Ralph Compton

"If things are quiet in the little town of Sweetwater, Marshal Fred Hitch sees no reason to make waves. But when Tyree Johnson shows up, Fred's relaxed nature is put to the test. At fifteen years old, Tyree is a tough-as-nails bounty hunter with no patience for anyone calling him "boy." He's come to apprehend a killer who escaped from Cheyenne and has been hiding in plain sight in Sweetwater. To save face and his town's good name, Fred must ride with...

"Big Jake Motley had been running the Big M spread in Texas for over 30 years. In that time, he's driven thousands of head of cattle to market in Kansas. Now, while both the Nineteenth century and the era of trail drive are coming to an end, Big Jake is determined to make one last drive to Kansas. The only thing is, he doesn't have the cowhands to move that much beef. He drafts his old friend, Chance McCandles, into service, and together, the two...

"It's been ten years since the worst day of Ben Dalton's life. After four grinding years of war, the Confederate veteran returned to his hometown of Aberdeen, Texas, to find that Mandy, the girl he loved, had run off with his best friend, John Rawlings. Dalton recovered from the loss and spent the next decade settling down to life as the town's marshal. That quiet life is shattered with the arrival of one stunning telegram. Mandy begs her old friend...

"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 drovers of Circle K ranch have to drive the herd of beautiful longhorn cattle five hundred miles northeast to Missouri if they hope to make it through the next year. Toby Bishop, a jack-of-all-trades and drifter, must work with the mixed group of drovers, whether they're white, black, Hispanic, lifelong cowboys, drifters, or shamed preachers. On the trail, drovers must set aside their differences in favor of a common goal. As they go north, Bishop...

"Capturing and breaking wild horses is a tough way to make a living, but Montana ranch owner Ethan Miller's problems are just getting started. When his buyer falls through, the only other market he can find for his herd is the US Cavalry. But that means driving two hundred horses all the way from Bozeman, Montana, to Fort Davis, Texas. No sooner has he complete the dangerous trek than he's issued an ultimatum. A shipment of rifles and ammunition has...

"Andrew Buchanan has a problem. His modest ranch in Southern California is being pressured by an unscrupulous competitor and the encroaching wave of the future--orange growers. The only chance he has to sell his cattle for real money is to take them south into Mexico. The Empire Trail is five hundred miles of misery that crosses scorching deserts and clings to treacherous cliffs--and it's Andrew's job to find the best way across. But physical barriers...

"One terrible day, fourteen-year-old Leif Gunnarson returns from school to find his family home on fire, and a gruesome scene inside: his parents are tied up, on the brink of death amongst the hellish flames, and his sister is nowhere to be found. His father can barely gasp a name: Luther Simkins. And with that Leif has his life's mission: to track down Simkins, notorious outlaw and gang leader, and find his sister. Along the way, Leif finds a temporary...

The life of a cowboy suits Thalis Christie just fine. A puncher for the Crescent H in Texas, he loves what he does and is damn good at it too. He doesn't even mind being away from his family -- he's got good friends to keep him from getting too homesick. That is, until his folks write, imploring him to hunt down his brother, Myles, who's been shot while prospecting in the Black Hills. Thalis sets out to do his family duty and find his little brother...