Showing results by author "Max Brand" in All Categories

When two men riding on horseback meet on a trail in the mountains, it proves to be so narrow that neither man's horse can be turned around, or aside, or backwards. So the two now have no choice but to determine who is to be pushed off the trail to certain death.

A back-stabbing murderer meets Happy Jack, the deadliest fighter in the southwest, and tells him about a safe full of cash. It's too well guarded for gunplay, but a dangerous trick might work. Has Happy Jack got the nerve?

Jeremy Dice leaves New York City for the Far West. His career as a tailor had been anything but spectacular. But arriving on the frontier, he witnesses two notorious bank robbers kill each other over the division of their spoils. When the sheriff and a posse arrive, they hail Jeremy as a great hero, believing he killed both men. And then there is the hefty cash reward.

For years, Camden lay awake every night, torn with guilt over the crime he'd committed and waiting for the man who would come to take revenge. Now it's time - he's been found at last - but he won't go down easy.

Recently, a number of Western stories have been discovered among Max Brand’s unpublished works and the first story in this book, "The White Streak", is one of them. Its protagonist is 21-year-old Jimmy Babcock, a former football star, but now a worker at the local bank run by William Parker in the town of Dresser, which has changed from cattle country to one made up of oil and alfalfa fields. When Parker fires Jimmy, all Jimmy can think is how he will hurt Muriel Aiken, his fiancée, who wants to marry.

Young Jim Curry's father is killed unjustly by an enraged mob, and the boy barely escapes the same fate. He shoots two pursuers and assumes they are dead, and in desperation becomes a most unusual outlaw, the Red Devil. He never kills, takes only ill-gained money, secretly returns it to the rightful owners, and escapes every pursuit on his remarkable horse, Meg. Spoiled Charlie Mark has left home to seek thrills and easy money. He vows to find the Red Devil and discover why he is so merciful and so particular about his victims.

Lew Sherry and Pete Lang accept an offer they simply can't resist. Oliver Wilton is willing to pay the cowboys $1,000 a day for ten days to protect him from danger that has him living in a state of terror. A seafaring man has arrived at the inn in town and has made no secret of the fact that he's come to settle a score with Wilton.

In "Master and Man," Bobbie is a black man who can outride, outfight, and outshoot any white man in the mountain desert. His unwavering moral code serves as a model for his often cruel and dissolute white master.

In "Gunman's Bluff," Cheyenne was challenged to a shootout by Danny and Chuck Martin. He managed to kill Danny and wound Chuck, but before he could get away, Chuck got a shot off and hit Cheyenne in the shoulder. Now Doc Lindus has told him that it might be quite some time until he has use of his right hand again, so he'd better develop his left. With the Martins out for blood, how's Cheyenne to defend himself?

The innocent purchase of a cheap, gaudy knife puts Barry home in a deadly peril. Master storyteller, Texas-born and raised Barry Corbin, horseman, rancher, and star of the hit TV series Northern Exposure reads this classic Western story by Max Brand.

“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?

Terry Shawn was a kind-hearted outlaw. He took from the rich and gave to the poor and while doing so, stole the heart of a beautiful young woman. Infuriated lawmen could never catch up with him. But deep in one secluded valley lived an older man with such a haunted past, he chose the solitude of a wild mountain range to find peace for his troubled soul. From this man named Shannon, Terry came to know the real meaning of honesty and friendship.

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?

Jim Gore is dreaming of striking it rich. He is a man as lonely and forgotten as the nearby ghost town itself, San Filipo. That is, until an earthquake uncovers the abandoned town's long-guarded secret - a treasure in silver! Jim meets the mysterious Chris Estaban, a man with secrets of his own. Jim knows his only chance to get the silver is to team up with this mysterious gunman and gambler. But what he doesn't know is that his easy-going life will end forever when greed, violence and betrayal take over.

Young Chip lures his friend Joe deep into Mexico to rescue the beautiful Doloritas Ruan. Master storyteller, Texas-born and raised Barry Corbin, horseman, rancher, and star of the hit TV series Northern Exposure reads this classic Western story by Max Brand.

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?

Rusty Sabin extracts two bags of gold from the Sacred Valley, partly to spend on Maisry Lester, the girl he hopes to marry. When frontiersman Charlie Galway tries to steal the gold, Galway murders Maisry's father and blames Rusty's friend, Standing Bull.

Feared outlaw John Banner joins a hazardous quest for Yukon Gold - and discovers love. Master storyteller, Texas-born and raised Barry Corbin, horseman, rancher, and star of the hit TV series Northern Exposure reads this classic Western story by Max Brand.

Jargan is a summer gambler wintering in the western town of Big Horn when he saves the life of Don José Cordoba and unwittingly acquires a new job. Soon he finds himself on a boat to Buenos Aires, having gained passage as the horse handler of two extraordinary horses: one called El Pantera, and a killer named Asesinato. He must use his innate wisdom and survival skills to protect himself and his charge against malignant men with a brutal love of cruelty.

As he rode into Dunphyville, Dan Harrigan noted the broken windows, smashed doors, collapsing verandas. The Blacksmith's shop had been set on fire, the saloon wrecked, and the general store shot up. He nodded knowingly. There were only a dozen buildings in this small town, but they all bore the Mark of Angus "Black" MacTee. Dan Harrigan and Angus MacTee were friends and partners once; but their mutual love for pretty Kate Malone had turned them into Mortal Enemies.