Five Star First Edition Western
13 total works
"Max Brand is the Shakespeare of the Western range." Kirkus Reviews
In "When Iron Turns to Gold," the sequel to Brand's novel Iron Dust, a pardon exonerates Andrew Lanning of any crime he may have committed during his time as an outlaw. Marshal Hal Dozier, instrumental in obtaining that pardon, has urged Andy to return to Martindale and his former life there as a blacksmith. However, the residents of Martindale will not accept Andy back, fearing that he'll break the law again. To make things worse, Larry la Roche and the members of the Allister gang are prepared to commit a bold robbery in Martindale and frame Andy for the crime if he refuses to rejoin them.
Jimmy Bristol is the titular character in "The Two-Handed Man," with a reputation of being able to fire a six-gun accurately using either hand. Bristol is on the dodge when he stops briefly at the Graney Ranch to rest his horse. There, he meets Joe Graney and his daughter, Margaret, who tell Bristol about the thefts they have suffered at the hands of Dirk van Wey and his gang. Despite being pursued by the law himself, Bristol decides he will take a hand against van Wey.
On a stormy night in "The Black Muldoon," a notorious outlaw shows up at the home of the storekeeper, Jefferson Peters. The Black Muldoon has a strange cargo, an infant boy whom he wants to leave with Peters so that he can be raised by Peters and his wife as their son. As young Jerry Peters grows up, he turns out to be exceptional at everything he tries, and as an adult manhunter, it is Jerry who takes to the trail to capture the Black Muldoon.
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.
Joe Palmer in "White-Water Sam" had been a deck hand on the Thomas Drayton before the railroad came. Now the fine river boat is permanently moored in Lake Bennett, useless to her owner, because the only chance for a future is to get her downstream through the impossible rapids of Miles Canyon. Sam Bridgeman once tried to shoot those rapids with a river boat, the Denver Belle. He knew that the only way to do it was to ride the very center of the rapids, but the Denver Belle turned sideways and smashed against the rocks. The experience affected Sam's mind. Now Larry Decatur arrives with enough money to buy the Thomas Drayton, but he knows nothing about river boats and certainly cannot hope to run the rapids in Miles Canyon by himself.
In "Black Thunder," Dan Harrigan and Angus MacTee are partners in a mining claim. What divides them in Kate Malone. They both love her, but she loves only one of them, and has gone into hiding. MacTee learns her whereabouts, and heads out, with Dan Harrigan in pursuit.
But Alias is impressed with Eagan, especially when the marshal sides with Alias in a gunfight with two assassins from the Bones faction. Alias’s escape from the trap makes the Bones faction more determined than ever to do him in and the Eagans—who turn out to be just as crooked and bloodthirsty as the Bones faction—more anxious than ever to have him join them.
Deep in the hills, safely beyond pursuit but exhausted and near death, Glanvil finds a cave in which to seek sanctuary. Unfortunately the cave is not empty—it is the den of a she-wolf and her young cub. Now Glanvil has another fight to win. Yet over the winter months while recovering his health, Glanvil manages to bond with the wolves. When he sets out in the spring to revenge himself on Rutledge’s gang—only to learn that Rutledge is very much alive and engaged to Louise Carney—he is not alone.
In "Paradise Al," Brand tells the first of two stories about Paradise Al, a drifter and rambler who has been riding the rails when he jumps off a passenger train just outside of town. He's caught and thrown in jail, but his resemblance to the Pendletons, a local family, gets him out. Suddenly Al is caught in the middle of the Pendletons' long-standing feud with the Draytons, another local clan that has a wild, untamed stallion and has boasted it will give the horse to anyone who can ride him. Paradise Al, clearly a novice when it comes to horses, takes up the challenge, with two conditions: he gets to keep the horse on the Pendleton Ranch for a week and he gets to marry young Molly Drayton.
"Paradise Al's Confession" is another chapter in the saga of Paradise Al, masquerading as Al Pendleton. He's now planning on marrying Molly Drayton and is busy at work starting up a ranch when an unexpected visitor arrives and threatens to pull the rug out from under Al and his entire charade.
In "The Quest," Barney Dwyer is a social outcast with more brawn than brains who has yet to find his place in the world. Dwyer works on Daniel Peary's ranch, and when he unintentionally breaks one of Peary's tools, he's fired. But Peary decides to give Dwyer an opportunity to get his job back he tells Dwyer to track down Peary's estranged son Len and bring him home. Dwyer accepts, but has no idea what an impossible task he is about to embark on.
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.