    The Sandlin gang kicked up that dust as they rode back laughing into Mexico, where the U.S. law couldn't touch them and local law didn't want to.Behind him Nathan Stone left his horse, his Winchester, his custom-made Colts, and his name. The son who had grown up without him took them all. His name is Wes Stone. He used to be a lawman, but when he picks up his father's guns, he takes down the star from his chest.Wes knows the impossible odds of going against the outlaw army and its empire of evil. But he knows something else too. He's his father's son, and he's going to teach his father's killers exactly what that means...More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

    It's up to Sheriff Aaron Mackey to keep the peace--and keep the dregs of humanity from trying to make a killing . . .WHERE THE BULLETS FLY, VENGEANCE REIGNS If anyone can smell an investment opportunity, it's railroad men and big city bankers. They're not the kind of folks that Sheriff Mackey is used to dealing with. But greed is greed, and if anyone knows how money can drive men to murder, it's the sheriff of a boomtown like Dover Station. But when Mackey is forced to gun down a pair of saloon rats, it brings a powderkeg of trouble--with a quick-burning fuse of vengeance named Alexander Duramont. This bloodthirsty psychopath wants to kill the sheriff for killing his buddies. And he plans to get his revenge using a highly combustible mix of fire, fear, and dynamite . . . Mackey's not sure how he's going to stop this blood-crazed lunatic. But it's going to be one heck of an explosive and very violent showdown . . . "Hard to put down . . . because of the gritty and stylish narrative, the virtually nonstop action." -- Publishers Weekly on Terrence McCauley's Sympathy for the Devil

    She sets up her medical practice there. One night she's called out to help a gang of outlaws that have been shot to pieces while trying to rustle cattle. One of the outlaws is a young man that she develops feelings for, but he's in and out of her life for months on end. The outlaw attempts to change his life and go straight. It's a challenge that Rose encourages. It's the tale of two people who grow to care deeply for each other, and when Rose is kidnapped, the outlaw, now her husband, rides out to save her. Another novel of the Old West from the pen of R. O. Lane.