Western

Catfish Charlie

Johnstone, William W., author.

As a former Texas Ranger, Charlie "Catfish Charlie" Tuttle spent the good part of his life catching outlaws. Happily retired in Wolfwater, Texas, he's content just catching fish--namely Bubba, the wily old catfish who lives in the pond near Charlie's shack and keeps slipping off Charlie's hook. He also likes hanging out with his trusty tomcat Hooligan Hank and tossing back bottles of mustang berry wine. Sure, his glory days are behind him. There's no reason for Charlie to even think about coming out of retirement. It starts with a jailbreak. Frank Thorson and his gang ride into Wolfwater to bust Frank's brother out of the slammer. First, they slaughter the deputy. Then, the town marshal. Finally, they run off with the marshal's daughter and no one's sure if she's dead or alive. The townsfolk are desperate enough to ask that drunken old coot Catfish Charlie to put down his fishing pole and wine bottles, pick up his Colt Army .44, and go after the bloodthirsty gang. Sure, Catfish Charlie may be a bit rusty after all these years. But when it comes to serving up justice, no one is quicker, faster--or deadlier . Once a lawman, always a lawman. Especially a lawman like Catfish Charlie Tuttle.....

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Where coyotes howl

Dallas, Sandra, author.

1916. The two-street town of Wallace is not exactly what Ellen Webster had in mind when she accepted a teaching position in Wyoming, but within a year's time she's fallen in love-both with the High Plains and with a handsome cowboy named Charlie Bacon. Life is not easy in the flat, brown corner of the state where winter blizzards are unforgiving and the summer heat relentless. But Ellen and Charlie face it all together, their relationship growing stronger with each shared success, and each deeply felt tragedy. Ellen finds purpose in her work as a rancher's wife and in her bonds with other women settled on the prairie. Not all of them are so lucky as to have loving husbands, not all came to Wallace willingly, and not all of them can survive the cruel seasons. But they look out for each other, share their secrets, and help one another in times of need. And the needs are great and constant. The only city to speak of, Cheyenne, is miles away, making it akin to the Wild West in rural Wallace. In the end, it is not the trials Ellen and Charlie face together that make them remarkable, but their love for one another that endures through it all.....

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Hostile territory

Johnstone, William W., author.

Jamie MacCallister remembers the Alamo--especially one brave frontiersman who died fighting there. Now the fallen veteran's graddaughter needs Jamie's help. She's found a letter written by her grandfather with a map to the spot where Alamo legend Jim Bowie supposedly hid a fortune in silver and gold. Jamie never believed the story. Countless treasure hunters had scoured the area and come up empty-handed. But his friend's granddaughter is convinced it's hidden where no one has ever dared to search--deep in the heart of Comanche country... There's no way Jamie will let this nice young lady venture into such hostile territory--not without his help. But they're going to need backup. Enter Preacher: easily the toughest mountain man in the West and, luckily, Maie MacCallister's loyal friend. Together, they begin thier journey at Fort Belknap, the farthest oupost of civilization--and the gateway to the barbaric Comancheria. In that deadly, untamed land the three will seek their fortune. But what they find is a cutthroat gang of outlaws, a bloodthirsty group of deserters, and a powerful tribe of Comanche warriors--who kill all trespassers on sight.......

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Change of leads : departures

Brauneis, A.K. author

Napoleon receives devastating news concerning the fate of Elk Mountain. Life at the prison is not getting any easier and Leon struggles to maintain hope of release. Out of desperation, he accepts the risks of retribution by giving Steven Granger permission to legally pursue their cause by challenging the Auburn Prison System in general, and Leon's harsh sentencing in particular. Gus Shaffer, bitter over the fate of his gang, decides to go after Marshal Morrison with a vengeance. Will it cost him his life? But with Morrison vowing to track him down, he figures he's a dead man anyway. Back home at the Rocking M a terrifying experience clarifies Jack's feelings for Penny, and their romance becomes official. Not everyone is pleased about this, and Isabel Baird makes a point of letting her thoughts on the matter be known.....

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Devil's gulch

Johnstone, William W., author.

John Holt is a traveling gunslinger. He's been liberating dirty towns west of the Mississippi of murdering outlaw trash ever since the Civil War ended. No questions asked. Payment on demand. Holt's latest job is in Devil's Gulch in Colorado Territory. But wiping out bands of bank robbers is just the beginning. More disorder is brewing, and the skittish mayor has handpicked Holt as the new sheriff. Holt is what the town needs: a mercenary with a badge, a loaded Remington, and a deadeye-aim for trouble. Devil's Gulch has the vigilance committee. The man behind it--Joe Mullen, the largest rancher and mine owner in the valley--isn't keen on an outsider like Holt muscling in on a good thing. Mullen already has his hand in all the crime in Devil's Gulch. He also triggers it. He likes keeping things wild. With the barbaric Bostrom brood under his command, he's hoping it stays that way. Holt quickly finds himself on familiar ground: up against cutthroats on the other side of the only law that counts. Holt's law. Devil's Gulch is his town now. And he's itching to clean it till it sparkles.....

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This man must die

Johnstone, William W., author.

in the world of criminal lawbreakers in Laramie County, Lucien Clay was king. He terrorized the locals, robbed every business in the territory, and ruled the place with a merciless iron fist. Thankfully he's behind bars now -- along with a load of other lowlife prairie rats -- thanks to Laramie's new sheriff, Buck Trammel. Unfortunately, Trammel can only enforce the law while others specialize in working around it: namely, lawyers. And no lawyer is more crooked or corrupt than the belly-crawling snake Clay hired to get him out. By any means possible. Their breakout plan is simple: The lawyer will wait until midnight. Then he'll break in to the county jail to bust his client out. He'll scale the walls, kill the guards, ambush the deputies, and release the prisoner. There's just one catch: As soon as Clay is freed, the other convicts want out, too. Which sparks total chaos in the prison, creates a distraction for Clay -- and unleashes the worst blood-soaked night of murderous mayhem Buck Trammel has ever witnessed. And will never forget. If he survives.....

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The lonesome gun

Johnstone, William W., author.

Perley's elder brother, Rubin, who manages the Triple-G Ranch decides to try breeding some Hereford cattle with the ranch's longhorns. He asks Perley to deliver the contract for the Herefords, a simple task. But nothing ever remains simple when Perley is involved. And for the reluctant fast gun, it means a nightmare journey through hell itself. The trouble starts when Perley and his sidekick, Possum, meet some damsels in distress -- a lovely group of saloon girls with a broken wagon wheel. Being a good Samaritan, Perley feels honor-bound to help them. But when the travelers cross paths with an ornery gang of vicious outlaws, things turn deadly -- and fast. It only gets worse from there, for Perley agrees to escort them to Nacogdoches -- next to Angelina County, a section of which is infested with a special breed of vermin known as the Tarpley family. And this corrupt clan has a gunslinger -- who'd love nothing more than to take down a living legend like Perley Gates. -- Amazon.com.....

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Save it for Sunday

Johnstone, William W., author.

From Confederate marauder to rebel gunfighter to repentant preacherman, circuit rider Taylor Callahan's road to perdition has been a hellish ride. Sinners beware. After riding with Missouri bushwhackers, Taylor Callahan vowed to never take another life. He's making good on it in Peaceful Valley. But this little settlement is about to become anything but peaceable. When the marshal takes a bullet in an ambush he pins a badge on Taylor, leaving the circuit rider open to a whole new world of hell. Railroad investors building a line from Laramie to Denver want to lay track over the top of Peace Treaty Peak. If that's not enough to set the county on fire, Taylor's trigger-happy past comes calling. The revenge-seeking Harris boys are hot on his trail. With the marshal down, Peaceful Valley is ripe for the taking -- and blasting Taylor to kingdom come is part of the deal. If keeping the peace means breaking Taylor's vow, so be it. He's looking forward to strapping on his Colt .45 again. That's the gospel truth.....

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A month of doomsdays

Johnstone, William W., author.

Something fishy is going on with the beef at Circle P. After a quick-and-dirty shootout with a small band of rustlers, Ty Brannigan and his son Matt do another count of their cattle -- and find they have fifty heads more than before. Seems the rustlers were hiding stolen cows from other ranches among the Brannigan herd. And that's just the tip of the cowpie. In jail, the rustlers rat out their partners to the local marshal. They're not just stealing cattle. They're plotting the biggest bank robbery in the county's bullet-riddled history. And this time, they're going to make a real killing ... Months in the planning -- and just days away -- the countdown to doomsday has begun. Ty, Matt, and the town marshall must race against time to track down the robbers before they strike -- or innocent people will die. But the Brannigans aren't afraid of danger. When the clock runs out -- and the shooting starts -- every man's days are numbered.......

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The killing of Sheriff Paddon : the murder

Fisher, Dave P., author.

Clement Paddon, sheriff of Keith County, Nebraska, was narrowing down his investigation into a local stock theft ring. His probing made someone nervous enough to assassinate him along a lonely stretch of track between Ogallala and Alkali. The only witness was Long Rider, an Absaroke warrior, Army Scout and horse thief who had ridden away from the Little Big Horn disgusted with the Army's inability to defeat the Sioux. Jack Seaver, Paddon's deputy, who had left his own stormy history behind in Arkansas, was determined to hunt down his friend's killer. Whoever it was, had no qualms about killing one lawman and would have no problem with killing another, and it could be anyone around him. His own investigation leads him to Long Rider and his knowledge of Paddon's death. Overcoming their distrust of each other, the two form a partnership, each lending his skills to the hunt.....

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The madstone : a novel

Crook, Elizabeth, 1959- author.

Texas hill country, 1868. As nineteen-year-old Benjamin Shreve tends to business in his workshop, he witnesses a stagecoach strand a passenger. When the man, a treasure hunter, persuades Benjamin to help track down the vanished coach--and a mysterious fortune left aboard--Benjamin is drawn into a drama whose scope he could never have imagined, for they discover on reaching the coach that its passengers include Nell, a pregnant young woman, and her four-year-old son, Tot, who are fleeing Nell's brutal husband and his murderous brothers. Having told the Freedmen's Bureau the whereabouts of her husband's gang--a sadistic group wanted for countless acts of harassment and violence against Black citizens--Nell is in grave danger. If her husband catches her, he will kill her and take their son. Learning of their plight, Benjamin offers to deliver Nell and Tot to a distant port on the Gulf of Mexico, where they can board a ship to safety. He is joined in this chivalrous act by two other companions: the treasure hunter whose stranding began this endeavor and a restless Black Seminole who is a veteran of wars on both sides of the Rio Grande and who has an escape plan of his own.​ Fraught with jeopardy from the outset, the trek across Texas becomes still more dangerous as buried secrets, including a cursed necklace, emerge. And even as Benjamin falls in love with Nell and imagines a life as Tot's father, vengeful pursuers are never far behind. With its vivid characters and expansive canvas, The Madstone calls to mind Lonesome Dove, yet Elizabeth Crook's new novel is a singular achievement. Told in Benjamin's resolute and unforgettable voice, it is full of eccentric action, unrelenting peril, and droll humor--a thrilling and beautifully rendered story of three people sharing a hazardous and defining journey that will forever bind them together.....

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The Jensens of Colorado

Johnstone, William W., author

THE JENSEN BRAND Smoke is injured swapping bullets with cow thieves on the Sugarloaf Ranch and Sally puts out a call for help to the rest of the Jensen clan. Just back from studying in Europe, Denise Jensen can ride like a man, shoot like her daddy, and face down the deadliest outlaws like nobody's business.....

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A short rope for a tall man

Morgan, Nate, 1969- author.

The most wanted man in the West, Big Bob McGraw has earned his reputation as a thief and killer. With a gang of trigger-happy desperadoes willing to do his bidding, McGraw has robbed banks, stagecoaches, and railroads, raised hell ravaging towns, and left bodies littering the streets in his wake. Carson Stone rode with McGraw’s gang exactly once, minding their horses during a bank robbery, before quitting. But with the marshal of El Paso, Texas, gunned down in cold blood as the bandits escaped, he’s been judged guilty by association. To clear his name, Carson teams up with bounty hunter Colby Tate to track down the outlaws—now scattered across the frontier—and bring them to justice. And Carson must convince his partner to bring McGraw in alive or he’ll never escape the shadow of the hangman’s noose . . .....

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