When his wife and neighbor's daughter are kidnapped by outlaw Reece Van Arndt, mountain man Smoke Jensen will go to great and deadly lengths to find the women, catching Reece off guard.

"On the lawless frontiers of the American West, there is one rule every outlaw should remember: Never cross a mountain man like Matt Jensen. Not if you want to keep breathing ... No gun. No horse. No water or food. And worse yet: No idea how he ended up in the middle of a desert with a bullet in his leg and a bump on his head. That's the sorry situation Matt Jensen wakes up to--dazed and confused--until he slowly pieces together what happened. The...

"Smoke Jensen looks forward to spending a quiet holiday with the family. But an unexpected arrival from south of the border has him reaching for his guns, defending his land and risking everything he loves. Sally Jensen strikes up a friendship with a lovely Mexican woman, who turns out to be married to the mysterious stranger plotting to steal her ranch. Ace and Chance prepare to fight a gang of outlaws trying to kill the man who raised them, but...

Not many men get a second chance at life. But thanks to a chief U.S. marshal who needs their help, the bank-robbing duo of Jimmy Slash Braddock and Melvin Pecos Kid Baker are on the right side of the law. As unofficial marshals, they've agreed to pick up three prisoners from a Milestown jail and escort them to Denver. Sounds easy enough, until they learn the prisoners are an unholy trio of sadistic cutthroat killers known as Talon, Hellraisin Frank,...

In the spring of 1885, seventeen-year-old Jessilyn Harney finds herself orphaned and alone on her family's homestead. Desperate to fend off starvation and predatory neighbors, she cuts off her hair, binds her chest, saddles her beloved mare, and sets off across the mountains to find her outlaw brother Noah and bring him home. A talented sharpshooter herself, Jess's quest lands her in the employ of the territory's violent, capricious Governor, whose...

A notorious conman who makes a living impersonating people, Alonzo Pratt gets into hot water when he passes himself off as a lawman and is recruited by no-nonsense U.S. Federal Deputy Marshal Jacob Stone to hunt down the Cal Grissom gang, the most notorious outlaws in the territory.

"The three novellas collected here showcase Max Brand's outstanding ability to create living, breathing characters whose unforgettable exploits linger long after the last page is turned. In 'The Cañon Coward,' you'll meet Harry Clonnell, a tracker who refuses to carry a gun and shuns violence yet has somehow earned a reputation as one of the most notorious bandits around. Outlaw Lefty Richards is put in quite a bind when a dying deputy asks him...

"John Henry Cole had worked for years as a lawman and then as a detective for an agency out of Cheyenne, Wyoming. It was this work that he enjoyed, despite its dangers, that had inspired him to establish his own agency. He gathered ex-lawmen like himself, men he knew and trusted, most of whom he had worked with at one time or another. Cole's agency was located in just about the most dangerous place one could find -- in Red Pony, in the Cherokee Strip,...

"The title story in this Western trio is the desperate tale of Bill Rafferty. Recently released from prison, he wants to dig up the loot he served time for before his partner is freed and wants his share. But the man from whom the money was stolen is making it virtually impossible for Bill to leave the town of Jasperville. In "The Strange Ride of Perry Woodstock," Perry comes into possession of a coded message that tells the location of a buried treasure...

"Have coffin, will travel... On his latest bullion run for the Reverend's Temptation Gold Mine, Shotgun Johnny crosses paths with three desperate strangers. One is an old man. The other is his daughter, Dixie. The third is his son, Jake Teal, a bank robber who's wanted dead or alive. Thing is, Jake is already dead -- stuffed in a pine box on his family's wagon. Now every bounty hunter in the state is after his body. Bring out your dead... Johnny feels...