Sundown Riders
3 primary works • 22 total works
Book 1
Book 2
Across rivers of blood and plains of tears, he led a wagon train toward a country fighting to be born. . .
Miners dug for fortunes. Soldiers died on open plains. And a few brave men drove the wooden freight wagons into the wild land. Now, master Western novelist Ralph Compton tells the real story of the tough-as-leather men who first blazed the way into the untamed frontier.
Texas! For the pioneers who streamed out of Missouri it was a land of dreams and freedom. Veteran wagon boss Chance McQuade, a man deadly with a pistol and Sharps, had signed on to take a hundred families there. But the man who hired McQuade was joining the wagon train, and turning it into a brawling, rolling city of sin and violence. Now, on the hard drive West, McQuade faces Kiowa, lightening storms, and killers behind his back-all to reach a promised land that's erupting into war.
Miners dug for fortunes. Soldiers died on open plains. And a few brave men drove the wooden freight wagons into the wild land. Now, master Western novelist Ralph Compton tells the real story of the tough-as-leather men who first blazed the way into the untamed frontier.
Texas! For the pioneers who streamed out of Missouri it was a land of dreams and freedom. Veteran wagon boss Chance McQuade, a man deadly with a pistol and Sharps, had signed on to take a hundred families there. But the man who hired McQuade was joining the wagon train, and turning it into a brawling, rolling city of sin and violence. Now, on the hard drive West, McQuade faces Kiowa, lightening storms, and killers behind his back-all to reach a promised land that's erupting into war.
Book 5
An ambush leaves a motley group of stagecoach riders fighting for their lives in this new Ralph Compton Western.
A quiet stagecoach run between two Texas towns turns bloody when the riders are attacked by bandits and renegade Comanche. They are forced off the main trail and take cover in an abandoned bunkhouse once used for vaqueros when the land was part of a great estate.
The stage was not only hauling a strongbox filled with Army pay, but a couple of dozen crates of new rifles for the cavalry. Unfortunately, the guns are useless as the team's ammunition is limited.
Now the besieged stage riders have to join forces to fight off the surrounding desperados.
The cast includes a veteran freight driver, an impatient disgraced Army captain looking to regain his standing, a newly promoted sergeant in his first battle, and the man riding shotgun, who has a horrible yet useful set of skills. When a vaquero riding outlier for a cattle drive rides out to investigate the siege on the old bunkhouse, he finds himself in the middle of a pitched battle for survival between the ragtag freighters and desperate outlaws.
A quiet stagecoach run between two Texas towns turns bloody when the riders are attacked by bandits and renegade Comanche. They are forced off the main trail and take cover in an abandoned bunkhouse once used for vaqueros when the land was part of a great estate.
The stage was not only hauling a strongbox filled with Army pay, but a couple of dozen crates of new rifles for the cavalry. Unfortunately, the guns are useless as the team's ammunition is limited.
Now the besieged stage riders have to join forces to fight off the surrounding desperados.
The cast includes a veteran freight driver, an impatient disgraced Army captain looking to regain his standing, a newly promoted sergeant in his first battle, and the man riding shotgun, who has a horrible yet useful set of skills. When a vaquero riding outlier for a cattle drive rides out to investigate the siege on the old bunkhouse, he finds himself in the middle of a pitched battle for survival between the ragtag freighters and desperate outlaws.
A brand new, wild and thrilling Western in Ralph Compton's Sundown Riders series!
His wife is gone to tuberculosis, his reputation was lost in the war, most of his life has already passed by, and now even his horse has been taken by colic. All Carpenter has left are the men from his Army company. During the journey to California to reunite with them, he strikes up a friendship with Rafael Silva, an educated man making for the same town to start up a rifle factory.
When they arrive, Carpenter's former brothers-in-arms actually try to run Silva out of town, despite the much needed factory. There's trouble afoot, and Carpenter has to choose between his new friend and the ones who stood with him through the war. His old comrades just aren't who they used to be but, then, neither is he.
His wife is gone to tuberculosis, his reputation was lost in the war, most of his life has already passed by, and now even his horse has been taken by colic. All Carpenter has left are the men from his Army company. During the journey to California to reunite with them, he strikes up a friendship with Rafael Silva, an educated man making for the same town to start up a rifle factory.
When they arrive, Carpenter's former brothers-in-arms actually try to run Silva out of town, despite the much needed factory. There's trouble afoot, and Carpenter has to choose between his new friend and the ones who stood with him through the war. His old comrades just aren't who they used to be but, then, neither is he.
In this brand-new, suspenseful Ralph Compton Western, a reformed gambler races to unmask a murderer.
After years as a professional gambler—and a deadly shootout on a riverboat casino—Tom Calvert and his young protégé, Asher Smith, have survived an arduous journey across the frontier to Friendly Field, Idaho. The bucolic Quaker community welcomes them with open arms, and soon Tom is courting a widow and learning, to his surprise, to enjoy the quiet life.
Then an elder of Friendly Field is found murdered, and the townsfolk start whispering about the work of the devil. Tom doesn’t believe in the devil, just the evil that men do, and he resolves to solve the gruesome crime before fear causes the people of peaceful little Friendly Field to turn against one another.
After years as a professional gambler—and a deadly shootout on a riverboat casino—Tom Calvert and his young protégé, Asher Smith, have survived an arduous journey across the frontier to Friendly Field, Idaho. The bucolic Quaker community welcomes them with open arms, and soon Tom is courting a widow and learning, to his surprise, to enjoy the quiet life.
Then an elder of Friendly Field is found murdered, and the townsfolk start whispering about the work of the devil. Tom doesn’t believe in the devil, just the evil that men do, and he resolves to solve the gruesome crime before fear causes the people of peaceful little Friendly Field to turn against one another.
In this thrilling new Ralph Compton Western, the fate of a small town rests in the hands of a gambler who’s ready to risk more than money.
The people of Meridian, Colorado, live and die by coal mining, and when the railroad bypasses them, their livelihood is in peril. However, they discover that for a hefty sum of money they can create a spur line and save the town. A hefty sum that the town does not have.
Their only hope is former gambler Asa Newcombe. The townspeople pool their money so Newcombe can enter the big poker game in Golden Junction, and as much as he wants to leave his past life behind, the whole town is counting on him. Winning the big pot will burnish his reputation, but his goal is simple: Get the money and get out alive. His opponents include wealthy ranchers, tinhorn gamblers, and men who are outright criminals—and many of them will stop at nothing to make their fortune, even if they have to cheat, drug, or kill to do so....
The people of Meridian, Colorado, live and die by coal mining, and when the railroad bypasses them, their livelihood is in peril. However, they discover that for a hefty sum of money they can create a spur line and save the town. A hefty sum that the town does not have.
Their only hope is former gambler Asa Newcombe. The townspeople pool their money so Newcombe can enter the big poker game in Golden Junction, and as much as he wants to leave his past life behind, the whole town is counting on him. Winning the big pot will burnish his reputation, but his goal is simple: Get the money and get out alive. His opponents include wealthy ranchers, tinhorn gamblers, and men who are outright criminals—and many of them will stop at nothing to make their fortune, even if they have to cheat, drug, or kill to do so....
In this roller-coaster new installment in bestselling author Ralph Compton's Sundown Riders series, a young cowhand faces a trial by fire on his way to a new home and an old love.
Fresh from a successful trail drive, cattle hand Seth Coe is feeling flush, especially after a lucky streak at the poker table. But his good fortune earns him a dangerous enemy, notorious tinhorn gambler Hannibal Fisher, who is none too happy about being cleaned out.
The innocent Coe starts the long ride back to Texas with big plans to buy his own ranch. All he needs now, he figures, is a wife. To his amazement, in tiny Prairie Fire, Kansas he meets the perfect woman, his childhood love Josette Dubois. But she is under the thumb of her brutal father, who will stop at nothing to prevent her happiness, including killing Coe—that is, if Fisher doesn’t get there first. . .
Fresh from a successful trail drive, cattle hand Seth Coe is feeling flush, especially after a lucky streak at the poker table. But his good fortune earns him a dangerous enemy, notorious tinhorn gambler Hannibal Fisher, who is none too happy about being cleaned out.
The innocent Coe starts the long ride back to Texas with big plans to buy his own ranch. All he needs now, he figures, is a wife. To his amazement, in tiny Prairie Fire, Kansas he meets the perfect woman, his childhood love Josette Dubois. But she is under the thumb of her brutal father, who will stop at nothing to prevent her happiness, including killing Coe—that is, if Fisher doesn’t get there first. . .
Two struggling miners may have just found their ticket to fortune—if they can keep it—in this riveting new Ralph Compton Western.
England Dan Rutledge and his partner John Cooley have worked their claim for a year and are barely eking out a living. When Cooley shows up with a map of the abandoned Irish Lord Mine he drunkenly bought off a shady cowboy, England Dan is sure it’s a complete fraud. After all, no one knows what happened to the most valuable gold mine in the Superstition Mountains after a banshee frightened off the last owner.
But when England Dan gets a good look at the map, details start clicking into place. Maybe they have the key to a fortune after all! But soon an infamous bank robber shows up looking for this mysterious map he claims is his. Now England Dan and his partner will have to fight off hostile Indians, miners, and a dangerous felon to find the cache of gold and strike it rich.
England Dan Rutledge and his partner John Cooley have worked their claim for a year and are barely eking out a living. When Cooley shows up with a map of the abandoned Irish Lord Mine he drunkenly bought off a shady cowboy, England Dan is sure it’s a complete fraud. After all, no one knows what happened to the most valuable gold mine in the Superstition Mountains after a banshee frightened off the last owner.
But when England Dan gets a good look at the map, details start clicking into place. Maybe they have the key to a fortune after all! But soon an infamous bank robber shows up looking for this mysterious map he claims is his. Now England Dan and his partner will have to fight off hostile Indians, miners, and a dangerous felon to find the cache of gold and strike it rich.
A man rides a path of vengeance in this all-new Ralph Compton Western in the Sundown Riders series.
Luke Hadley never imagined he would be left for dead with a chest full of bullets on the day of his wedding. All he wanted to do was tend to his farm with his new wife, Audrey, and begin their lives together.
But when the Rhodes Gang crashes his wedding party, they wreak havoc and abduct his bride, leaving the lifeless bodies of his guests. Luke has only a sparse trail of clues to follow, but with help from a phony Pinkerton badge and a mysterious woman with many skills—including breaking him out of jail—he finally rides down those who’ve wronged him....
“The greatest Western writer of them all.”—The Tombstone Epitaph
Luke Hadley never imagined he would be left for dead with a chest full of bullets on the day of his wedding. All he wanted to do was tend to his farm with his new wife, Audrey, and begin their lives together.
But when the Rhodes Gang crashes his wedding party, they wreak havoc and abduct his bride, leaving the lifeless bodies of his guests. Luke has only a sparse trail of clues to follow, but with help from a phony Pinkerton badge and a mysterious woman with many skills—including breaking him out of jail—he finally rides down those who’ve wronged him....
“The greatest Western writer of them all.”—The Tombstone Epitaph
In this brand-new Ralph Compton Western, a hard-bitten gambler and a hard-luck kid begin a treacherous journey to new lives.
In Omaha, Tom Calvert boards a riverboat to play high-stakes poker, but accusations of cheating cause some serious trouble, and a deadly gun battle ensues.
Tom is injured and knows that his enemies will be looking for him, so he reluctantly accepts a bargain from young stowaway Asher. In exchange for Calvert teaching him gunslinging skills, Asher will guide them to a possibly mythical town of peace and plenty called Friendly Field. To get there they just have to battle assassins, dangerous Shoshone, and the rough wilderness of the Oregon Trail.
In Omaha, Tom Calvert boards a riverboat to play high-stakes poker, but accusations of cheating cause some serious trouble, and a deadly gun battle ensues.
Tom is injured and knows that his enemies will be looking for him, so he reluctantly accepts a bargain from young stowaway Asher. In exchange for Calvert teaching him gunslinging skills, Asher will guide them to a possibly mythical town of peace and plenty called Friendly Field. To get there they just have to battle assassins, dangerous Shoshone, and the rough wilderness of the Oregon Trail.
A sheriff in search of forgiveness faces off with a preacher who hates the sin AND the sinner. . .
The Yates Gang, led by its charismatic leader, William Fox, operates by a code. They'll harm no women or children, they'll give half the money they steal to the poor, and they'll kill any lawman, banker, or trainman who tries to stop them.
Then a robbery gone bad sends the gang on the run. Fox knows their days are numbered, so he leads his men to a distant town called Crowsfall, Kansas, where they can reform themselves and start fresh. He'll be the town sheriff, and atone for his past by offering a second chance to those who would normally hang.
But Crowsfall has drawn the attention of another man interested in redemption. Full of righteous fury, sinister cult leader Reverend Jessup intends to purge Crowsfall of all sin—and declares war on the outlaw-turned-sheriff and the entire gang.
The Yates Gang, led by its charismatic leader, William Fox, operates by a code. They'll harm no women or children, they'll give half the money they steal to the poor, and they'll kill any lawman, banker, or trainman who tries to stop them.
Then a robbery gone bad sends the gang on the run. Fox knows their days are numbered, so he leads his men to a distant town called Crowsfall, Kansas, where they can reform themselves and start fresh. He'll be the town sheriff, and atone for his past by offering a second chance to those who would normally hang.
But Crowsfall has drawn the attention of another man interested in redemption. Full of righteous fury, sinister cult leader Reverend Jessup intends to purge Crowsfall of all sin—and declares war on the outlaw-turned-sheriff and the entire gang.
In this rousing new Ralph Compton Western, a young man must learn to lead if his companions are to face a band of outlaws—and survive.
Back home in California after a failed attempt to strike it rich in the silver mines of Colorado, the last thing Eugene Castor wants is to be recruited to join a manhunt. But Castor finds it impossible to turn down his father's old friend, Marshal Arthur Adams. Besides, the reward is sizeable. Not only did a band of outlaws rob Old Man Herbert, the richest man in town, but they kidnapped his new wife, too!
The posse is a volatile mix that includes Herbert's hot-tempered son, the family's cold-eyed hired gun, a crack shot rancher with no time for a loser like Castor, and Geneva Harriot, the town's controversial lady doctor. Out on the trail of the fugitives, the group encounters a traveling medicine show, a band of rowdy prospectors, and a whole passel of bloody trouble.
As they race to catch up to the outlaws, Castor starts to realize things may not be what they seem. After his previous failures, will he be able to trust himself enough to get to the bottom of what really happened?
Back home in California after a failed attempt to strike it rich in the silver mines of Colorado, the last thing Eugene Castor wants is to be recruited to join a manhunt. But Castor finds it impossible to turn down his father's old friend, Marshal Arthur Adams. Besides, the reward is sizeable. Not only did a band of outlaws rob Old Man Herbert, the richest man in town, but they kidnapped his new wife, too!
The posse is a volatile mix that includes Herbert's hot-tempered son, the family's cold-eyed hired gun, a crack shot rancher with no time for a loser like Castor, and Geneva Harriot, the town's controversial lady doctor. Out on the trail of the fugitives, the group encounters a traveling medicine show, a band of rowdy prospectors, and a whole passel of bloody trouble.
As they race to catch up to the outlaws, Castor starts to realize things may not be what they seem. After his previous failures, will he be able to trust himself enough to get to the bottom of what really happened?
In this compelling new installment of bestselling author Ralph Compton's Sundown Riders series, a man seeks revenge for the death of his wife and sons while caring for his traumatized daughter.
Carl Novak returned to the Texas hill country after fighting in the Civil War, but unlike most of his neighbors, Carl didn't fight for the Confederacy. He was a Union soldier.
Carl tries to resume his life as a farmer with his wife and three children. One day, when returning from an overnight trip to buy a calf, he finds his home burned to the ground and, even worse, his wife and sons murdered. His young daughter escaped the slaughter by hiding in the fields. She is so traumatized that she refuses to speak.
Carl has one clue: a group of strangers has just left town. One man had a tattoo of a scorpion on his hand and one man was missing two fingers. Carl is determined to track them and exact his revenge.
Carl Novak returned to the Texas hill country after fighting in the Civil War, but unlike most of his neighbors, Carl didn't fight for the Confederacy. He was a Union soldier.
Carl tries to resume his life as a farmer with his wife and three children. One day, when returning from an overnight trip to buy a calf, he finds his home burned to the ground and, even worse, his wife and sons murdered. His young daughter escaped the slaughter by hiding in the fields. She is so traumatized that she refuses to speak.
Carl has one clue: a group of strangers has just left town. One man had a tattoo of a scorpion on his hand and one man was missing two fingers. Carl is determined to track them and exact his revenge.