A compilation of short western stories by Elmore Leonard. 


Compiled by:
Beatriz G.
Blood at Sundown

Peter Brandvold
Brandvo
Series: Lou Prophet westerns

Bounty hunter Lou Prophet and Louisa, the dangerous woman he loves, pursue the Griff Hatchley Gang across the Dakota Territory and catch up with them as a blizzard hits, forcing them to split up in order to pursue their prey.


Dark Territory

Terrence McCauley
Mccaule
Series: Sheriff Aaron Mackey Westerns

A rash of deadly train robberies has the chief investor of Dover Station feeling itchier than a quick draw without a target. And he wants Sheriff Aaron Mackey to scratch that itch with every bullet his battered badge authorizes him to shoot. When Mackey and his backup gun down four kill-crazy bandits, they uncover a plot cooked up by respected citizens of Dover Station.


Flight of the Hawk: The River

W. Michael Gear
Gear
Series: America West Novels

In the vein of his best-selling Coyote Summer, Gear now takes us to the 1812 Missouri Fur Trade. An intimate of the Burr conspiracy, the condemned and hounded John Tylor signs on as boatman with Manuel Lisa's expedition. But the river is now contested as the British, Spanish, and other fur companies prepare to break Lisa's hold. As the expedition battles its way up the violent river, Fenway McKeever lurks in Tylor's shadow. Not only is the half-mad McKeever paid to kill Tylor, but he's convinced himself that by destroying Lisa's expedition, he can sell his services to the highest bidder.


Knight’s Odyssey: The Return of Henry Fountain

W. Michael Farmer
Farmer
Series: Legends of the Dessert

Pancho Villa befriends Henry Fountain, a bandit betrays him, Apache Kid challenges him, and Apache Elias try to kill him. A riveting historical fiction that reveals the hidden world of the Sierra Madre Apaches. Knight's Odyssey is a revenant story of survival, courage, love, and debts paid and forgiven.


Mr. Pettigrew

L. J. Martin
LP Martin
Series: Nemesis

Nearly starved and missing half a leg, Beau Boone stumbles out of a cattle car into the hell on wheels Transcontinental Railroad town of Nemesis. Finding himself in the middle of gunsmoke and battle to rival of the war he's just escaped, Mr. Pettigrew and Miss Alice befriend him. But, soon he finds that he's sitting shotgun in the middle of a smaller, but equally deadly, conflict; a war that no one can win.


New Mexico Showdown

Preston Lewis
LP Lewis
Series: Wheeler Publishing Large Print Western

The Bastrop gang murders and plunders its way across New Mexico territory, pursued by renegade Apache Sulky, who has vowed revenge. The law compels Marshal Bill Whitman to chase the outlaws as well. Friends long ago, Sulky had led death to Whitman's door and the wounds from that encounter are still tender. Now they must put aside their differences: to fight a greater evil, both Whitman and Sulky must come to terms with their past. In the end only one will survive this New Mexico showdown.


The Peaceful Valley Crime Wave

Bill Pronzini
MYS Pronzin

Nothing much happens in Peaceful Valley, Montana. And that's just how Sheriff Lucas Monk likes it. Aside from the occasional drunken brawl or minor disturbance out on the reservation, he hasn't had to resort to his fists or sidearm in years. That is, until mid-October, 1914, when the theft of a wooden cigar store Indian sets off a crime wave like nothing Lucas has ever seen. Teenager Charity Axthelm goes missing, Reba Purvis's housekeeper is poisoned with cyanide (which Reba is certain was meant for her), and Lucas's gut tells him that this is only the beginning. It's not long before the first corpse shows up, bringing the peace in the valley to a thundering end.


Rawhide Robinson Rides a Dromedary: The True Tale of a Wild West Camel Caballero

Rod Miller
Miller

Rawhide Robinson sails across the sea to help the Army acquire camels for military service in the desert Southwest. In America, the ungainly camels cause nothing but upheaval and a desert challenge is mounted.


Sharpshooter

Dusty Richards
Richard
Series: Byrnes Family Ranch Westerns

In the brutal, unforgiving wastes of the Arizona desert, Chet Byrnes built a cattle ranching empire with his bare hands, steel will, and a fast draw. As the U.S. marshal, he risks his life to bring law to a lawless land. When a new railroad route is planned to pass through Navajo territory, Chet fights to get the Native Americans a contract to supply the locomotives with coal. But the corrupt politicians in Tucson and D.C. have other ideas. The coal contract means millions, and the ruthless Tucson Ring will do anything to get it—even if it means killing a U.S. marshal. Battling bandits, the railroad, and a corrupt gang of millionaires, Chet won't back down until the desert is painted red with blood.


Shot to Hell

William W. Johnstone, J.A. Johnstone
Johnsto
Series: Perley Gates westerns

They say that home is where the heart is. And no one knows that better than Perley Gates. After helping the lovely Miss Emma Slocum reunite with her sister's family in Bison Gap, Perley can't wait to rejoin his own kin at the Triple-G Ranch. No sooner does Perley settle in when he receives an alarming telegram from Bison Gap. Emma's brother-in-law has been murdered. Her sister wants justice. And Perley is their only hope to get it . . . Perley can't refuse a family in need. So he saddles up with his salty cowhand Possum Smith and heads to Bison Gap. He notices that the town's new sheriff is acting suspicious -- and likely in cahoots with the local gang of deadly outlaws. In no time at all there's a target on Perley's back -- and the vicious gang leader is calling all the shots. Justice may be hard to find in a town this wicked. But vengeance is swift--straight out of the Gates.


Texas Ranger

James Patterson, Andrew Bourelle
Patters

Across the ranch lands and cities of his home state, Rory Yates's discipline and law-enforcement skills have carried him far--from local highway patrolman to the honorable rank of Texas Ranger. A tough case in Waco has jeopardized Yates's chances at promotion, and he decides to take time off to recharge with his family in their small-town hometown, Redbud. He arrives and finds a horrifying crime scene--and a scathing accusation: he is named a suspect in the murder of his ex-wife, Anne, a devoted teacher whose only controversial act ever was deciding to end her marriage to a Ranger. In search of the killer, Yates follows the Ranger creed--never to surrender--into the inferno of the most twisted and violent minds he's ever encountered. That code just might bring him out alive.


War Valley

Lancaster Hill
Hill
Series: Hank Gannon westerns

In this powerful new series, a Confederate veteran heads west to start a new life and gets caught in the middle of a new kind of war—war valley. Hank Gannon grew up on a Florida plantation. He fought alongside his brothers-in-arms in the Civil War. Then he joined the Texas Special Police to help build a more peaceful union—and a future for his beloved Constance. That was the plan. But when a prisoner dies in his custody, Gannon is forced to leave Austin and head into Comanche territory. Alone but undaunted, he meets up with Roving Wolf—who has just slain a former soldier from his unit. Gannon can't let the killing go unpunished. Even here, in this Godforsaken valley, the law must be upheld. On the one side is a bloodthirsty war party of Native Americans, heading for the White man's capital. On the other side is a makeshift army of Texas Special Police and the Texas State Guard, ready to meet the threat head-on. In the middle are Hank Gannon and Roving Wolf, waging their own blood feud. Two men trapped in a war. Fighting to survive their mutual hate, killing to get out alive.


Wolves of Eden

Kevin McCarthy
Mccarth

Irish immigrant brothers Michael and Thomas O'Driscoll have returned from the brutal front lines of the Civil War. Unable to adapt to life as farm laborers, they reenlist in the army and are thrown into ferocious combat with Red Cloud's coalition of Native American people in the heart of Montana's Powder River Valley. Thomas finds love amidst the daily carnage—which leads to a moment of violence that will change the brothers' lives forever. Meanwhile, following a double murder in an illicit brothel, Lieutenant Martin Molloy sets off to track down the killers. As he journeys to a remote outpost, he meets Irish nationalist rebels and anti-immigrant nativists who prove to be violently opposed to his investigations. Wolves of Eden blends intimate historical detail and emotional acuity in a haunting narrative that explores timeless themes of morality, the resilience of the human spirit, and the injustice implicit in warfare.