Western Law

Here are 16 stories, where good meets bad, and everything in between, from the legendary author of the West, Elmer Kelton. Law of the Land chronicles some of his most exciting and dangerous tales of the Old West, collected together for the first time - including the exciting first publication of a never-before published Kelton story, “Biscuits for Bandit”.

Smoke Jensen sat in a cave and boiled the last of his coffee. He figured he was in Idaho — somewhere south of Montpelier — but he was certain about only two things: He was cold and he was being hunted by a small army of men. Smoke knew why he was cold — it was winter. He just didn't have a clear idea of why anyone was after him.

In "Law of the Desert", Shad Marone is on the run. He shot a man in a fair fight, but the sheriff is his bitter enemy, and Shad knows he'll never get a fair trial.

In "Desert Death Song", Nat Bodine is given a choice: to die by hanging or take his chances in the desert. But when a good woman believes in a man, he finds the will to survive.

They burned her home. They stole her brother and sister. But vengeance is following. Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old step father Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb's buried a bloody past of his own. And out in the lawless Far Country the past never stays buried.

Red Country: Booktrack Edition adds an immersive musical soundtrack to your audiobook listening experience! Shy South hoped to bury her bloody past and ride away smiling, but she'll have to sharpen up some bad old ways to get her family back, and she's not a woman to flinch from what needs doing. She sets off in pursuit with only a pair of oxen and her cowardly old stepfather Lamb for company. But it turns out Lamb's buried a bloody past of his own. And out in the lawless Far Country the past never stays buried.

Mack Garrett loves the rolling hills surrounding his Northern California dude ranch. Leading vacationers on horse trails with his two best friends is enough - romance is definitely not in the cards. When a sexy tourist shows up at Clean Slate, he's as far from Mack's type as can be. So why is the handsome city slicker so far under his skin in less than a day?

After hunting down a rogue spy as part of an elite CIA counterespionage unit, Garrett Kohl returns home to Texas in hopes of settling down and carving out a normal life. While learning the ropes of fatherhood, falling deeper in love with his high school crush, and rebuilding his wildfire ravaged cattle ranch, he is approached in secret by an engineer working at a nearby nuclear weapons plant, who is in desperate need of his help.

Bullets rip the air, snapping past Clay Barlow’s head as, riding Blue, he charges a band of robbers surrounding the Austin stagecoach. Clay lets loose with a load of buckshot from his 12-gauge Roper Repeating Shotgun. With his third blast, the robbers turn tail and race off into the Texas hill country, leaving one of their own dying in the hot Texas dust. At 18, Clay has been invited to join the Texas Rangers. Now, he rides to Austin to either put on the Rangers’ badge or fight for the law in Texas courts, fulfilling his parents' wish that he become an attorney.

If widowed town seamstress Nell Armstrong has to make one more pair of boring chaps for the cowboys in her tiny Wyoming town, she might lose her mind. So meeting Brand Nolte, a widower father struggling to raise three girls, seems like her dream come true. Brand has no idea how to dress the girls, and Nell finally has a chance to both create beautiful dresses and teach the girls to sew. But Nell is much more than a seamstress.

No one tells tales of the frontier better than Louis L'Amour, who portrays the human side of westward expansion - the good and the bad - before the days of law and order. Collected here are seven stories penned by America's favorite Western author.

Smoke Jensen sat in a cave and boiled the last of his coffee. He figured he was in Idaho - somewhere south of Montpelier - but he was certain about only two things: He was cold and he was being hunted by a small army of men. Smoke knew why he was cold - it was winter. He just didn't have a clear idea of why anyone was after him.

In a saloon north of El Paso, the legendary Doc Holliday is forced to kill a rancher's son in self defense. His father, Colonel Robert McHenry, is desperate for revenge. And now Doc is a hunted man on the run. Heading west, he turns to Jacob O'Brien, hoping to find refuge at the family ranch. Jacob knows it's a lose-lose situation — one that's bound to end in violence and blood. Colonel McHenry is the famous "Lion of Lynchburg," whose relentless courage in the Civil War earned the respect of fighting men everywhere.

Newly appointed police chief Cash Grier makes it his personal mission to keep law and order in the streets of Jacobsville. As a true renegade, Cash has learned never to take anything at face value—especially not his gorgeous sworn enemy, "Georgia Firefly" Tippy Moore. But Tippy is no longer a spoiled Hollywood starlet, just an unassuming beauty. The hard-edged Texan finds himself powerless to resist their explosive chemistry. Just as Cash is about to believe that Tippy might be the one for him, an unforgivable betrayal leads to despair, deceit—and unexpected danger.

Florence "Florida" Baum is not the hapless innocent she claims to be when she arrives at the Arizona women's prison—or so her ex-cellmate, Diosmary Sandoval, keeps insinuating. Dios knows the truth about Florida's crimes, understands the truth that Florence hides even from herself: that she wasn't a victim of circumstance, an unlucky bystander misled by a bad man. Dios knows that darkness lives in women too, despite the world's refusal to see it. And she is determined to open Florida's eyes and unleash her true self.

These stories represent Louis L'Amour at his best - stirring adventure tales of the ageless Old West, as tough and gritty as the men who tames it. Each story is personally selected, with an introduction and special historical notes, by the author. Meet men like Shad Marone, the gunfighter who killed in self-defense, but who is forced to run because he killed the wrong man - the sheriff's brother; Matt Sabre, as tough as the Texas trail he rides, on a mission of mercy to the wife of the man he gunned down; and Kim Sartain, a reckless young drifter who refuses to back down from a showdown with a vicious outlaw killer

For Amelia Rose Grayson, there was only ever one love: Cal Hollister. When Cal, a police captain, is wounded, she’s there for him and helps nurse him back to health. After he shrugs off their undeniable chemistry, Amelia knows she needs to cut all her old ties. She escapes her small-town life and forges a new path, trying to leave Cal behind. But Amelia can't break free of Cal’s orbit. Emotion—and an unrelenting passion—takes over when they reconnect, sending them both into dangerous territory.

San Antonio detective Rick Marquez never met a case he couldn’t solve or a woman he couldn’t charm. That is, until Gwen Cassaway joins his squad. Sparks fly as the two law enforcement agents butt heads over every case that crosses their desks. Before long, the seemingly innocent Gwen has lassoed the smooth-talking sergeant’s heart—but will deep-rooted secrets ruin a blossoming romance?

Phil Sundeen thinks Deputy Sheriff Kirby Frye is just a green local kid with a tin badge. And when the wealthy cattle baron's men drag two prisoners from Frye's jail and hang them from a high tree, there's nothing the young lawman can do about it. But Kirby's got more grit than Sundeen and his hired muscle bargained for. They can beat the boy and humiliate him, but they can't make him forget the oath he has sworn to uphold.

It started with a slaughter and ended with a massacre, and by the finish of it, Sam Judge and Matt Dury had seen enough bloodshed to last them a lifetime. But the gun-fast men from Texas had signed on to help an army officer get his little girl back from the Apache renegades who’d kidnapped her, and once they gave their word, nothing would stop them from seeing a job through.

The fascinating tale of a man and a beast who work together, solving mysteries and righting wrongs.