Five Star Western S.
18 total works
Even a legend has to start somewhere -- and this is the story of the first adventure of James Geraldi, legendary outlaw of the old, wild, West. Geraldi was never known to prey upon the unwitting and defenseless. He was that most extraordinary kind of thief who stole only from other thieves. As a matter of fact, he was running away from one whose pocket he had picked when he first encountered Louise Asprey, and became involved in a search for her missing father that led to intrigue, betrayal, and a cold-blooded killer ....
James Geraldi only steals from other thieves. Having squared himself with the law, Geraldi is about to marry when his old friend Larry Burns rides in with a posse in pursuit. Geraldi takes Burns' place and leads the posse astray. But in that one rash move he has made himself a wanted man again, and sent his distraught bride into hiding.
Riley "Doc" Oliver, a fugitive, has been trapping and surviving on Candy Creek in Alaska for nine years. His only friend is Bob Melville, another fugitive who has been working a gold claim for five years now. Their solitude is disrupted when an injured man seeks refuge at Doc's cabin and turns out to be the man who framed Melville five years ago. So begins an exciting pursuit which eventually involves Melville's daughter, a notorious outlaw, a U. S. Marshal, and Masterman, Doc's fabulous Wolf Husky.
This trio of short novels takes its title from another of the continuing adventures of Reata, one of Max Brand's most popular characters, who is still on the run from arch criminal Pop Dickerman. Lawman Babe Rourke is known far and wide for his skill with fists and firearms, and Angus Cairn has called him out to challenge that reputation. They meet in "The Cabin in the Pines". In "Joe White's Brand", White and his gang have robbed a bank and are pursued by a solitary mysterious rider. One by one, each member of the gang meets his end ... until only Joe White remains.
The Last Irving is a man named Archibald, a wastrel with no apparent courage or cunning, who designs a scheme to regain the lost family fortune. The title story is about Texas Ranger, John Tipton, a fifth generation lawman who goes in pursuit of the notorious outlaw, Hubert Dunleven.
A collection of three western stories includes "The Law Dodger of Windy Creek," in which Sam Leader escapes from prison and sets off to get revenge on Bill Orping, who allowed him to arrested on a false charge of murder.
Three of Brand's stories, restored from the author's original typescripts. Above the Law is a Western story which tells of an actress taken prisoner by the notorious bandit Black Jim. One Man Posse is one of five stories written in the ongoing saga of a character known only as Sleeper, a man with a great capacity for personal endurance.
In "Lazy Tom Hooks Up with Skinny", the short novel that opens this new trio, Skinny is a boy of perhaps thirteen who silently invades a camp of slumbering outlaws and routs all but Lazy Tom. And the Sleeper saga continues in "Sleeper Pays a Debt". Sleeper and his bright chestnut stallion Careless are rescued from a flash flood by an outlaw named Bones, who soon needs a favor in return. The title story follows the path of ne'er-do-well Snoozer Mell, who comes home to care for his ailing father but is followed by his past.
The Congregational Church of Bent Creek, Vermont, badly needed funds, so decided to send one of their boys up to the Klondike gold fields. But it was Callie Fisk who won the chance to go, and her father was against the idea.