Showing results by author "Max Brand" in All Categories

Recklessly, joyously, Black Jack had ridden into town to see his infant son. Then a shotgun fired from a window had blasted him from his horse and flung him to his death in the street.

James Geraldi is one of the most legendary thieves in the West. But he is not an ordinary thief, preying on the unwitting and defenseless. James Geraldi is a very exclusive thief, stealing only from other thieves. From the largest towns to the loneliest outposts of the desert his name is known, but few could identify him, although many an honest rancher or townsman has become a loyal friend when Geraldi rescued their savings, and many a bandit has been conned or bested by him.

His name is Dan Barry, and they call him "the Manslayer." His best friend is a savage wolf dog no other man can touch. They say his gun is faster than summer lightning and has never missed its mark. They say no bullet yet cast can kill him. His lifeblood is danger, and it flows with the cool recklessness of a surging mountain stream.

Joseph Larrimee finally makes the gold strike that would prove his worth to everyone, but is he willing to give it up to save a mysterious woman from a gang of hard-bitten desperadoes?

In the dreary kitchen of a rough hotel in a lonely one-horse town a tough-talking young woman toils amid endless abuse from crude and cruel cowboys. The wildness starts after a stranger spots the beauty behind the grease. A sagebrush cinderella story

This is a tale of a gentle gunfighter “Slope" Dugan, his pal the roughneck Blondy, and the fugitive boy Red. Slope had walked halfway across the country to sell what he thought was worthless mining stock back to Bonanza Chris, but when Bonanza offered to pay $1,500, they smelled a rat. They concocted a plan to explore the Christabel mine for themselves. If the rumors were true, they would end up millionaires. But they might also wind up dead!

City boy Frank Quigley was secretly sent west to try to break up the impending marriage of his wealthy boss’ daughter, Cecelia, to her ranch foreman. When he arrived, Cecelia’s prize bull, Red Thunder, escaped into the woods, sending the ranch into chaos. All hands were called in to try to capture the escaped wild and angry bull. How would they be able to capture Red Thunder, and who will tame this raging menace?

When Dick Rutherford, known as The Colonel, loses all his money in a horse race heads into the Far West to seek his fortune. His companion in this is Christy Deever, whose inventiveness and quick thinking prove valuable assets on the frontier. After a series of exciting adventures, they find themselves adopted members of the Mandan Indians.

A nasty little cardsharp shoots a New York detective and bolts for the Wild West. Through dumb luck be becomes a heroic gunfighter - then he cleans out the town that admires him. He's going too far, getting too cocky. He'll pay the price.

"The whip had cut him like a knife in a dozen places...." But the friar still won't talk about church gold. Is there any chance of mercy from the horrifying leader of the tomb robbers?

When a mysterious man on a white horse robs a series of stagecoaches on their way from the little town of Appleton to the Concord railroad station, everyone in town suspects a young and enigmatic man named Slim Malone. The newly elected mayor decides to bring in outside help, a deadly gunfighter named Lefty Cornwall.

Lew Carney, a loner who traverses the deserts between the Sierras and the Rockies, and makes his living sharking cards, is not superstitious. But when a wagon, pulled by eight silent men, appears out of the darkness near his campfire, then disappears into thin air by dawn, Carney fears he may be in the grip of the supernatural.

Red Harrigan and Black MacTee have a friendship that is legendary throughout the West - that is until they both fall in love with the same woman.

King of Rats features Max Brand’s unforgettable Reata, a virtuoso of the lariat, who must steal a horse to flush out the desperado, Pop Dickerman, who wants to kill him. With some luckless partners and a gypsy girl he loves, will Reata finally deliver Pop Dickerman to justice?

“Pump 'em full of lead!” he said through his teeth. A cruel New York sneak thief breaks out of prison with an honest cowboy. Together they'll learn about robbing payrolls, mountain women, and a fast-shooting sheriff. But will they survive?

Jimmy's an ace with a gun in either hand - but he's got to wake up now or he's dead. There's one killer in his room, another in the hall and an axe-wielding lunatic is hiding downstairs. Will he live long enough to fight the giant who leads the gang?

There is no thought of danger in young Larry Traynor's mind as his stagecoach rolls over the last few miles of the road to Little Snake. Suddenly, a piercing scream breaks into the quiet serenity of the landscape and Larry realizes with horror that the stagecoach is under attack. As he witnesses the vicious shooting of his guard and old friend Sam Whitney, the young man vows to avenge his death. But will Larry's tireless pursuit only lead him to an early grave?

As an intern in the accident room of the local hospital, Jimmy Kildare cannot accept any money for his work. Circumstances force him to perform emergency operations while he is in town on and for local toughs. They try to pay him, but he always refuses. Then he learns that his mentor, Dr. Fearson, is being threatened for not paying his gambling debts. Kildare is called to perform another secret and dangerous operation. Will he finally accept payment and save his mentor?

Eighteen-year-old Bill Turner lands a summer job as a roustabout on a hay-press crew, and is soon exposed to the harsh realities of hard physical labor. Exhausted by the work and ridiculed for his slowness, he silently swears revenge against his chief tormentor, Jumbo. Enter Big George, whose job Bill has taken, and the young student learns a lesson in friendship and what it means to be a man of the West.

James Gerald Melrose, better known as Bad-Eye, was a big-headed, bad-drunk transplanted Easterner who was accidentally killed in a barroom fight in Masters’ bar and hotel. One day, Jane Melrose arrives in search of him. She is one very determined woman, and Masters does everything he can to keep her from learning the truth. The task comes with a price, a high one, that Masters realizes that he will pay, but only when it is too late!