The Full List of Ralph Compton Books - Western Writing
Ralph Compton Books
Western Books
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The Full List of Ralph Compton Books

Here is the complete list of books published by Ralph Compton, an American writer whose works and words made him one of the best-selling American writers of Western fiction. 

Compton has sold thousands and thousands of his books, many of which became best-sellers, successfully depicting real-life issues and giving life lessons based on his own experiences.

Who Is Ralph Compton?

Born on April 11, 1934, in Odenville, a city in St. Clair County, Alabama, United States, Ralph Compton was one of the well-renowned American writers of western fiction. Before venturing into the industry as a full-fledged writer, Compton worked as a musician, songwriter, radio announcer, newspaper columnist, and many other similar jobs.

Western Author Ralph Compton

A native of St. Clair County, Alabama, Compton spent his early years on Hannah Mountain near Lynch Lake, graduating from St. Clair County High School in Odenville. Born during the Depression, his family started poor, so he would take odd jobs to get through high school and have his necessities fulfilled. He first found his fondness for writing during his high school years, his high school principal encouraging him to read literature and history.

He soon headed to Nashville in 1978, hoping to become a songwriter. Aside from songwriting, he also tried publishing and record producing, eventually starting his writing career.

Compton released his first novel, “The Goodnight Trail,” in 1989, a notable work chosen as a finalist for the Western Writers of America “Medicine Pipe Bearer Award” for “Best Debut Novel.” The novel offered a detailed account of a subject he knew very well—growing during the Great Depression and earning a living the hard way—selling a million copies upon its release. He authored ten more “Trail Drive” series and plenty of western novels, including the “Sundown Riders” series and the Border Empire series. Among his famous works were “Six Guns and Double Eagles,” “The California Trail,” and the “Shawnee Trail,” which made it onto the USA Today bestseller list for fiction and were in the top 50 most requested western novels in 1997.

Ralph Compton died of cancer at age 64 in Nashville, Tennessee. His legacy lives on, especially in his hometown, Odenville, where he remains the most popular western author by far at the local library.

Ralph Compton Booklist and Summary

Here is Ralph Compton’s list of books along with a short summary:

Ralph Compton Books # 1) The Goodnight Trail (Trail Drive, No.1)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Goodnight Trail (Trail Drive, No.1)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: Former Texas Rangers Benton McCaleb, Will Elliot, and Brazos Gifford ride with Charles Goodnight as he rounds up thousands of ornery, unbranded cattle for the long drive to Colorado. From the Trinity River brakes to Denver, they’ll battle endless miles of flooded rivers, parched desert, and whiskey-crazed Comanches. And come face-to-face with Judge Roy Bean and legendary gunslingers like Clay Allison. For McCaleb and his hard-riding crew, the drive is a fierce struggle against the perils of an untamed land. A fight to the finish where the brave reach glory―or die hard.

A 5-Star Review: I became interested in Charles Goodnight as he is mentioned in several songs by Ian Tyson. Then I found this book which recounts his trail days, his invention of the “chuck wagon” and reasons why he established his own trail routes to New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. The book, written in novel form, depicts the dangers along his drives (storms, stampedes, hostile Indians, unscrupulous gamblers and traders). There is an interesting autobiographical section in the “afterword” that tells about the accomplishments of Charles Goodnight which are amazing. He was considered the most famous rancher of the Old West and called “The Father of Texas Panhandle”.

A Critical Review: The last lines on pages in Chapters 11 through 13 were garbled or missing.. Reaing content was confusing, Very Good label was erroneous.

Ralph Compton Books # 2) The Western Trail (The Trail Drive, No 2)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Western Trail (The Trail Drive, No 2)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: From bestselling author Ralph Compton-an extraordinary saga of the hard-driving Texans who locked horns with a ruthless railroad baron in a bloody battle for an untamed land. In the aftermath of the Civil War, cash-starved Texans turned to the only resource they possessed in abundance: longhorn cows. Despite the hazards of trailing longhorns across some three hundred miles of Indian Territory, this was the only way to access the railroad… THE WESTERN TRAIL Benton McCaleb and his band of bold-spirited cowboys traveled long and hard to drive thousands of ornery cattle into Wyoming’s Sweetwater Valley. They’re in the midst of setting up a ranch just north of Cheyenne when a ruthless railroad baron and his hired killers try to force them off the land. Now, with the help of the Shoshoni Indian tribe and a man named Buffalo Bill Cody, McCaleb and his men must vow to stand and fight. Outgunned and outmanned, they will wage the most ferocious battle of their lives-to win the right to call the land their own. “Very seldom in literature have the legends of the Old West been so vividly painted.” -Tombstone Epitaph

A 5-Star Review: This is #2 in this series of books, I had a hard time finding it, but did & for the # of years ago it was published the supplier I ordered it from was excellent, the book came in excellent condition & great price. I recommend this series & buy from the supplier that sold this one, you won’t be disappointed. I just started on the first book & can’t wait to read all of them.

A Critical Review: It seemed like there was an excessive number of shoot-outs and the good guys escaped with hardly a scratch. Of course the Texans were the good guys.

Ralph Compton Books # 3) The Chisholm Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 3

Ralph Compton Books:  The Chisholm Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 3 (Ralph Compton Novels)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: Armed with only a Colt rifle, a Bowie knife, and courage as big as the West, Ten Chisholm—the bold, illegitimate son of frontier scout and plains ambassador Jesse Chisholm and a Cherokee woman—arrives in the heart of Comanche country with a price on his head. His only crime: loving the beautiful daughter of a powerful New Orleans gambler who has promised her to a wealthy man she hates. Now that Ten has returned to the harsh Texas brakes with a team of battle-toughened cowboys and ex-soldiers—and a vow to return to Priscilla and make her his wife—he must round up wild longhorns, ward off angry Comanches, and survive treacherous outlaw attacks as he crosses the Red River and sets off on a brazen quest to open a new trail to Kansas on the savage frontier.

A 5-Star Review: Wow! love this author. The characters are more realistic and true to the time period. It felt that I was being entertained as well as being educated about the history of the Old West

A Critical Review: I HAVE BEEN ORDERING BOOKS FOR YEARS,BUT THIS BOOK IS BY FAR THE WORST PRODUCT I HAVE EVER RECEIVED.THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE ASHAMED FOR SELLING THIS KIND OF JUNK!

Ralph Compton Books # 4) The Bandera Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 4

Ralph Compton Books:  The Bandera Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 4  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: From bestselling author Ralph Compton―the extraordinary saga of a death-defying mission across the Texas border into the blazing heart of the Mexican war…

There are a thousand ways to die on a trail drive through Mexico. But a pair of bold Texans are willing to risk their lives, even take on Santa Anna’s army, to lead a herd of wild longhorns northward―and save a convicted man’s life… Set on rescuing a friend trapped inside war-torn Mexico, Gild and Van Austin, nephews of Texas founder Stephen Austin, cross the border and soon discover half of Mexico’s army wants them dead. Taken prisoner by Santa Anna’s soldiers, the brothers make a daring escape and head into Durango county, where they stumble upon a valley full of longhorns―and a chance to build a future north of the border. All they have to do now is break their friend out of prison and drive their cattle to safety. But faced with outlaws, soldiers, and one dangerous woman, the Austins are finding out that this isn’t a trail drive, it’s a battle to reach the Bandera Range alive. And the only way to do it is the Texan way―fighting every bloody, dusty mile ahead…

A 5-Star Review: Black powder guns, muzzle loaders, no cartidges. Pistols had no cartridges. Loaded with loose powder and a ball. Each cylinder like six mini guns rotated behind shared barrel. Author forgets that at times. Colt revolver first made in late 1836 but very few until civil war, maybe thousand for Mexican War. No way they were so abundant as in story. A few , ok. Other than that great tale showing us Texans well, as tough hombres. Bandera Trail went thru my home town of Hondo. Hondo Creek dry in summer and early Fall, btw. Most Mexicans are good folks too. The bad ones were VERY bad. Some, likr Garza family fought on our side at Alamo and later.

A Critical Review: Book # 5 in the Trail Drive Series.
Kid Friendly reading material.
No sex, profanity or any grizzly-gory details on deaths.

Van and Gil Austin drive a herd of Longhorns and Horses from Texas to California during the Gold Rush era. A Meixcan girl that Gil picked up in the previous book and brought to Texas wants to go along on this trail drive but Gil sais no. She waits a week then takes off after the men, so they are far enough along that they are too far west to take her back.

Along the way they run into the usual band of indians, bushwackers and pistolero’s.

Ralph Compton Books # 5) [The California Trail (Trail Drive, No. 5)

Ralph Compton Books:  [The California Trail (Trail Drive, No. 5)] [By: Compton, Ralph] [January, 1994]  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: Gold fever had hit California, and suddenly, the land was full of hungry pioneers. For Gil and Van Austin, two Texas brothers, it meant the chance to sell well-grazed longhorns after years of hard ranching and a treacherous cattle drive up through Mexico. The only trouble was that California was on the other side of a searing desert, swollen rivers, a barrage of Indian attacks, and a whole passel of outlaw trouble. And while the Texans and their men were ready and willing to take it all on, there was one thing they weren’t prepared for: the ultimate act of treachery and deceit in a land of schemers, dreamers and gold!

A 5-Star Review: Outstanding. Favorite western writer. Hard to put down book. I first read the Oregon Trail and loved it. I then bought another trail drive book but it referenced previous books so I ordered all the trail drive books and started from the Goodnight Trail. I am now reading in order and it is the way I recommend reading the trail drive series. I have enjoyed each book thoroughly! Period information and historical notes that tie in to the trail drives are especially interesting.

A Critical Review: Compton has no knowledge about this subject of trailing to Califoirnia. The early people, the cattle gathering areas, the trails or lack-there-off, were they went. It’s implausable and stupid! The Tulary County Historical would have been a good start.

Ralph Compton Books # 6) The Shawnee Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 6

Ralph Compton Books:  The Shawnee Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 6  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: Stampedes, rustlers, and hostile Indians wouldn’t slow them down. They were bound for Kansas, and a Texas-sized fight!

The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maerick longhorns and the brains, brown and boldness to drive them north where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-blazing trail drives.

The Shawnee Trail

Long John Coons, the Cajun son of a conjuring woman, was driving 2,000 head of cattle north from Texas to the railroad in Kansas–through Indian Territory and outlaw strongholds. At his side was a beautiful woman with a sordid past, three ex-cattle rustlers, some renegate Indians, Mexican vanqueros and a straight-laced young trail boss. And while Long John tried to keep his hot headed crew from killing each other before they reached the end of the line, the biggest dangers was waiting up ahead–where an all-out war in Kansas make the Texas fight together, or die at the same time.

A 5-Star Review: This was another book in the Cattle driving series, all of the books so far have been very good, these were very hard to put down, always enjoyed getting back to them, if you like reading westerns, then this book is for you.

A Critical Review: This book dragged out to over a month before I finished reading it. Slow story. Lot of re hash of phrases throughout the book….like Stoney going on ahead seeking water..Malo Coyote and Naked Horse leading the remuda on ahead…many stampedes. No guts or gory bloody shoot out detail either.

Ralph Compton Books # 7) The Virginia City Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 7

Ralph Compton Books:  The Virginia City Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 7  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: Through a thousand miles of dust, fists, and guns, they found the courage to keep on driving.

The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives.

The Virginia City Trail

With a dream of building a ranching empire in Montana, Nelson Story sets off on one of the most extraordinary journeys in frontier history. By his side was a bunch of misfits and renegades-hard-fighting, war-bitten Texans with nothing left to lose. On his tail as the worst kind of enemy-brutal outlaws fixing to bleed his trail drive dry. Pushing his way through four harsh territories and three brutal seasons, Story would defy the Union Army, get a hold of a hundred Remingtons, and take on a thousand riled-up Sioux warriors, before he reached Virginia City-and came face-to-face with the man who wanted him dead…

A 5-Star Review: The historical accuracy combined with good characters who make the story come alive. Good adventures!

A Critical Review: this is not one of Comptons best efforts! It must have rained for 40 days and 40 nights. reminds me of the character in Lil’ Abner that had a rain cloud following him around. Not much action and too much boring details about trail herding. The main character starts out with $40,000 dollars. If you read this book, keep a running total of the amount he spends…. even in 1866 prices. the acurracy of these coyboys using new unfamielier rifles at 1000 yds is unbelievable. Sorry Compton only two stars…don’t worry I will buy other books by you. most hat I have read are very good.

Ralph Compton Books # 8) The Dodge City Trail (Trail Drive, No.8)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Dodge City Trail (Trail Drive, No.8)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: For a brave band of Texas pioneers, new enemies awaited on the thundering trail. But old enemies were the deadliest of all.

The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five millionmaverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive themnorth to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives.

The Dodge City Trail

Dodge City was a businessman’s dream. And a cattle drive north-with thousands of unbranded longhorns and a remuda of stolen Mexican horses-was a dream of Texans like Dan Ember, who’d come home from the war to find a rich man’s hired guns living on his land. Now Dan and his neighbors would risk everything on a drive across the Llano. Along the way, two bands of killers would fight over them, the gunslinger Clay Allison would join up with them, and Quanah Parker’s Comanches would try to thwart them-in a bold adventure fueled by the courage to face death, the pride to keep going, and the knowledge that now, there was no turning back.

A 5-Star Review: These are very readable books and well suited for reading aloud. They have been entertaining my husband and myself for many years. To reread them is like visiting old friends. As the reader I like not having to filter out cuss words or too much gore. (as in Johnstone’s books) Just good story lines and action and plenty of stampedes.

A Critical Review: This is pure garbage. How can any idiot give this five stars? I change my 1 star to minus 5. I will punch anyone that tries to compare Compton to Louis Lamour. I can’t come up with enough bad things to say about this ignorant book.they get a herd together in Texas and drive them a million miles to Denver and are going to wait a year until railroad gets there.All they had to do was go straight north and intersect the railroad. They should have googled directions.I can’t go. Please waste your money and by this trash.

Ralph Compton Books # 9) The Oregon Trail (Trail Drive Series)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Oregon Trail (Trail Drive Series) by Ralph Compton (2010-12-06)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: They Risked Their Lives To Bring Cattle to Missouri. Now They Faced A Journey Twics As Dangerous…

The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million
maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them
north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives.

The Oregon Trail

Lou Spencer, Dill Summer, and their fourteen Texas cowboys briught a herd up to Independence, Missouri, and sold half to a wagon train heading West. Then the Texans hired on, leading the battling greenhorn pioneers across the Missouri River, across Nebraska Territory, and into the wilds past Forts Laramie and Bridger. With winter closing in, Spencer’s men were running out of time to reach the wide-open land of Oregon. And with a fortune in gold hidden in one of the pilgrims’ wooden wagons-and outlaws circling like wolves-there were miles of shooting and dying still ahead.

A 5-Star Review: Fast moving story and lots of historical facts about the incredible journey and sacrifice the brave men and women made to reach Oregon and build a new life. Hero’s and heartbreak and the reality of the crime and dangers that faced all who followed the call of the west. Was hard to put down. A very enjoyable read.

A Critical Review: Historically inaccurate: Story took place in 1843. I should have read the back where it says “The only thing Texans had left after the Civil War …
I am appalled that some one (the editor) didn’t pick up on the dates and all-to-frequent referrals to Colts tied down on Texan’s hips. The only revolver available in 1843 was the Patterson, made by Colt in Patterson, NJ. It was popular with Texas Rangers but didn’t bear the Colt name. That happened in 1847 with the Walker, a behemoth weighing over 4 pounds loaded, which were saddle guns, not tied down on the hip for a fast draw. Wear on the hip waited until the 1851 Navy and the 1860 Army.
Did Compton write this or farm it out???

Ralph Compton Books # 10) The Santa Fe Trail (The Trail Drive Series Book 10)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Santa Fe Trail (The Trail Drive Series Book 10)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: An extraordinary saga of the trail-blazing cowboys who made their fortune driving cattle from Texas to the Great Frontier.

They left Missouri and were headed to Santa Fe. Standing in their way was a parched desert, a land of outlaws and enemies-and one man’s dangerous past.

He was a wealthy englishman with two beautiful daughters. They were five dusty texans and a gambling man. And they were all on the ride of their lives.

The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-making trail drives.

The Santa Fe Trail

Gavin McCord and his brawling cowboys came to Missouri with a problem: 3,500 longhorns and not one buyer. That’s where Gladstone Pitkin came in. A man with money and a dream of ranching in New Mexico, Pitkin bought McCord’s cattle and hired his Texans for a trail drive from Independence to Santa Fe. But with an ill-fated gambler on the drive, the courageous, hardened riders weren’t just a thousand brutal miles from Santa Fe-they were heading into a death trap.

A 5-Star Review: What an excellent series. Can feel the dirt and dust of riding drag for miles, and the intensity of a gunfight. Love it.

A Critical Review: Good read but horrible editing on kindle edition. Entire pages with zero punctuation.

Ralph Compton Books # 11) The Old Spanish Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 11

Ralph Compton Books:  The Old Spanish Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 11  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: An extraordinary saga of the trail-blazing cowboys who made their fortune driving cattle from Texas to the great frontier. Hard-riding Texans were braving mountains, desert and Indian war– for the promise of a golden land called California…

Over one million copies of Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive novels in print!

Missouri was closed to Texas cattle. Santa Fe was closed by murder. Now, they had one choice: cross desert mountains and hostile Indian land– to a place called California…

The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn, and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph, Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-blazing trail drives.

For the ranchers riding with Rand Hayes, things had gone from bad to worse. The Santa Fe man who’d contracted five thousand head of cattle was dead– murdered by renegades. Now the Texans had a herd of longhorns and only one choice: cross two mountain ranges and the Mojave Desert to the gold-fevered market at Los Angeles. A trail blazed by ancient Spaniards, this was a route that would lead through a brutal, wondrous land, where a hostile Ute nation was only one danger the cattle drive faced, and California was a shooting war away…

A 5-Star Review: What A great story. It is one that is hard to put down. Worried about the start of the Civil War and what will happen to Texas,cattle is driven to California but the trip has outlaws, Indian captives,and battles with 2 different tribes. Hard to put down.

Ralph Compton Books # 12) The Green River Trail: The Trail Drive

Ralph Compton Books:  The Green River Trail: The Trail Drive, Book 13  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: The year was 1853. For handful of cowboys turned California Gold Rushers, it was time to go home. Then Lonnie Kilgore and his fellow Texans met Western legend and former mountain man Jim Bridger, who told them of a lush range waiting to be claimed in northern Utah. Now, the Texans have purchased land on the Green river and come to San Antonio to gather up some longhorns. But with Indian trouble, law trouble, and woman trouble along for the ride, the cowboys are finding out the truth about this paradise: to live on land you bought and paid for, you have to be willing to die…

A 5-Star Review: I just reread this book after several years. I enjoyed it again because it is a very good read and I will reread more books in this series

A Critical Review: It has a very poor ending totally let down. I felt like the book was only half done. Very disappointed.

Ralph Compton Books # 13) The Trail Drive: The Deadwood Trail

Ralph Compton Books:  The Trail Drive: The Deadwood Trail  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: They had beaten the harsh odds of the frontier. But for the two powerful ranchers, the most formidable trail lay ahead. There had never been a trail drive like this before…

The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn, and boldness to drive them to market along treacherous trails. Now, Ralph Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary series based on the history-blazing trail drives.

For veteran ranchers Nelson Story of Montana, and Benton McCaleb of Wyoming, it was an opportunity a man didn’t pass up. In gold camps of the Black Hills, miners were hungry for beef, at boomtown prices. But within the two outfits were Indians, gunmen, Texans, lovesick cowboys, and high-spirited women. Worse, the drive would pass through Crow and Sioux territory, when Custer’s defeat at the Little Big Horn was just hours away. The drives were tangled by violent grudges, stampeding herds, and dangerous deception. The two brawling outfits had one thing in common: a deadly surprise awaiting them at the end of the trail…

A 5-Star Review: Another great Ralph Compton book! I wish he was still alive and writing more great Western books. A lot of his books (the Trail Series are based on actual events and characters! Great read!

A Critical Review: I’ve read most of his books, but this one I thought would be excellent…did not meet to expectations….same old daily tests..

Ralph Compton Books # 14) The Dakota Trail (Ralph Compton Novel)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Dakota Trail (Ralph Compton Novel)  by Robert Vaughan


Book Summary:
Hoping to save his destitute hometown of Wisdom, Texas, Dick Hodson returns from the Civil War and plans a cattle drive run by greenhorn children, but a ruthless gang of cutthroats, hired by the evil Bryan Phelps, will do anything to stop them. Original.

A 5-Star Review: Entertaining and a good read. The original Ralph Compton Trail Drives Series are a great.

A Critical Review: I have all of the 13 books in this series by the original author, Ralph Compton. I am replacing all of my books through Kindle. This is the next book in the series, but I only purchase books in e-format now. When will this book, and all books by Mr. Compton (or by his co-authors) be in Kindle format??

Ralph Compton Books # 15) The Alamosa Trail (Trail Drive, No.15)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Alamosa Trail (Trail Drive, No.15)  by Robert Vaughan


Book Summary:
Hired by gunslinger Clay Allison to bring a herd up from Mexico into Colorado across the dangerous Alamosa Trail, the cowboys of the Trailback Ranch must deal with a blizzard and a gang of slave-selling outlaws.

A 5-Star Review: Entertaining and a good read. The original Ralph Compton Trail Drives Series are great.

A Critical Review: It had a weak plot. It was too short. An obvious effort to just spit out another pay check. It was a waste of money.

Ralph Compton Books # 16) The Bozeman Trail

Ralph Compton Books:  The Bozeman Trail  by Robert Vaughan

Book Summary: Three daring individuals–James Cason, son of the owner of the Long Shadow ranch; vigilante Duke Faglier; and Revelation Scattergood, a suspected rustler out to build a new life for herself–brave the perils of the trail to drive a herd of cattle from San Antonio, Texas, to the Dakota Territory. Original.

A 5-Star Review: Entertaining and a good read. The original Ralph Compton Trail Drives Series are a great.

Ralph Compton Books # 17) The Abilene Trail

Ralph Compton Books:  The Abilene Trail  by Dusty Richards

Book Summary: While driving cattle up north, former Confederate Army officer-turned-rancher Ben McCullough and his ex-sergeant Hap encounter such perils as stampedes, raging waters, nature’s fury, and a gang of vicious rustlers. Original.

A 5-Star Review: great transaction

A Critical Review: I had finished another book Comanche Trail before reading this one.That was maybe a mistake because Comanche was a 6 stars. Abilene was predictable an at times just corny. Sorry but this read had its moments but very few

Ralph Compton Books # 18) Trail To Fort Smith (Trail Drive, No.18)

Ralph Compton Books:  Trail To Fort Smith (Trail Drive, No.18)  by Dusty Richards

Book Summary: Hamp comes to the aid of his hot-tempered friend, Clint, after he is jailed for killing a cheating gambler, bribing the guards to let him go, but no sooner is Clint free than he kills a local rancher with vengeful friends who will do anything to see Clint hanged. Original.

A 5-Star Review: Very good read. Normally I don’t really care for the Ralph Compton novels which were written by someone else bu Dusty Richards did a great job. If you love a good western this will keep you interested from start to finish. I recommend it and will look for more books by Richards.

A Critical Review: Need in Kindle format, only. Soon, please!

Ralph Compton Books # 19) The Ogallala Trail (Ralph Compton Novels)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton The Ogallala Trail (Ralph Compton Novels)  by Dusty Richards

Book Summary: Despite his reluctance and still haunted by the events of his last drive, Sam Ketchum takes on the difficult challenge of bringing the cattle from Frio Springs to the markets of Nebraska, dealing with the hardships of the trail, renegade Comanche, and rustlers along with way, but now his task is further complicated when he finds himself in the middle of a deadly Texas feud. Original.

A 5-Star Review: This was a very good book, it kept me interested all the way thru the book, I was glad that I bought the Kindle book. If you enjoy reading Westerns, then you will be glad that you bought this book.

Ralph Compton Books # 20) The Palo Duro Trail (Trail Drive)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton The Palo Duro Trail (Trail Drive (Unnumbered)) by Ralph Compton (2004-12-07)  by Jory Sherman

Book Summary: A favorite of western fans.

Dagstaff has to drive 4,000 longhorns over a thousand miles up the Palo Duro trail, facing furious storms, Comanches, treacherous rivers-and a hired killer among his drivers.

A 5-Star Review: I own 70 of the Ralph Compton western books. His Estate, since his death has allowed continued reissue and continued Ghost-writing of the cowboy era between the American period of 1850-1895, with the employ of current great authors of like mind and talent of Compton. The additional books due out in 2010, include Stryker’s Revenge, Dodge City Trail, North to Salt Fork and Death of a Hangman. If you are a true western and cowboy trail reader, wanting to relive and capture the smell of the sagebrush, the pounding of the cloudy skies from the pending western storm or the frightening attacks of the raging wild Indians, then sit down and read these wonderful time pieces!! These epic stories of trail drives, of five million longhorn, from Texas to the Western Frontier, each have a believable fictional character. However, each main character is placed on the trail in timely fashion, to cross paths with the likes of Wyatt Earp, the James Gang, Wild Bill, The Daltons, Clay Allen, Black Foot, Jim Bridger, Crazy Horse, Billy the Kid, and countless well known and also some little known, but yet profound Shootists, gunslingers, cowhands, Sheriffs and Marshals of the Wild West………….a very short time period in American history, but yet a time in history that made and molded the West………
I promise you won’t put the books down!

Ralph Compton Books # 21) The Ellsworth Trail

Ralph Compton Books:  The Ellsworth Trail  by Jory Sherman


Book Summary: After losing his family, faith, and fortune, Jock Kane will do anything to find his wife’s killer who is plotting to steal his friend’s longhorns.

A 5-Star Review: Yahoo

A Good human interest story of men in an unusual situation. Brothers who had opportunity to learn about life.

Ralph Compton Books # 22) The Tenderfoot Trail (Trail Drive, No. 22)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Tenderfoot Trail: A Ralph Compton Novel (Trail Drive, No. 22)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: Pursued by the law, vigilantes, and bounty hunters, Luke Garrett, framed for a murder he did not commit and saddled with five mail-order brides, must drive his cattle herd through Whoop-Up Trail, a land rife with hostile Indians and other dangers, which is his only hope for survival. Original.

A 5-Star Review: This book was fast moving and action packed, the way that I like. As you know I read a lot of Ralph Compton/Cotton and Louis L’Amour books. All of these authors are very descriptive in their writings; how the moon looks coming over the mountain, the flowers, sage…things one can visualize and almost smell. I live in the southwest and Mr. L’Amour’s home in Cherry Creek is but 45 miles from my home. I have lived in or visited many of the areas that these authors write about. For these reasons I thoroughly enjoyed The Tenderfoot Trail.

A Critical Review: This book I am rating as good only. It showed more wear and tear than I had expected.

Ralph Compton Books # 23) Trail to Cottonwood Falls 

Ralph Compton Books:  Trail to Cottonwood Falls (Ralph Compton Novels)  by Dusty Richards

Book Summary: Ed Wright, once a legendary cattle driver and ranger who now has a penchant for whiskey, gets one last chance to prove himself when he is hired by Unita Nance to drive her stock from Texas to Kansas where his enemies lie in wait to keep him off the trail permanently. Original.

A 5-Star Review: One of the best books in this series. Detailed accounts of the Western cow trails, yet it’s easy to read.

A Critical Review: Comptons an excellent western writer and his books are always good.

Ralph Compton Books # 24) The Amarillo Trail (Trail Drive, No. 24)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Amarillo Trail (Ralph Compton's Trail Drive, No. 24)  by Jory Sherman

Book Summary: A family fights their demons on a dangerous cattle drive in this Ralph Compton western.Doc Blaine has signed a big contract with a cattle buyer up in Kansas. After a couple more good springs, Doc might finally be able to retire, but for now he’ll have to contend with a band of marauding brothers who are out for vengeance against the Blaines.   Another set of brothers might prove to be the bigger liability—his own sons. Doc needs sizeable herds from each, but Miles and Jared Blaine have been feuding for years over the same woman—even after Miles married her. And Jared once vowed that someday he would kill his younger brother—a threat he never took back…   But Doc believes he can get both sons to Kansas—as long as one doesn’t know the other is making the same drive…

A 5-Star Review: Writer took you back to a time where life was tough and people with no quit in them had to keep going to keep themselves and others living.

A Critical Review: This is NOT the usual Ralph Compton book. The author spends way too much time on silly details. Such as a whole page on how smoke disappears in the air along a river and one sentence on driving 3,000 head of cattle 50 miles. I found it to be a waste of my time reading such details. I like action which this book lacks except for one small section.

Ralph Compton Books # 25) The Omaha Trail (The Trail Drive Series)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton The Omaha Trail (The Trail Drive Series)  by Jory Sherman

Book Summary: There’s a snake in this grass in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series…  Dane Kramer looks forward to the day when his sprawling Oklahoma cattle ranch will truly be his—no strings attached. With only one more bank payment to make, and a buyer in Omaha ready to pay top dollar for a herd of Herefords, he should finally have the banker Earl Throckmorton off his back. But Earl has a plan to keep the ranch for himself, and if he has his way, Dane’s herd will never make it across the Omaha Trail—and Dane won’t make it home alive… Up against Earl’s hired gang of outlaws, Dane must do whatever it takes to bring in the herd—but Earl has more than one trick up his sleeve. Planting one of his own men in Dane’s newly hired team of cowhands could be just the insurance he needs…

A 5-Star Review: And well written a book about Trail drives in the west. Plenty of Western in action and some intrigue and mystery. Hard to put this book down.

A Critical Review: hard to believe that this is a Ralph Compton story kind of drab. his other works are better

Ralph Compton Books # 26) The Dawn of Fury (A Trail of the Gunfighter Western Book 1)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Dawn of Fury (A Trail of the Gunfighter Western Book 1)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: A gunslinger gets bloody payback in this western from USA Today bestselling author Ralph Compton.Nathan Stone experienced the horror of Civil War battlefields. But the worst lies ahead. When he returns to Virginia, to the ruins of what was his home, he discovers his father butchered and his mother and sister stripped, ravished, and slain. The seven renegades who did it rode away to the West. Half-starved and afoot, he takes to their trail. Nathan Stone’s deadly oath—blood for blood—will cost him seven long years, as he rides the lawless trails of an untamed frontier. His skill with a Colt will match him with the likes of the Jameses and the Youngers, Wild Bill Hickok, John Wesley Hardin, and Ben Thompson. Nathan Stone will become the greatest gunfighter of them all, shooting his way along the most relentless vengeance trail a man has ever ridden to the savage end…and this is how it all begins.

A 5-Star Review: VENGEANCE is the plot of this adventure. Sadly how people treat others because they can. Kidnappings of Nathan’s wife Mary, by El Gato, how he allowed the gang members raped the pregnant mother. They tortured her because of her marriage to Nathan Stone..Pure Savagery..
We must not forget “Cotton Blossom” a blue tick hound a protector and friend for life..

A Critical Review: “The Dawn of Fury” should be retitled “Yawn of Fury”.
Purchased this as an ebook after reading reviews. Most gave it high marks. After two hundred pages I gave up. Not what I thought it would be, a good old western. The book started out fine and then it went down hill. Just plain boring page after page. Have read other Ralph Compton books but by different authors that were much better and held my interest, not this one. Time to move on.

Ralph Compton Books # 27) The Killing Season (A Trail of the Gunfighter Western Book 2)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Killing Season (A Trail of the Gunfighter Western Book 2)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: A gunfighter rides into legend in this western from USA Today bestselling author Ralph Compton.It was the 1870s—Jesse and Frank James led daring raids on banks and trains. Doc Holliday’s name struck dread in the hearts of men, and Wild Bill Hickok played poker with bullets in the hole. A young killer named Billy the Kid was hunted by a determined lawman, and a General named Custer took the Seventh Cavalry into Dakota Territory.One man rides this untamed frontier like a shadow of death. His name is Nathan Stone, and he had learned to kill on the vengeance trail. He would have stopped after settling the score with his parents’ savage slayers. But when you’re the greatest gunfighter of all, there’s no peace or resting place. And it’s Nathan Stone’s destiny to fight for survival against the most famed and feared figures from Texas to the Black Hills—on both sides of the law…

A 5-Star Review: Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive Series are the best western books I have read. The gunfighter series are entertaining but not like the trail drives. The main character is a bit much. Under his cowboy clothes he must be wearing a cape, blue tights with a red “S” emblazoned across his chest. The saving grace is the description of frontier life and historical references to the time period.

A Critical Review: I enjoyed this book as I did the first book about Nathan Stone. The book does not have much of a plot but Compton’s writing and story telling are excellent. I was miffed that the book leaves you hanging at the end. Usually, an author may leave a few sub-plots hanging but this one leaves everything hanging. At least that’s my opinion. So I am still thinking about whether I want to continue or not.

Ralph Compton Books # 28) The Autumn of the Gun (A Trail of the Gunfighter Western Book 3)

Ralph Compton Books:  The Autumn of the Gun (A Trail of the Gunfighter Western Book 3)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: A gunslinger goes up against his own kin in this western from USA Today bestselling author Ralph Compton. Nathan Stone is a living legend in the West as a lawman, an outlaw, a gambler, and a wanderer through the wildest towns and terrain. He has blazed a vengeance trail, giving no quarter and asking for none. Fearlessly, he plays his cards and uses his Colt .45s as best he can in games of chance, skill, and savagery, for stakes of life or death. Now he’s riding on a course that will test his rawhide nerves and lightning draw against the likes of Doc Holliday, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, the fleeing James brothers, and the incredible John Wesley Hardin as he heads toward a fateful rendezvous with the one gunfighter as fast and deadly as he: a teenage kid who kills like a man—Nathan’s own son…

A 5-Star Review: I love stories about the old west even if they are fiction. This one is the third book in a series.

A Critical Review: Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive Series are the best western books I have read. The gunfighter series are entertaining but not like the trail drives. The main character is a bit much. The saving grace is the description of frontier life and historical references to the time period.

Ralph Compton Books # 29) The Border Empire

Ralph Compton Books:  The Border Empire  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: A man sets out to Mexico to avenge his father’s death in this western from USA Today bestselling author Ralph Compton.Nathan Stone, the man they called The Gunfighter, lay dead in the dust of an El Paso street. The Sandlin gang kicked up that dust as they rode back laughing into Mexico, where the U.S. law couldn’t touch them and local law didn’t want to.Behind him Nathan Stone left his horse, his Winchester, his custom-made Colts, and his name. The son who had grown up without him took them all. His name is Wes Stone. He used to be a lawman, but when he picks up his father’s guns, he takes down the star from his chest.Wes knows the impossible odds of going against the outlaw army and its empire of evil. But he knows something else too. He’s his father’s son, and he’s going to teach his father’s killers exactly what that means…

A 5-Star Review: This was the first book by Ralph Compton that I read and have read the other two in the sreies; I am now finishing up the Nathan Stone series. What liked about this book ( and also the other two in this series) is the friendship that grows between Wes Stone and El Lobo, particulalrly since El Lobo was out to kill Wes but instead gets shot by some of the other outlaws and Wes.saves him. I would have liked some more dialogue between the two to develop the friendship but other than that I enjoyed the 3 books very much. One criticism, and I write this as both a native Spanish speaker and teacher, is that the Spanish dialogue in the books is not very proper Spanish.A Spansih speaking editor would have helped. Other than that, the books in thie series are great reading.

A Critical Review: Although, this is not the Nathan Stone I’ve come to love, but this book did well to transition from him.

Ralph Compton Books # 30) Sixguns and Double Eagles

Ralph Compton Books:  Sixguns and Double Eagles  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: Two young gunslingers ride into the heart of evil in this Ralph Compton western.

Nathan Stone was a legendary gunfighter who did everything he could to be a father—while still following his own violent trail of honor. Now Wes Stone, barely eighteen, but full of the hard wisdom of the West, is being drawn into the kind of fight that cost his father his life.

A secret organization of criminals is replacing freshly minted gold with counterfeit coins, threatening to plunge the growing nation into crisis. Called upon to penetrate this conspiracy that reaches from New Orleans to California, Wes and his fellow warrior, El Lobo, find themselves targeted by hired killers with a deadly plan of their own…

A 5-Star Review: Good reading. My favorite of Compton (and all other western writers) is the trail drive series. This is a good read but no a favorite

A Critical Review: The book just dropped off and didn’t finish and let you know which book to go to next so I rate it poorly no.more compton books

Ralph Compton Books # 31) Train to Durango (A Border Empire Western Book 3)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Train to Durango (A Border Empire Western Book 3)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, a man with the courage to take a stand goes up against an outlaw cavalry that can’t be stopped….   In Mexico, Wes Stone picked up his father’s gun, rode his father’s horse, and took on his father’s enemies. In California, he planted a band of savage criminals in the ground. Now Stone is heading up to the plains of Colorado, where a new kind of war has begun.   A dangerous band of mercenaries is going for the gold—enough to bankrupt the entire country. Their scheme: to raid four U.S. mints. Their weapon: an armored train tearing through the West like a fire-powered battle-ax on wheels.   From Durango to Dodge City, across a rugged land stained with blood, gold, and treachery, Stone follows a violent trail of honor. All that stands between victory and death is a quick-draw reflex—and the kind of .44-caliber justice that could tame the West and turn Stone into a legend.   

A 5-Star Review: Men fighting for the survival of the United States. Treasonous idea of overthrowing the government such as it was. The Secret Service had agents who hunted down counterfeiters and any other anti-government acts. This author hits all aspects and suspects who are guilty. He also writes about how the times were advancing and the west was going along with the trying to halt or catch these men before they escaped. Brothel owners, saloon owners were you could easily hire killers for a price. Life in the west came and went cheap. Slavery, human trafficking into Mexico, women and young girls kidnapped off the street by these people.

A Critical Review: this book was not up to the standard of comptons other books it was a very boring book to read , it was like you new what was going on before you read it. sorry i just have to be truthful . ilove his books but this one is a thumbs down. sorry !!!!!!! forger

Ralph Compton Books # 32) Death Rides a Chestnut Mare (A Rough Justice Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Death Rides a Chestnut Mare (A Rough Justice Western)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: A woman sates her lust for vengeance in this Ralph Compton western…  Waylaid by a pack of murdering outlaws, Daniel Strange’s lifeless body is left dangling at the end of a rope. Now, a mysterious gunslinger is on the vengeance trail, packing Strange’s trademark twin Colts, and answering to the same name. With fiery green eyes and a temper to match, he won’t stop until every last man who killed Strange shares the same fate. And as each bullet finds its mark, his victims will die never knowing the truth: that Daniel Strange may be dead and buried, but his daughter is alive—and killing…

A 5-Star Review: I was given an extremely beat up copy for this book a few years ago and put off reading it since I’m not really a Western fiction fan. A few months later I got stuck without another book to read, so I decided to give it a try. I was hooked on the story almost immediately and couldn’t fathom reading anything else until I finished the book. I then had to track down copies of the sequels to find out the rest of the story!

A Critical Review: Incredibly redundant and juvenile. The author must be stuck at the law and order stage of moral development..I’ read to the end only because the daughter of one of my grad students recommended it (I can see why knowing the girl and her infatuation with horses and frontier justice.) and the kid needs to be encouraged to read. . .read anything.

Ralph Compton Books # 33) The Shadow of a Noose

Ralph Compton Books:  The Shadow of a Noose  by Ralph Cotton

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, the Strange twins find themselves in double trouble…Young Jed and Tim Strange lost their father to an outlaw’s bullet, and now their mother has succumbed to a fatal illness. Unable to farm their land due to a lack of funds, the twins set out to find their sister—who left home to avenge their father’s death over a year ago.Farm life hasn’t prepared the twins for the rough-and-tumble cow towns west of Missouri. And before they even begin their search, they’re accused of a murder they didn’t commit. Just barely escaping a posse’s rope, the twins are on the run—wounded, hounded by the law, and desperately seeking the true killers…

A 5-Star Review: I have only recently discovered this Western author. I’m a Louis L’Amour fan but his books are really too predictable in terms of their formula (quiet hero rides in to an already bad situation, damsel in distress, big bad rancher, tough guys jump in, hero has a big fist fight an the story ends). Compton doesn’t seem to follow a formula. There is a good, fresh story line in each of his books. This one is a good read. I did not give it 5 stars because of the ending which I won’t spoil here. It is a good read.

A Critical Review: First what I did not like that it was co-authored by Ralph Cotton as its too much killing. Books strictly written by Ralph Cotton is more like Louis L’ Amour . The story is a little far fetched.

Ralph Compton Books # 34) Riders of Judgment (A Rough Justice Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Riders of Judgment (A Rough Justice Western)  by Ralph Cotton

Book Summary: The Strange siblings are on the hunt for justice in this Ralph Compton western.In her guise as “Danny Duggin,” Danielle Strange has spent the past two years hunting down the outlaws who murdered her father. Reunited with her brothers, the twins Tim and Jed, she plans to take her war across the border into Mexico—unaware she’s being pursued by a U.S. federal marshall….Saul Delmano comes from a powerful family of cattlemen whose business stretches from the Southwestern territories into Mexico. He’s put a $2,000 reward on Danny Duggin’s head, tempting every outlaw and bounty hunter across the West to try to collect it. But the cry of vengeance has been shouted out—and only justice can silence it.

A 5-Star Review: I find Ralph Compton’s worked to be among the top tier of Western writers. This tale could be read on its own without having read The Shadow of a Noose first, but both novels are enjoyable reading. If you plan to read both, definitely read them in order. The story follows three youngsters left orphaned by the senseless and brutal murder of their father by a gang of gunslinging outlaws and the later death of their mother from illness. The oldest of the three, a girl, goes under cover as a man as she swears to avenge the killing of her father. The two younger twin brothers take out after her with the idea of helping and supporting their sister in the quest.

Ralph Compton Books # 35) Death Along the Cimarron (Ralph Compton Novels)

Ralph Compton Books:  Death Along the Cimarron (Ralph Compton Novels)  by Ralph Cotton

Book Summary: A gunslinging woman can’t escape her past in this Ralph Compton western.Disguised as “Danny Duggin,” Danielle Strange hunted down the merciless cutthroats who murdered her father. Now the feared gunslick has hung up her trademark twin Colts—and given up her secret identity—to make something out of her Texas ranch. But then a passel of hard cases rides into town and all hell breaks loose. And when the vicious gunmen kill one of Danielle’s old saddle pals, she knows it’s time for Danny Duggin to ride the vengeance trail again….

A 5-Star Review: Tony Hillerman, Louis L’amour and now Ralph Compton. I’m so glad I discovered this author. I have really enjoyed reading this book. I like western and it has been hard for me to find good ones. I highly recommend this book but read the first in the series before reading this one and you will enjoy it more.

A Critical Review: I enjoyed the story. It was difficult to read because of the numerous misspelled words and punctuation errors. The best analogy I can compare the flow of the story against is like running along a path and suddenly you trip over a rock. You resume your run and then something trips you again. After repeated falls, you get tired and aggravated by the constant disruptions to your run. The story is good. But all the errors in this digital version made it frustrating to read.

Ralph Compton Books # 36) Blood and Gold (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Blood and Gold (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, the most wanted man in the West isn’t an outlaw. But he’s still worth $30,000 dead or alive…An inexperienced cowpuncher with a solid work ethic, Dusty Hannah has earned the respect of his boss. Entrusted with $30,000, he has been charged to deliver the cattle rancher’s gold across Texas’s Red River—by way of Indian Territory, where the Apaches still reign.   But the Apaches are the least of his concerns once word of the money reaches the ears of every desperado in the Southwest. Saddled with the gold, and suddenly responsible for protecting a father and daughter lost in hostile country, Dusty has to keep his wits about him if he hopes to see the trail’s end. 

A 5-Star Review: I think this book was well written and as always a well told story a story that is up to the writing of Ralph compost as a reader of all his books I can say I was not disappointed

Ralph Compton Books # 37) Navarro (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Navarro (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Peter Brandvold

Book Summary: In the USA Today bestselling Ralph Compton series, love can be the most dangerous frontier…Hardened ex-gunslinger Taos Tommy Navarro turned away Karla Vannorsdell, a rancher’s granddaugther, when she needed him most. Now, angry and full of guilt, Navarro must track down Karla in the desert before the Apaches catch her, which won’t be easy. And all that’s certain is that things are going to get very rough—and very bloody.   Nothing will make Karla return to her arrogant, meddling grandfather now that he’s run off the vaquero she was going to marry. To bring her lover back, Karla will endure the parched, blazing desert, the venomous diamondbacks, the ferocious Apaches—and the buzzards circling overhead. And she’ll learn the cruelest lesson of all: In a brutal land, love can mean killing the thing you cherish…

A 5-Star Review: I have enjoyed every word of this book. What a unique story of aging men and women. If one has the courage to face each day with that same courage that has sustained them to this time and place . It can make the rest of our time as good as our yesterdays.

A Critical Review: This author has potential. Character development is good but his novels are clunky and story lines jump around without completion. That is minor, the major problem is his continual use of “soiled doves” (prostitution) and sex trafficking. I stopped reading Navarro when young girls were being kidnapped and nearly raped by a group of Apaches, rescued only to be kidnapped by sex traffickers. The book went in the trash when girls as young as 14 were held down and injected with some sort of drug so they could be gang raped by miners. Again, this author could do so much better but his novels leave you feeling empty and dirty.

Ralph Compton Books # 38) Bullet Creek (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Bullet Creek (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Peter Brandvold

Book Summary: A gunslinger is forced out of retirement in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series.Tom Navarro, a hostler at the Bar-V Ranch, has retired his gun-slinging boots to find peace of mind.  As much as he enjoys working for Paul Vannorsdell, owner and operator of Bar-V, Navarro has plans of moving up north with the woman he loves to open his own ranch and create a new life for himself.  Vannorsdell, too, has big dreams: he wants to buy the Rancho de Cava from an old friend, Don Francisco, so he can become one of the largest landholders in Southern Arizona.    Everything seems to be going according to plan until Don Francisco is found dead by Bullet Creek.  His sons and the rest of the Rancho de Cava ranchers suspect Vannorsdell.  Immediately, the boys from Rancho de Cava begin a war with the Bar-V hostlers. And Navarro soon finds himself smack in the middle of a torrent of lead…

A 5-Star Review: I am a huge fan of Louis L’Amour westerns. I bought this book because it stated that it was written in Louis L’Amour style. Well, I had to see for myself! I was not disappointed! The book is very well written…the descriptions throughout are detailed so well that you feel as if you are ‘right there’. A great story. I am looking forward to reading the other titles from this accomplished author.

A Critical Review: The book I received was is very poor condition. It was really bent up on the cover. Very unhappy with it.

Ralph Compton Books # 39) For The Brand (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton For The Brand (A Ralph Compton Western)  by David Robbins

Book Summary: In the USA Today bestselling Ralph Compton series, sometimes a man has to leave his mark…Willis Lander was once the T-Bar ranch’s best bronc buster. Then came the day when a stallion as black as pitch and as mean as a rattler shattered his knee. Unable to perform the duties required of a cowboy, Willis took the only job he felt capable of handling—minding the line shack forty miles from the ranch—and secluded himself from the pity of his peers in the Wyoming wilderness.   Now, the T-Bar is being sold, leaving Willis to wonder whether the new owner will want to keep a broken bronc buster on the payroll. Laurella Hendershot is a Texan rancher grateful for the opportunity to leave the Lone Star State behind and build a new life for herself. And she just may be Willis’ last chance…

A 5-Star Review: Lots of human interest from all the different characters involved. Overcoming feelings of helpful Ness and facing life again. Wow

Ralph Compton Books # 40) Guns of the Canyonlands (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Guns of the Canyonlands (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: Two men team up to take down a corrupt rancher in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series…Chance Tyree never looks for trouble. But with his reputation as a lethal gunhand, trouble has a habit of finding him. In the Utah canyonlands, Chance ends up at the wrong end of a rope after he’s accused of being a hired killer—and is saved from the hangmen by Owen Fowler. Fowler knows what it’s like to be punished for another man’s crime. He spent nine years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, and now he’s come home to start over.   That’s something local rancher Quirt Latham will never allow. He’s making a play to take over Fowler’s old property, and killing is a small price to pay. On the run from Latham’s men, the new friends hole up with a grizzled cowman and his daughter, and learn that Latham’s sinister ambitions reach even farther than they thought. Now, with Latham determined to take them down, and a cold-blooded corrupt sheriff coming for blood, Tyree’s lightning-fast draw is the only chance they have left…

A 5-Star Review: Good western yarn well told would recommend this book to anyone who likes a good cowboy story. Well worth five stars.

Ralph Compton Books # 41) By the Horns (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton By the Horns (A Ralph Compton Western)  by David Robbins

Book Summary: A cattle drive turns bloody in this western in the USA Today bestselling Ralph Compton series…Luke Deal and his gang are murderers many times over. And Owen, the foreman of the Bar 40 ranch, has interrupted their depravities one time too many.   Now a business representative for some British cattle ranchers is buying one of the Bar 40’s best longhorns, and driving it from Texas to Wyoming. Owen and three of the Bar 40’s toughest cowhands are escorting the English tenderfoot on this snake-infested, rustler ambush-laden, hell-for-leather trip. For the greenhorn, it will be the adventure of a lifetime. For the cowboys, it’s what they do. But for Luke Deal’s pack of rabid human wolves, it will be the chance to settle a very old score…  

A 5-Star Review: Ralph Compton is a great western writer. He holds interest all the way through with one adventure following the other from the same story hero.

A Critical Review: Book stopped about half way through.don’t know if they completed there trip or not.don’t know if the Forman married the teacher or not.

Ralph Compton Books # 42) Deadwood Gulch (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Deadwood Gulch (A Ralph Compton Western)  by John Edward Ames

Book Summary: The most lawless town in the West is about to get some justice in this novel in the USA Today bestselling Ralph Compton series…After ten years of working his way across the West, Cas Everett returned to his family’s farm in Texas only to find a charred ruin that was once his home—and five grave markers representing his parents and siblings. Their deaths were not accidental.   Cas’s time as a bounty hunter has earned him notoriety as a quick-draw artist and the enmity of more badmen than he’d care to admit. Now, one of them has taken revenge on his family, and Cas must follow the killer’s bloody trail to Deadwood Gulch—where the law isn’t welcome, and where justice isn’t wanted… 

A 5-Star Review: Excellent book! Very exciting read it definitely keeps you on your toes! I love the book because there were times when he would throw in just the right amount of humor! After watching the series Deadwood it was so much fun reading about the characters that you knew from the series. Ralph Compton books never let me down!

A Critical Review: It’s a shame that the writer took a very good script by Ralph Compton and wrote it so poorly. Words that have no definition in the Kindle Voyage dictionary. Phrases and adjectives that would have never been used in “The Old West.” After reading several pages it became comical to see what word or phrase the writer would use next. I would read some of them out loud to my wife and we both would just look puzzled. The story line was very good and typical of A Ralph Compton book. I have read 95% of all the books he has written. The writer really screwed this one up. I would not recommend it. I gave it 2 stars for the story line, otherwise it would have been zero.

Ralph Compton Books # 43) The Bloody Trail (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton the Bloody Trail (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Marcus Galloway

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, a wagon train goes dangerously off course…Jeremiah Correy is leading his family in a wagon train to Oregon when his plans are waylaid by a group of bounty hunters led by Sam Madigan, who take a man from Correy’s party—the quiet, unassuming Emmett Natham, who is actually a known fugitive. But Madigan also aims to nab the rest of the travelers and ransom them off. Now, Jeremiah must stop Madigan—and his greatest ally may be the mysterious and dangerous Emmett Natham, whose skills could save them all—or lead them to their deaths…

Ralph Compton Books # 44) West of the Law (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton West of the Law (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: This western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series goes from the mean streets of New York City to the lawless frontier…Ordered to head west when a notorious New York City gangster puts a price on his head, Detective Sergeant Joseph McBride ends up in the lawless boomtown of High Hopes, Colorado. But running goes against the lawman’s grain, and so does lying low. In a town where miners and innocents are easy prey, McBride quickly runs afoul of corrupt saloon owner Gamble Trask and his vicious hired guns.   When a beautiful card dealer comes to McBride for protection, he vows to take down Trask and destroy his vile trade in opium and Chinese slave girls once and for all. Now, it’s high time for one of New York’s finest to dole out some frontier justice of his own.   

A 5-Star Review: Inspector John McBride is forced to go west after he kills one of the more violent Irish gang leaders one and only son in a gun fight. His superiors pay his salary for the year and put him on a train heading for High Hopes, Colorado in hopes that after a few months he can come back. McBride upon reaching the town is thrust into a world far different then the one he left back home, a world where life is even cheaper then it is in New York. A world of outlaw marshals, mastermind saloon girls, hired killers, human traffickers, and orphan trains. A world that will slowly and gradually change the Hell’s Kitchen born Irish cop, introducing him to the beauty and brutality of the old west. And when all is said and done, he and the officers who come to deal with the gang lord will find he’ll never be the same.

Ralph Compton Books # 45) Shadow of the Gun (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Shadow of the Gun (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: A lawless town lives in the shadow of fear in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series.Tam Elliot founded Eden Creek to be a utopia of peace and prosperity. The town achieved neither, and in despair Elliot took his own life. His daughter Allison rechristened the town Suicide, blaming its folks for its failure. From her hillside house, she collects property dues from the lost souls unfortunate enough to still reside there—and punishes anyone attempting to leave.   John McBride came west to start a new life, only to find himself saddled with the moniker “Tenderfoot Kid” after a single gunfight. He purchased a restaurant in Suicide hoping to put his past behind him, but with marauding Apaches, vicious outlaws, and rising tensions between the townsfolk and Allison Elliot, the town is a powder keg waiting to explode—and McBride’s presence just may be enough to light the fuse…   

A 5-Star Review: This is an amazing work set in Henry county Il at the close of the 19th century. I read the original copy back in the 80s and was amazed at the ingenuity of the people of the time.

Ralph Compton Books # 46) Death of a Bad Man (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Death of a Bad Man (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Marcus Galloway

Book Summary: In this sharp-shooting Ralph Compton western, a man of honor becomes an outlaw.Solomon Brakefield tried to play by the rules—and lost. When the mine Sol worked for was robbed, he went after the robbers himself. After he brought the money back, he was given no more than a handshake and a few dollars. Seems like living life on the straight and narrow just doesn’t pay.  So Sol seeks out Nester Quarles, known killer and train robber, to teach him the tricks of the outlaw’s trade. Quarles has plenty to teach, but there’s a price to be paid—and the currency is Sol’s soul.  

A 5-Star Review: On the other side is the promise of a better future. If only, we say to ourselves, we could make that leap across the great chasm of fear. In this novel Death of A Bad Man our main character, Sol must find out for himself if the grass is greener on the other side of justice.
Sol is an employee of a mining company in the time of the great west. His boss is Charlie a typical greedy mine owner. But as we find out there is much more injustice and corruption than appears to the naked eye. Money laundering, the law protecting the corrupt., lies perpetrated to make the innocent look like the bad guy. This story is Sol’s journey through the other side of the law. What the consequences are on his journey and the outcomes. This story is so relative even today with good people trying to understand why life can be so unjust.
Marcus Galloway is a writer who will suck you into Sol’s journey and hold you until the very end. Enjoy.

Ralph Compton Books # 47) Ride the Hard Trail (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Ride the Hard Trail (A Ralph Compton Western)  by David Robbins

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, riding the hard trail isn’t easy…At the EJ Ranch in Wyoming, Lin Bryce has found good, honest work for himself and his temperamental brother, Chancy. A widow with two young children has a herd of cattle over two thousand acres that needs tending, and Lin believes it’s the best opportunity to put their tragic and violent past behind them and start anew.  But the widow and her property are coveted by a cattle baron determined to take over every ranch in the territory. And as the Bryce brothers find themselves in the crosshairs of an encroaching range war, a trio of merciless bounty hunters arrives to collect the price on their heads…  

A 5-Star Review: This is one of my favorite writers,I always look forward to each new book available . His books are fast paced,something always happening in each book. Try one of his books today and, I sincerely hope you enjoy each
book you read.

Ralph Compton Books # 48) Blood on the Gallows (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Blood on the Gallows (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: A detective uses his gun to speak for the oppressed in this Ralph Compton western.Former big city detective John McBride is an easy-going man—until people rub him the wrong way. So he’s less than pleased when the fast-gun marshal of Rest and Be Thankful warns him to behave himself, or else he’ll wind up swinging next to the three hanged men outside of town.Driven by the plight of the town’s terrified citizenry, and one beautiful woman in particular, McBride takes on the local lawman, an evil mayor and his cruel son, and a small army of hired gunmen. Helped by a mysterious white-haired preacher who shoots first and asks questions later, McBride will give the townsfolk reason to be thankful—and their vicious tormentors eternal rest in hell.

A 5-Star Review: Ralph Compton has a habit of capturing my interest. I have yet to find a book of his that I didn’t care for, and this one is no exception.

Ralph Compton Books # 49) Bullet For a Bad Man (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Bullet For a Bad Man (A Ralph Compton Western)  by David Robbins

Book Summary: Sibling rivalry turns deadly in this Ralph Compton western…Boone and Eppley Scott are the sons of a prosperous Arizona rancher. Despite Boone’s talent for handling a six-shooter, he is content to raise cattle for the rest of his days. Eppley is another story. Dangerously dissatisfied, he secretly plots to take over the family ranch.   When Epp hires an assassin to kill his brother, Boone’s lightning-quick hands leave six dead men behind. Unaware of his brother’s treachery, Boone goes on the run and gets caught up with the infamous outlaw Old Man Radler and his gang of horse thieves.   As Epp continues to send killers after him, Boone faces threats from all sides. If the young gunslinger can escape from Radler’s horse rustlers and survive attacks by wild Apache, he just might end up in a final showdown… with his own flesh and blood. 

A 5-Star Review: From Cain and Abel through history some brothers have both been good and some have been evil. Good one treasure!

A Critical Review: I enjoyed Compton’s other books more. The characters and the story were not very believable. I hope the next book is better.

Ralph Compton Books # 50) The Convict Trail (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton the Convict Trail (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: Getting there is half the battle in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series.When Deputy Marshal Logan Kane is transporting six cold-blooded convicts across hard country, he has to be prepared for anything. Even with the half dozen hard cases caged in his prison wagon, Kane needs to watch his back and keep his Colt close at hand. There are rustlers, lynch mobs, and three brothers from a New Orleans gang to contend with—not to mention the convicts’ cronies, looking to bust them loose.   On the lookout for danger in his every waking moment and haunted in his sleep by demons from his past, Logan Kane is about to have his own cage rattled as he tries to keep this ride from being his last. 

A 5-Star Review: I began reading Ralph Compton books recently, having read most of the Louis L’Amour westerns. It states that the Compton books are written in the same style as L’Amour, so I decided to give them a try. They definitely are in the L’Amour style….but they have far more intense descriptions of atrocities occurring in the story lines than the L’Amour books contain. If you can get beyond this…and I decided to as the descriptions are made briefly, and the action moves on…the stories are unbelievably good! And, in the style of L’Amour, they do not contain ‘offensive cursing/swearing language’ that so many other western authors use. Happily, I have discovered these as ‘the westerns’ of choice!! These books are page turners, difficult to put down, and as you finish one you are anxious to begin another. You’ll not be disappointed!

Ralph Compton Books # 51) Rawhide Flat (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Rawhide Flat (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: Two men try to escape a town of terror in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series.The bustling town of Rawhide Flat is bursting at the seams with hard men and their hard-earned cash from working the nearby Comstock Lode. So when the bank is robbed and two civilians cut down, a posse delivers its own justice—leaving only Judah Walsh alive.   Walsh knows the only hand he can play is to tell where his gang hid the money. In return, he wants a horse, a hundred bucks—and a free ride out of the state. But the people of Rawhide Flat would rather torture the information out of him.   Lucky for Walsh, protection arrives in a hail of bullets from U.S. Deputy Marshal Augustus Crane, who has come to bring Walsh into federal custody. But Crane getting Walsh out of jail is one thing—getting out of town alive is another…   

A 5-Star Review: I picked up Rawhide Flat expecting to read about a Marshal risking his life to get a convict out of a town that wants him dead. After all, that is what the description on the back told me to expect. The book wound up making a left turn about a third of the way through. It’s really about a scramble for $50,000 in stolen loot and a false messiah who’s planning a hostile takeover of the land.

The structure of the book was a little strange. I started to worry when about a hundred pages in the plot line with the convict seemed to have been wrapped up. But Joe was able to take the story in a new direction and keep the pages turning. He handles the pacing and suspense very well, often ending chapters with a cliffhanger.

I very much like Joseph A. West’s `voice’. He has an easy to read style that flows very well. Yet he manages to include enough detail to keep things from feeling vague. I’m wondering if he wrote this one in October, because the narrative had several gothic touches. Spectral night riders delivering severed heads, nuns with second sight and the apocalyptic preacher. Please don’t think it is anything other than a western. It’s not. And as a western, it is a good one. Lots of action and shootouts, all the things you read a western for. The gothic elements just give the book a certain kind of mood.

I liked it quite a bit. It fulfilled the promise of the previous Joseph A. West book I read, Guns of the Canyonlands. I liked the writing in that one, but there were numerous issues (a clumsy romance and characters acting out of character). Rawhide Flat is a better and more even book. Joe had a better handle on what kinds of men his characters are. I particularly liked the interaction between Marshal Crane and Sheriff Masterson and that Crane wasn’t made out to be a stereotypical perfect western lawman. He was shown to have a violent temper; sometimes he had to muddle through problems and admitted when he was scared. It made him seem much more human than many pulp western heroes.

Overall the book was a quick and enjoyable read with interesting characters, exciting gunplay and a whopper of a finale.

Ralph Compton Books # 52) Outlaw’s Reckoning (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Outlaw's Reckoning (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Marcus Galloway

Book Summary: Desperados enforce their own brand of justice in this novel in the USA Today bestselling Ralph Compton series.Bandit Gus McCord may have only one good eye, but his partner Doyle Hill has the nose for sniffing out a golden opportunity. And that’s just what he does when he discovers a black case guarded by the mysterious Mister Mason. But instead of a fortune, Gus and Doyle uncover scraps of fancy cloth smeared in blood. They belong to Abigail Swann, the youngest daughter of a wealthy shipping mogul. And it turns out Mason is an accomplice in a high stakes kidnapping.   But even Gus and Doyle can’t just stand by while a girl is in danger. So they’re about to give the kidnappers a run for their money—and their lives…

A 5-Star Review: I enjoyed this book as,I always enjoy Ralph Compton’s books, This book had a different twist, as in some westerns. This book was about two outlaws going to the rescure of a young woman that was kidnapped by some other, professional kidnappers, I was very enterained reading the many different and,varied problems involved in the rescue of the young woman. Happy Reading.

Ralph Compton Books # 53) The Man From Nowhere (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton the Man From Nowhere (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: One man proves his worth in this Ralph Compton western… When the Apache surrounded the settlement of Alma, New Mexico, the “respectable” townsfolk began hanging those who weren’t. Town drunk Eddie Oates was lucky to be banished from the town, left for the Apaches to kill. Oates never thought he was a survivor. But now, he’s discovered a reason to go on—and he’s about to unleash a raging fury upon those who would prey on the helpless, the hopeless, and those who others think aren’t worth fighting for…

A 5-Star Review: REAL GREAT BOOK

A Critical Review: I grew up on westerns. I read them all and acted out the story lines of many them when I played outside with the other boys. As I grew older my reading tastes changed. Now westerns are what I read when I have read too many other types of novels. Think of them as cleaning the taste buds of bad tasting food. A western to me is like comfort food, i.e. meat loaf. You read one and you relax.

THE MAN FROM NOWHERE is like that. You can pick this up and read it quickly or put it down and pick it up later. This book has all the old western values, good versus evil, what makes a man, and friendship. The openning is reminds one of THE OUTCASTS OF POKERFLATS with its main characters being thrown out of town. There is nothing new here, you meet the town drunk and you know that he will change. There is gambler who takes pity on the drunk in the beginning and you know that they will meet again. There are whores and the retarded boy who has a special gift. You know that they will turn out to be whores with a heart of gold and the retarded boy is not retarded. The best line in the book comes from this group, “Your such a whore!” which is repeated through out the novel.

You meet the bad guys and they are really bad. There are no redeeming qualities in these men. There is the young pretty Indian maiden and she..well you are starting to see the pattern now aren’t you.

This is an old fashion western in story and characters. It is one you have read many times and there are really no surprises here, but that is not why people read westerns is it? This why I call them comfort food. You know what you are getting going in and you are not disappointed when you leave.

Now the writing style is not smooth. By that I mean the characters are not polished and their actions or the telling of their actions is not smoothly written. I am comparing this to the works of Elmore Leonard and Louis L’Amour. This may not be fair, but they set the standards and they learned their trade from those who wrote westerns before them.

Ralph Compton Books # 54) Bounty Hunter (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Bounty Hunter (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: A bounty hunter is outgunned and under fire in this Ralph Compton western…John Tone was good at his job. Some would say ruthless. If there was killing to be done, Tone showed no mercy. In another time, far across the ocean, he had lost the only person he had ever loved—and he’d been dead inside ever since. That was the hand Fate dealt him, and he would play it out.   But when a powerful criminal from San Francisco’s notorious Barbary Coast makes him an offer he can’t refuse, Tone himself becomes the hunted one. He has to draw out six of his client’s worst enemies—making himself a target for the men he would kill. And against those odds Tone knows he may be loading the six chambers of his Colt for the last time…

A 5-Star Review: I love this book. I am a huge Louis Lamour fan and I think that Ralph Compton is also excellent.

Ralph Compton Books # 55) Fatal Justice (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Fatal Justice (A Ralph Compton Western)  by David Robbins

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, a lawman seeks both retribution and justice—but his time is running out….Years ago, Marshal Asher Thrall shot mad-dog killer Ben Sharkey in the leg to save a fellow lawman. Since then, every crooked step has reminded Sharkey of the man who put a bullet in him. And he’s just repaid the favor to the marshal in spades.  When Ash comes to, he’s all too eager to ride after his nemesis. But time is against him. Because while Sharkey shot three times, the doctor only removed two slugs. The third is still in Ash’s chest—and with every breath, every heartbeat, it is moving closer to ending his life.  Ash knows he’s a walking dead man. But before he dies, he’s going to make sure that Sharkeyis one step ahead of him.  

A 5-Star Review: If you love westerns you will love this book. This book should be made into a movie. If it was done in the 60s Clint Eastewood would be the main character,70s or 80s Sam Elliot would be outstanding. This book is a must read for anyone who love a great western. The sheriff is out to get the man who shot him and he is dying every step of the way looking for the man who is responsible for his death before he dies. Terrific. I got at the thirft store for 50 cents. What a steal.

A Critical Review: Average western drama. Agnostic twist to plot by Compton was disappointing. The ending matches the author’s belief that at the end of life there is nothing to look forward to.

Ralph Compton Books # 56) Stryker’s Revenge (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Stryker's Revenge (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: In this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series, the deepest scars are the ones on a man’s soul…When Lieutenant Steve Stryker learns Rake Pierce is running guns to the Apaches, he sees his chance for vengeance. Pierce disfigured Stryker’s face while escaping from custody, which led to the loss of all Stryker held dear, including his fiancée. Now all Stryker has is his Army command, and his only purpose is to hunt Apaches.   But living for vengeance is no way to live, and despite scars that will never heal, Stryker finds himself starting to care again—for the scout who saved his life, and the woman and child he rescues from the Indians. Steve Stryker may find a reason to go on living after all—but not until he puts Pierce in the cold, hard ground…   

Ralph Compton Books # 57) Death of a Hangman (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Death of a Hangman (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: A former soldier tries to outrun a gang out for blood in this novel in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series.Years ago, Charlie Pike witnessed the horrors of the War Between the States from the losing side. Now, all he wants to do is work his cattle ranch and marry the spirited local schoolmarm. But when his old commanding officer calls him to action, he cannot refuse.Confederate Brigadier General Henry J. Dryden was a blustery, demanding leader—and he saved Pike’s life in the war. After, Dryden became a judge in the wilds of New Mexico Territory. Now he’s dying, and he wants Pike to escort him back to his native Texas. It’s a simple request—and a deadly one. Because the powerful gang leader Clem Dredge wants vengeance on Dryden, who sentenced to his brother to hang. And Charlie Pike is about to find out that paying some debts can cost a man everything… 

A 5-Star Review: Like many from a war the judge tried to be a good lawman but let greed and selfishness get him

Ralph Compton Books # 58) Rusted Tin (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Rusted Tin (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Marcus Galloway

Book Summary: In Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series, every man has a breaking point…Zeke Wolpert is sheriff of Keith County, Nebraska. He doesn’t keep the peace so much as turn a blind eye to the illegal activities of outlaws who pay him for the privilege. Most of his earnings are spent on liquor, and most of his days are spent hungover to the disgust of the county’s honest citizens—and to Zeke himself.   Now the outlaws have set their sights on a Wells Fargo shipment that’s worth a fortune. It’s a chance for Zeke to get enough money to retire from this unsavory business once and for all. But it’s also an opportunity for him to honor the badge he wears by serving the right side of the law…

A 5-Star Review: It is a pleasure to review and report on this product. I found it high quality, was delivered on time and without a doubt the proprietor is great!

A Critical Review: If you like reading Boring Books, then this book is for you, most of Ralph Compton’s books are very good, but I think he wrote this book while he was in the bathroom, I thought it was very Boring, who knows the next person may like it.

Ralph Compton Books # 59) The Burning Range (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton the Burning Range (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: A gambler and a detective are caught in a land war, and the stakes are life or death in this action-packaged Ralph Compton western.The streets of Green Meadow, Oklahoma, are flowing red with blood. At the scene of every grisly murder is a threatening message: Get out! A mysterious villain known as the Fat Man wants the black gold hidden beneath the town, and he’s willing to wipe out every man, woman, and child to get it.Only two men serve up any protection for the endangered citizens: seedy gambler Chauncey Drake and scrappy Pinkerton agent Reuben Withers. Against all odds, these underdogs will fight the Fat Man tooth and nail—and feed him a steady diet of fiery-hot lead and ice-cold revenge….

A 5-Star Review: This was a very good Book, I enjoyed reading it from the start to the finish, I have read quite a few books by this Author, and this is one of his Best, so if you like reading Westerns then you will love reading this Book. 

Ralph Compton Books # 60) The Last Manhunt (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton the Last Manhunt (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: There’s a thin line between the law and the lawless in this Ralph Compton western…Newspaper reporter Lester T. Booker traveled to Santa Fe to interview legendary gunfighter and dime novel hero Ransom March. But the quick-drawing “Prince of the Plains” Booker meets turns out to be little more than an old ex-lawman of questionable moral fiber who doled out death to unsuspecting—and sometimes unarmed—outlaws.   One outlaw who escaped Rance’s brand of justice is the man known as The Gravedigger, who earned his moniker for burying his victims alive. Now, the unrepentant murderer has resurfaced, compelling Rance to come out of retirement and put his old enemy six feet under once and for all.   For Booker, it’s the story of a lifetime—and an education in learning just how the west was really won…

A 5-Star Review: Hard to know where truth ends and legend begins. It was a wild and woolly time that tried men’s souls.

A Critical Review: I thought this was another very Boring book, it took me awhile to read it all the way thru, because I kept falling asleep, Ralph Compton didn’t do any justice when he wrote the book, but hey you never know, the next person may like it.

Ralph Compton Books # 61) The Stranger From Abilene (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton the Stranger From Abilene (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, a man has two targets: the one he’s looking for and the one on his back…Bighorn Point appears to be a quiet town. But when a stranger comes looking for a murderer, it turns out that not all the respectable citizens are what they seem.   Down-on-his-luck rancher Micajah “Cage” Clayton has been hired to track down and kill Lissome Terry—a man who years ago left a path of death, rape, and robbery in his wake. Though he doesn’t know what Terry looks like, Clayton knows his target is in Bighorn Point living under an assumed name, so finding him shouldn’t be too hard.   But when Marshall Will Durant only gives Clayton a week to find his man in a town where everyone knows his deadly purpose, catching the crafty outlaw will be anything but easy…

A 5-Star Review: Another great book from a true artist of the pen. All Ralph’s books are truly western. If you like Louis Lamour you will enjoy this also.

Ralph Compton Books # 62) The Ghost of Apache Creek (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton the Ghost of Apache Creek (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Joseph A. West

Book Summary: A man with nothing left to lose finds a reason to fight in this Ralph Compton western.Requiem, formerly known as Apache Creek, is a town that has seen better days. After a plague of cholera swept through the streets, the only folk left behind are ghosts, including Marshall Sam Pace. Even though he’s still living and breathing, three years of solitude have turned Sam into a phantom—a lonely man that’s more than a little touched in the head.   But when a woman on the run stumbles into Requiem, Sam suddenly finds himself with a purpose. As Jess Leslie’s murderous pursuers track her to Requiem, the former lawman must protect her and make use of gunslinger skills long out of practice…   

A 5-Star Review: This was a good book, was kind of slow at the first, but it started to get better as you delved into the book, would not want to visit that town.

A Critical Review: I like the colorful description of the time and place and circumstances. Was looking for a better outcome than there was. Very disappointed in the ending of this story.

Ralph Compton Books # 63) Dead Man’s Ranch (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Books:  Ralph Compton Dead Man's Ranch (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Matthew P. Mayo

Book Summary: Brian Middleton left his father’s ranch long ago to make his own way. But now, he’s returned to claim the land his late father left him — and learns the hard way that if you want to keep something in the wild West, you have to fight for it. With local lowlifes and shady con-men after the Dancing M ranch, Middleton has no choice but to make a stand….

A 5-Star Review: The Western was a book to hold your attention and I did not want to put it down. I have always enjoyed Compton as an author. I will be ordering more books by this author.

A Critical Review: I hated to give this book even a single star, it is so poorly written, but a star rating was required. I love Ralph Compton, but whoever told Matthew P. Mayo that he could write a western was sadly mistaken. He would be better off writing fictional genealogy! The book seems to be centered on who was the father and/or mother of the characters. I had to give up on the book about half way through. It is not worth the time or money.

Ralph Compton Books # 64) One Man’s Fire (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton One Man's Fire (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Marcus Galloway

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, an outlaw tries to turn his back on crime…Eli had always led the life of an outlaw. Cutting corners and breaking the law, he knows how to get away with pretty much anything—until he’s caught red handed attempting to rob a wagon set out as a trap. Imprisoned and alone, Eli is unsure whether the members of his gang have made it out alive, or if the men behind the disguised wagon are after his life. But he is sure about Lyssa—the beauty who selflessly takes care of him in prison. As Eli struggles to reform his law breaking ways, he is forced to come into terms with the man he has become and who he wants to be…

A 5-Star Review: ralph Compton has made a name by his western novels.One Man’s Fire is a western.Eli is an outlaw
who got by in the past.When his gang attempts to rob a wagon he is abandoned by the gang& is
sent to prison. In prison he meets Lyssa and now wants to change & be a man.I recommend Ralph Comptons
Books to any western fan….

A Critical Review: I have read many of Ralph Compton’s books and this book was a real disappointment. I will still buy and read his books but I hope they aren’t like this one!

Ralph Compton Books # 65) Tucker’s Reckoning (A Ralph Compton Western)

Ralph Compton Tucker's Reckoning (A Ralph Compton Western)  by Matthew P. Mayo

Book Summary: TUCKER’S RECKONINGWinner of the 2013 Spur Award for Best Western Short Novel by the Western Writers of America!WITNESS TO AN EXECUTION Ever since he lost his wife and daughter, Samuel Tucker has wandered, drunk and bereft of a reason to go on. Now, far from his native Texas in Oregon’s Rogue River region, Tucker secretly watches as two men gun down a third. After they leave, he takes the dead man’s pistol and makes it to the next town. There, he learns the identity of the murdered man: Payton Farraday, a well-liked local rancher–and the second Farraday shot to death within the last two years. He also becomes a suspect in the shooting. But Emma Farraday, the victim’s niece, believes in his innocence–and the two must reveal the machinations of some wealthy and powerful men to prove it. If they don’t, Emma could lose the ranch and Tucker could lose his life–just when he’s found a new reason to live…

A 5-Star Review: As suggested by this book’s cover blurb, fans of vintage Westerns, like those written by Louis L’amour, will enjoy it. (I’m one of those vintage Western novel fans.) But the writing style and plot of TUCKER’S RECKONING is fresh and not slavishly derivative. There are some good, gritty, cinematic action scenes that are quite memorable. I was particularly awed by the gut-wrenching, bone-breaking scene in which two men and a horse fall down a slope together. The fight scenes are also very well-written. In addition, the characters are nicely drawn and there are interesting character developments and plot twists that continue right up to the last pages. I give TUCKER’S RECKONING 5 stars and heartily recommend it. It’s one of the best modern Western novels I’ve read.

A Critical Review: Hero was a good man but not as rough and tough as cowboys were rumored to be. Enjoyed it and had hopes for the man in the story that he would rise to the occasion. Easy to read for a little trip into the past.

Ralph Compton Books # 66) Down on Gila River (A Ralph Compton Western)

Down on Gila River

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, a man sets out on the hardest trail of his life… At fifty, cattle driver Sam Sawyer thinks he can finally dust off and retire, maybe open an eating house. But after a pack of Apache ambushes him and leaves him to die in Gila River country, he barely makes it to a remote ranch. The owner, Hanna Stewart, has worked the desert spread with her young daughter ever since her husband went for a ride and never returned. For years, she’s been victimized by the corrupt sheriff of Lost Mine, Vic Moseley. Turns out, Moseley’s evil intentions don’t stop with Hannah Stewart. And things are fixing to get downright bloody. After a lifetime in the saddle, this might be Sam’s last ride…

A 5-Star Review: First book I have read of Ralph Compton. I’m well acquainted with the Gila River in both New Mexico and Arizona. Like all rivers in the southwest, the Gila is now damned up in several places and no longer flows freely like it used to in the 1880’s. Nevertheless, Mr. Compton was able to use the Gila to his advantage in this book, and tell it like it was back in the ‘Olden Days’.

A Critical Review: Not like a Compton store. An attempt at satire.

Ralph Compton Books # 67) Brimstone Trail (A Ralph Compton Western)

Brimstone Trail

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, the road to hell is a short ride….Before hearing the call of the Lord, Paul had seen more than his share of sin—mostly his own. But since he came to minister to the small town of Pueblito Verde, most of what he sees are tamer transgressions. Knowing his own past, Paul believes the occasional mistake doesn’t make someone truly evil. But some men are more evil than others. When the brutal Jack Kerrigan and his band of ruffians hit town, Paul’s new life starts to go bad. Then things go from bad to worse when ruthless bounty hunter Dave Sprole arrives with money and murder on his mind. Now, the town is caught in the crossfire between two cold-blooded killers—and Paul knows that it’s time for him to stand up for what he believes in….

A 5-Star Review: Dad loves westerns. He likes Ralph Compton along with Longarm. He said the Trail series of Compton is really good.

A Critical Review: Could not finish it. So very very boring. No action unless you consider a never ending argument between a sheriff, a preacher and a bounty hunter interesting. This is perhaps 25 pages of content with thin content and the rest argument after argument… I’m not sure that it rates even one star.

Ralph Compton Books # 68) Straight Shooter (A Ralph Compton Western)

Straight Shooter

Book Summary: In this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series, a man’s shot at the bigtime might be the shot that kills him…   Outlaw Wes Cavanaugh knows that crime doesn’t always pay—at least not much. That’s why he and his partner, Mose, are willing to pay Jimmy Stock for information on a job that’s guaranteed to pay off big.   Jimmy’s made a career of selling tips to bandits, but the job he sells Wes—a payroll train about to leave Omaha—requires more than information. It requires a straight shooter who can hit targets from a long distance away…and in the outlaw business, even a straight shooter can’t be trusted.

A 5-Star Review: This was a gift,, but, the recipient seemed plased with it. Our son loves the Ralph Compton books. When he was a teen, western novels were they way we could get him to read. So now I have found another author he likes and he still loves to read the westerns. I look for new dates of publication so I don’t buy one I have already given him!

A Critical Review: This is not one of the better novels i have read it started out about two outlaws then the story went on to about two gun selling merchants then went back to the outlaws almost at the end of novel.
OK but not one i would read again.

Ralph Compton Books # 69) The Hunted (A Ralph Compton Western)

The Hunted

Book Summary: DEAD MAN WALKING   Big Charlie Chilton knows better than to lose his temper, but when a loudmouth threatens to expose his long-buried secrets, he can’t help but teach the man a lesson about being quiet. Unfortunately, it turns out the man was about to make an important supply run for the town’s marshal, and Marshal Watt knows just enough about Shotgun Charlie’s past to draft him into service in his stead. The trek north would be treacherous enough with the snow and the threat of an Indian attack, but the ragtag drunkards running the freighting outfit put Charlie ill-at-ease. When bad blood springs up between them, Charlie is left for dead on the side of the mountain. But they should have made sure he was really gone–because the wounded bear of a man isn’t down for the count, and he’s ready to bring vengeance on those who did him wrong…  

A 5-Star Review: Charlie Chilton was trying to mind his own business but a past acquaintance just wouldn’t leave matters alone. Charlie was a big man and when he hits a man, that person doesn’t get up any time soon. As it turns out the man Charlie put out of commission was a wagon driver for a company delivering food, supplies and equipment to a gold town before the passes got snowed in. The group was joined by two women, one of which was very sick going to the same town. Between the deranged men in the group and two Shoshoni Indians trying to kill them, Charlie and the two women fight for their lives and out of eight people in the wagon train only two survive.

A Critical Review: This is the worst Ralph Compton book I have ever read, it was poorly written not at all the quality of most of his books, the story was fragmented with little to no continuity

Ralph Compton Books # 70) Hard Ride to Wichita (A Ralph Compton Western)

Hard Ride to Wichita

Book Summary: Two friends team up for revenge in this Ralph Compton western…Their friendship started with a schoolyard tussle. Now, the need for revenge is what binds Luke Croft and Red Connover together.   When Luke taught himself how to fire a Colt, he never imagined he’d turn into a gunman. But when his stepfather’s dodgy business dealings turn his life upside down, Luke asks Red to help him destroy the man who murdered his kin.   The road to vengeance is long and hard, and the two friends who are barely out of boyhood will need all the help they can get if they want to catch a cold-blooded killer…

A 5-Star Review: Ralph is one of my favorite western genre authors ranking right there with L’amour and William Johnstone. His books make me feel like I’m back walking through the trails with the characters he creates.

A Critical Review: boring not up to ralphs standard they have to get in to comptons mind and write as he would sorry foger

Ralph Compton Books # 71) The Cheyenne Trail (A Ralph Compton Western)

The Cheyenne Trail

Book Summary: Old friends meet new enemies in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series.Chip Chippendale met Ransom Barnes after the War Between the States, when the two cowboys drove a herd up from Texas together. But when Chip first laid eyes on Wyoming, he knew he was home, and the two friends split off on different trails.Each man went on to own his own ranch, but when Ransom’s home is attacked and burned by a marauding band of Cheyenne warriors, he is faced with ruin—and makes matters worse by gunning down the Cheyenne leader’s son. A target of the most vicious renegade on the high plains, Ransom turns to his old friend Chip. And Chip never forgets his friends—even if it means making a few enemies.

A 5-Star Review: ANY RALPH COMPTON BOOK IS AN EXCELLENT STORY TOLD WITH HISTORICAL ACCURACY!

A Critical Review: Typical western paperback. Entertaining.

Ralph Compton Books # 72) Double Cross Ranch (A Ralph Compton Western)

Double Cross Ranch

Book Summary: LET THE DEAD BURY THE DEAD. Rancher Ty Farraday’s hunt for stray cattle takes a turn for the worse when he discovers a shallow grave and the body of wealthy Alton Winstead, the owner of the Double-Cross Ranch. Ty’s first frantic thoughts are of Winstead’s widow, Sue-Ellen, who picked Alton over him. Unfortunately, she chose poorly. Alton masterminded a crime and left his helpers to swing for it. Hungry for revenge, the murderous headcases have overrun the Double-Cross and are holding Sue-Ellen prisoner. They believe she’s harboring some very important information. Ty boldly rescues her from the ranch–to find their troubles are only beginning….

A 5-Star Review: Ralph Compton has a good book here, if you like esstern novels this is one of his better books in a while, i read about one western book a week and most of the ones I read would only get 3 stars, this one is worth buying , recomend it

A Critical Review: Do not know who wrote this. Main character makes incredibly poor choices. No realistic at all. No redeeming qualities in this work.

Ralph Compton Books # 73) Comanche Trail (A Ralph Compton Western)

Comanche Trail

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, a man rides for vengenace and into danger…Thad Taylor is no one’s idea of a fine man. Usually drunk and shiftless, he’s disapproved of by most—especially his father. But when his father doesn’t return from a trip across the Kansas plains, Thad is the only one who can search for him. And he’s far from ready for the ordeal.Because his father is already dead. He has fallen victim to the bloody Benders—a demented family who lures travelers into their cabin way station only to rob and brutally murder them.Now, for his father’s memory, Thad must hunt the Benders down and deliver them either to the law—or to the grave.

A 5-Star Review: I loved Ralph Compton. Since his death I have read many authors writing for the Ralph Compton Series and Carlton Stowers is one of the best I have read. The setting of the book begins in Kansas but extends to Oklahoma and Texas. A doctor is murdered as he was traveling to visit an uncle. When he turned up missing, his son, who was an alcoholic and had little to do with his father, went to find out what happened. He found his father had been murdered by a family of cut throats who had killing people for their possessions for some time. He began a chase that leads him and his new acquaintance Tater on a wild chase following the cut throats, then Comanches and finally to a large ranch around Waco, TX.
Wonderful story of adventure and romance. Indians, kidnappings, killings, gunfights, and more. Yet, it is pleasingly written with little vulgarity or obscene content. I particularly like that. As you see, I enjoyed the book and recommend it to you.

A Critical Review: Starts off slow then picks up speed. Good story about good outsmarting evil. Characters definitely are fun to follow. Main character unfortunately outshone by his sidekick.

Ralph Compton Books # 74) The Dangerous Land (A Ralph Compton Western)

The Dangerous Land

Book Summary: A father is on the hunt for justice in this Ralph Compton western… Frontier life is hard enough without having kids to worry about—especially for a widower like Paul Meakes. Still, he’s settled where he is and resolved to stay in the small Colorado town his son and daughter call home. So when his daughter is hit by a seemingly poisoned arrow during an Indian raid, Paul is determined to track down the Comanche villains who hurt his little girl—and bring them to justice with the help of Indian hunter Hank Adley, a hired gun who’s got business of his own with the tribe. But when the trail leads from a close call with Indian warriors to a deadly intrigue, Paul discovers that the dangers of the West are far greater and more varied than he ever imagined. And to save his family, he has no choice but to take a stand against them all.… 

A 5-Star Review: The story was totally unexpected. It was not a true cowboy story. The characters were interesting. I would prefer more western action.

A Critical Review: Have read hundreds of western books–Lamour, Johnston, Zane Grey and lot of Comptons. This is really a boring book and more of a lecture on the environmental damage that mining has done. I am reading westerns to escape the every day news. Don’t need to read about it when relaxing.

Ralph Compton Books # 75) Vigilante Dawn (A Ralph Compton Western)

Vigilante Dawn

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, all work and no play makes a man deadly…Jarrett Pekoe cares about two things: his ranch and his family. So when rustlers kill his kin and burn his land to the ground, Jarrett won’t rest until the men responsible have their necks caught in the hangman’s rope. He’s willing to cooperate with the law if it’s on his side—and willing to work outside it if it’s not.   Lem Beauchamp is a stranger with a mysterious ax to grind when it comes to the bandits who razed Jarrett’s ranch. Despite Jarrett’s suspicion of Lem, he isn’t about to refuse the help of an experienced gunman—even if Lem plans to hand out more punishment than the law dictates.   And when the hunt for justice turns deadly, Lem and Jarrett may be the only ones willing to risk everything to defeat the lethal criminals before more innocent lives are lost…

A 5-Star Review: ANOTHER PERSONAL ROUSING STORY OF THE HORSE/ GUN/ CATTLE !!!!!

A Critical Review: Awful, almost from the start. I forced myself to read half–after all I paid for the book–but I gave up. It’s in the recycle bin as I write this. This is not worthy of Ralph Compton’s name.

Ralph Compton Books # 76) Straight to the Noose (A Ralph Compton Western)

Straight to the Noose

Book Summary: A gambler runs out of luck in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series…   Mississippi charmer Abner Mason is a professional gambler and a regular on the Delta Jack, a luxurious riverboat. But luck hasn’t exactly been going Mason’s way. After a disastrous loss at the tables, he owes an impossible debt to the most powerful man on the ship: mysterious, ruthless Cam Greeley. And Greeley’s willing to do whatever it takes to get his fortune back—even threaten Mason’s life.   Now Mason has a single night to raise all the funds to pay off his debt by completing whatever ominous jobs Greeley has waiting for him. He just has to make it through alive…

A 5-Star Review: This is not your typical western, and it was a pleasant surprise. This book is captivating and extremely well written. It is a unique insight and good story concerning riverboat gambling. Even people who don’t generally read westerns should jump on this because it goes beyond the genre.

A Critical Review: I didn’t think it was up to his standard of writing. He writes very good westerns.

Ralph Compton Books # 77) Texas Hills (A Ralph Compton Western)

Texas Hills

Book Summary: A family man takes a deadly drive in this Ralph Compton western…Owen Burnett’s needs are small. All he’s ever wanted is his wife’s affection, his children’s health, and a little plot of land which he can farm. Still, he’s no fool. So when his neighbor Gareth Kurst makes him a business proposition, one that could leave him richer than he’s ever dreamed, he can’t refuse giving the risky scheme a try.Rounding up cattle up in the Texas Hill Country is nothing to take on lightly. Between the Comanches roaming the countryside and the horns of the beasts he’s hunting down, Owen knows every second he spends out in the wild puts his life in plenty of danger. But the greatest threat to his person is one he never expected—his ruthless and conniving business partner, who has no plans of ever sharing his hard-earned cash…

A 5-Star Review: I give all Ralph Compton’s books five stars . I have not read one yet I did not like his books keep you reading to see what happens next. They are all very good.

A Critical Review: Doesn’t really keep you interested.

Ralph Compton Books # 78) Outlaw Town (A Ralph Compton Western)

Outlaw Town

Book Summary: There’s trouble on the trail drive in this pulse-pounding Ralph Compton western.Chancy Gantry and Ollie Teal are honest cowpunchers, riding herd on fifteen hundred longhorns from Texas to Kansas. Their trail boss, Lucas Stout, is tough but fair. He’s never lost a hand on a drive and doesn’t aim to start now. So when a cowhand needs a sawbones bad, Stout sends Chancy and Ollie to escort the man to a town called Prosperity, which none of them has ever heard of.   At first glance, the town looks deserted—but the saloon is full. The dusty denizens of Prosperity are happy to help the ailing cowboy, especially when they hear about the herd grazing a few miles away. Chancy and Ollie are about to discover that some towns are a lot easier to ride into than to ride out of….

Ralph Compton Books # 79) Phantom Hill (A Ralph Compton Western)

Phantom Hill

Book Summary: A ruthless rancher crosses the wrong man in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series…Haunted by memories of the Civil War, Coy Jennings just wants to find work as a ranch hand and to begin saving for a small farm where he could finally enjoy peace and quiet. Arriving in the Texas settlement of Phantom Hill, Coy soon befriends a damaged but likable stable hand by the name of Ira Dalton and hopes for a future with a lovely widowed mother and her eight-year-old daughter.  In order to make the Hill a decent place to settle down, Coy must wage a new kind of war and take a stand against ruthless ranch owner Lester Sinclair, his sadistic sons, and the murderous band of cattle rustlers who work for them. And after the Sinclairs turn on innocent Ira, Coy is driven to seek justice for his trusted friend…cost what it may.

A 5-Star Review: Written by Carlton Stowers. His skill addressing the western novel equals that of Comptom.
Using a real map to position towns and geographical phenomena would lend credibility to the stories.

A Critical Review: Stowers isn’t a bad writer, but I thought this story was a re-hash of so many other Western novels.

Skip this one.

Ralph Compton Books # 80) Reunion in Hell (The Gunfighter Series)

Reunion in Hell (The Gunfighter Series)  by Ralph Compton

Book Summary: A farmer is pulled into the world of outlaws when his estranged brother turns up dead in this new Ralph Compton Western.Brothers Clay and Cal Breckenridge, sons of a hardscrabble East Texas farmer, never did see eye to eye. Clay, the eldest, returned home after the Civil War to help his father run the family farm; Cal deserted his military post and disappeared into a new life with a new name. Everyone knew who was the good son and who was the bad.Clay had almost forgotten his wayward brother until the morning a limping horse approaches the farm with young Cal Breckenridge’s body slumped in the saddle, shot in the back.Vowing to avenge Cal’s death, Clay sets off on a perilous journey across the West to find the man responsible and bring him to justice—and take down an outlaw enterprise in the process.

A 5-Star Review: Typical of the genre, it’s a fast pace story of good over evil. Wholesome, yet, predictable read which is exactly the point of westerns. If you like Louis L’Amour, you’ll enjoy this too.

A Critical Review: Had to quit reading this book about 3/4th of the way. Was interesting in the beginning but then it got slow and boring. Did not finish it..

Ralph Compton Books # 81) Blood of the Hunters (The Gunfighter Series)

Blood of the Hunters (The Gunfighter Series)  by Jeff Rovin

Book Summary: In this compelling new installment of bestseller Ralph Compton’s The Gunfighters series, a man driven by the destruction of his family seeks to protect a woman and her children from a band of desperados.John Stockbridge was once a peaceful man of medicine. Now, he’s better known as Dr. Vengeance, a man who is as fast with a shotgun as any other gunfighter is with a six-gun. The murders of his wife and child left him with an aching hole where his soul once was. His only solace comes from wandering the West. Along the way, he encounters a woman and her two children searching for their missing fur-trapper husband/father in the Rockies. In the process, they run afoul of some foul former Confederates who have amassed money and local power by robbing those traveling west through a mountain pass. While searching for the missing trapper — and aided by a Mexican mountain man and an independent woman who works at the local hotel– Stockbridge must take down the vicious highwaymen one by one.

A 5-Star Review: a fun story to read. enjoyed every page.

A Critical Review: As western novels go, this is a fast pace action packed plot. The dialogue is written well but the details are often clumsy. Often, a scene is described that simply confused the imagination or an unnecessary detail distracts a moment of action. Character development and entrance into the plot is also weak as though the author struggled with the plot and fixed it by adding another character. There are many other Louis L’Amour or Ralph Compton books to enjoy beside this one. 

Ralph Compton Books # 82) Broken Rider (The Gunfighter Series)

Broken Rider (The Gunfighter Series)

Book Summary: In this exciting new Ralph Compton western, a man without a memory meets an unforgettable ally: the one and only Bat Masterson.Riding into the town of Smoky River on a mangy mule, Dane looks as broken down as his old mount. His Stetson is ragged, his boots are tied together with leather thongs, and he wears a Colt Army revolver with exactly three bullets. He wouldn’t know what to say if you asked him where he got the gun, or how he learned to shoot it so well. He doesn’t know if Dane is his first name or his last. Something happened that cost him much of his memory, and he can’t remember what that something was. For three years he’s been traveling the West as a cowboy, a buffalo hunter, a farmhand. Smoky River looks to be a fine place to settle down. If only his past didn’t decide to catch up to him here. . .

A 5-Star Review: Although I have read a lot of non-fiction Western history, I haven’t read much Western fiction. I liked this book and am going to look into buying more Compton titles.

Ralph Compton Books # 83) Death Valley Drifter (The Gunfighter Series)

Death Valley Drifter (The Gunfighter Series)  by Jeff Rovin

Book Summary: In this thrilling new installment in bestseller Ralph Compton’s The Gunfighter series, a man wakes with no memory of who he is—or why someone wants him dead. A gunman without a gun wakes up in Death Valley. He has no recollection of how he got there, or even his own name. He’s a dead man walking until his luck turns. He stumbles upon the homestead of a widow and her young son who nurse him back to health.    But in the desert good deeds come at a cost. The amnesiac is being trailed by hard men who want answers he doesn’t have. First a group of gunslingers, then a troop of soldiers threaten the innocent family. Their only hope of rescue is the very man who got them in this predicament.    But how can he help them when he doesn’t even know who he is? At least the men who want to kill him seem to know his name. Maybe they’ll put it on his gravestone.

A 5-Star Review: Plenty of good old Western action

Ralph Compton Books # 84) Return to Gila Bend (The Gunfighter Series)

Return to Gila Bend (The Gunfighter Series)  by Carlton Stowers

Book Summary: In this breathless new installment in bestselling author Ralph Compton’s the Gunfighter series, an ex-con fights to free his hometown from the clutches of a greedy land baron.When twenty-five-year-old Lewis Taylor is released from the Texas State Prison, he receives little attention as he walks into the midday sunlight, free after serving five years for a crime he didn’t commit.  His only interest is in getting back to his hometown of Gila Bend, Texas, a quiet farming community about which he has only warm, idyllic memories. During his long years in prison, he survived by thinking fondly of the home he’d known since boyhood—and of one special girl, Darla Winslow.What he finds instead is a town dramatically changed. Once a happy and carefree place to live, it is now populated by people who are angry and afraid. One man, Captain Archer Ringewald, has taken control of the town, and now he’s turning the townspeople, even Darla, against Taylor. Can one ex-con single-handedly save an entire town?

A 5-Star Review: I am 76 and have loved Westerns since I was a kid and still do. This one had excitement and well written.

Ralph Compton Books # 85) Ride for Justice (The Gunfighter Series)

Ride for Justice (The Gunfighter Series)  by Robert J. Randisi

Book Summary: In this fast-paced new installment in bestseller Ralph Compton’s The Gunfighter series, a man wrongly convicted of a crime is out of jail and looking for vengeance.Matt Wheeler was a legend in the West. His fast gun and dedication for justice made him a sought-after lawman for hire, but all of that vanished one dark night. Matt was convicted of murder for killing the man who killed his woman. Now he’s spent his time in jail and is looking to even the score against the men who set him up.

A 5-Star Review: worth reading and a really great read.

A Critical Review: This is one of the most poorly written books I have ever read. Absolutely devoid of any type of verbal illustration. This hack really really tarnishes Ralph Compton.

Ralph Compton Books # 86) Ride the Hammer Down (The Gunfighter Series)

Ride the Hammer Down (The Gunfighter Series)

Book Summary: In this racing new installment in bestseller Ralph Compton’s the Gunfighter series, Marshal John Beck is a man who has spent his career dispensing justice throughout the West, but now the justice is personal. Marshal John Beck was the law in the dangerous town of Mother Lode, Arizona. On his own, he’d managed to keep bandits, rustlers, and desperados at bay. It was a tough job for one man to handle, but he made it work…until the day Bram Hogan and his Brickhouse Gang got the drop on the lawman. They beat Beck to within an inch of his life and dropped him in the desert where nothing but a slow, painful death awaited him. But the gang underestimated Beck. Even at his lowest point, he found a way to survive. Now, he’s coming back and anyone who stands against him is going to ride the hammer down to the grave.

A 5-Star Review: Very enjoyable reading I ordered 4 more books by this author. Stories are very good and seem very real bringing you back to the old west.

A Critical Review: Not a page turner. It’s a sentence on each page. Wish I hadn’t of spent money on it. 

Ralph Compton Books # 87) Frontier Medicine (The Gunfighter Series)

Frontier Medicine (The Gunfighter Series)

Book Summary: A man with a hidden past doles out a dangerous dose of frontier medicine in this new western in Ralph Compton’s Gunfighter series. Young doctor Gabriel Kincaid has come west to help an aging colleague who is straining to deal with the demands of a growing town, but Kincaid is looking to do more than just experience the challenges of frontier medicine. He’s determined to start a new life.But the trials he faces aren’t confined to the doctor’s surgery. After an incident in a saloon, Gabe finds himself with a new nickname: Dr. Death. It’s dangerous to have a reputation as a good man with a gun. In this world, there will always be someone who wants to test you.The West has a way of revealing a man’s true character, but it can also expose secrets that are best left hidden.

A 5-Star Review: author Ralph Compton’s legacy lives on as a house name, and his publisher has recruited stellar writers to byline his recent releases. Robert Randisi, the writer here, is a terrific storyteller with a gift for creating compelling characters that are fleshed out in the third person by spirited conversations and dialogue. Descriptive prose is light and there is plenty of action. Page one starts with a little girl on a train choking on a bullet and the action and dialogue never let up, making it a difficult book to put down. The characters really shine here with the earnest young doctor, the cantankerous old doctor, and several female characters bringing rich personas to life. There are no sex, gore, or cussing making this suitable for all readers. I liked it a lot. Recommended.

Ralph Compton Books # 88) Face of a Snake (The Gunfighter Series)

Face of a Snake (The Gunfighter Series)  by Bernard Schaffer

Book Summary: The latest thrilling installment in Ralph Compton’s bestselling Gunfighter series.The law only caught up with the Venom Snakes and their bitter rivals, the Red Trail Gang, because they were so busy killing each other.Now, after twenty years in prison, Ashford Sinclair is broke and broken. Without his gang behind him, the once fearsome leader of the Snakes is reduced to eking out a solitary living as a fur trapper. One day, news comes that his son William has married the daughter of Henry Odell, erstwhile leader of the Red Trail Gang.Furious at his son’s betrayal, Sinclair vows he’ll never speak to him again. But when William is murdered in a land dispute and a gang of hired guns starts threatening his grandson next, Sinclair has no choice but to join forces with his most hated enemy—as the two outlaw grandpas ride for justice!

A 5-Star Review: What a great read! All the great Western tropes–including outlaws creating a new life, a mountain man, some power-mad sheriffs, the greedy villain after the widow’s ranch–but with strong female characters and snappy dialogue all around. The story moves along at a good pace and keeps you guessing.

Ralph Compton Books # 89) Dalton’s Justice (The Gunfighter Series)

Dalton's Justice (The Gunfighter Series)  by Carlton Stowers

Book Summary: In this compelling new installment of bestselling author Ralph Compton’s Gunfighter series, Marshal Ben Dalton travels to Fort Worth to prove an old friend innocent of murder.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 to come to Fort Worth, where her lawyer husband has been arrested for murder. Without a second’s hesitation, Dalton heads to the big city, where he will discover that the forces who want Rawlings convicted won’t hesitate to commit a second murder to silence a visiting lawman.

A 5-Star Review: Very good book. Well worth reading. A little different western. Written by Carlton Stowers under the Ralph Compton franchise. Hopefully Stowers will be forthcoming more books in the future.

Ralph Compton Books # 90) Shot to Hell (The Gunfighter Series)

Shot to Hell (The Gunfighter Series)  by Jackson Lowry

Book Summary: A deadly marksman is on the hunt to find his missing sister in this exhilarating new Ralph Compton Western. One terrible day, fifteen-year-old Leif Gunnarson comes home to find his family home on fire and a gruesome scene inside: his parents are tied up, on the brink of death among the hellish flames, and his sister is nowhere to be found. His father can barely gasp a name: Simkins. And with that, Leif has his life’s mission—to track down Luther Simkins, notorious outlaw and gang leader, and find his sister. Along the way, Leif finds a temporary home in Wyoming Bob’s Wild West Show. He has an innate talent with firearms but needs to hone those skills until he can outshoot anyone, even Simkins. Touring the West as the star performer known as Trickshot, Leif finally gets wind of an outlaw who could lead him to his sister. It will be the most important showdown of his life—but will his sharpshooting be a match for the shocking tricks the outlaw has up his sleeve?

Ralph Compton Books # 91) Hell Snake (The Gunfighter Series)

Hell Snake (The Gunfighter Series)  by Bernard Schaffer

Book Summary: In the latest thrilling installment in Ralph Compton’s Gunfighter series, a cult leader embarks on a murderous mission.   A Native American woman has been abducted and Indian Police Officer Edwin Folsom is determined to find her. Although despised by his people for working for the U.S. government, he is descended from a long line of proud native warriors, and he vows that the kidnapper will pay dearly.   Witnesses say the victim was taken by a group of white men in thrall to a holy man, but John Deacon is anything but holy. He has led The Cult of Penitence to this valley in Oklahoma looking to avenge himself on the man who gave him the scar disfiguring his face. Enraged to learn Ash Sinclair is dead, he concocts a deranged new plan: one that requires the blood of Sinclair’s young grandson, Connor.   With local law enforcement arrayed against him, Folsom has only Sinclair’s family to help him stop Deacon before his insane ritual is completed…

A 5-Star Review: a story worth reading. different kind of story ,but worth the time.

Ralph Compton Books # 92) The Wrong Side of the Law (The Gunfighter Series)

The Wrong Side of the Law (The Gunfighter Series)  by Robert J. Randisi

Book Summary: In this fast-paced new installment in bestselling author Ralph Compton’s Gunfighter series, a bandit who takes the identity of a dead lawman finds that the best place to hide is in plain sight. Jake Polk is a wanted man. He’s spent years on the wrong side of the law staying one step ahead of the marshals. His most recent stage robbery ends with a posse hot on his trail. He’s opened up just enough room to take a breather when he stumbles upon something astonishing. It’s the body of a man resting peacefully next to a burned-out campfire. It’s clear the man died in his sleep of natural causes. This is the chance Jake has been waiting for. According to a letter in the man’s saddlebag, he’s Marshall Owen Dent, on his way to the town of Riverbend to take over as the local lawman. Jake switches identities to avoid the posse, but what starts out as a quick means of escape may have deeper consequences when Jake considers making the change permanent.

A 5-Star Review: great story worth reading 

Ralph Compton Books # 93) The Devil’s Snare (The Gunfighter Series)

the Devil's Snare (The Gunfighter Series)  by Tony Healey

Book Summary: Two strangers unite to avenge their families’ murders in this gripping new installment of bestselling author Ralph Compton’s Gunfighter series.   The grisly murder of Glendon Hart and his family conveniently paves the way for a wealthy Amity Creek rancher to expand his empire of pastures and cattle. But the arrival in town of Glendon’s sister, Myra, throws a spanner in the works when she refuses to bow to Jack Denton’s increasingly intimidating demands to sell him her homestead.   Sixteen years earlier, on a snow-locked Nebraska farm, a band of outlaws executed Ethan Harper’s family before his young eyes. Ethan vowed bloody revenge against the men responsible, and after years of searching the trail has brought him to Amity Creek, where he and Myra gradually discover they share a common enemy, an elusive villain with a trio of murderous minions to do his bidding. Together, they must devise a plan to lure Denton into a deadly trap—and send the devil back to hell….

A 5-Star Review: this was one the best stories i have ever read.

Ralph Compton Books # 94) Guns of the Greenhorn (The Gunfighter Series)

Guns of the Greenhorn (The Gunfighter Series)  by Matthew P. Mayo

Book Summary: Highly educated—and totally clueless—young Fletcher Ralston inherits a brothel and his thieving father’s deadly enemy in this suspenseful new novel in Ralph Compton’s Gunfighter series. Young dandy Fletcher Ralston’s privileged life of education and ease in the East comes to an abrupt end when he’s summoned to the dried-up Wyoming town of Promise to inherit a run-down bordello and a lifetime of debts. The old woman he’s known only via correspondence as his “aunt” is in truth the madam of the brothel. After their meeting, she is found with her throat slit, and Fletcher is suspect number one. But the old lady’s paramour, crusty Gunnar Tibbs, believes in his innocence and sets about mentoring the tenderfoot. Fletcher is a quick study with the revolver, and the unlikely pair set out to clear Fletcher’s name and track down the real killer. What they don’t know is that someone is stalking them in return: Skin Varney, the notorious, unsavory brute his father double-crossed years before. Fletcher Ralston has to learn the ways of the West, and fast. Or he’ll die with his spats on.

Ralph Compton Books # 95) Blood on the Prairie (The Gunfighter Series)

Blood on the Prairie (The Gunfighter Series)  by Tony Healey

Book Summary: An infamous gunslinger finds his vow to reform put to the test in this exciting installment in Ralph Compton’s bestselling Gunfighter series. Twenty years ago, Sherman Knowles was notorious as a fearsome shootist with an itchy trigger finger and a hot temper. Now he resides in peaceful Elam Hollow, his gunslinging days far behind him. He hasn’t fired a weapon in over a decade and is happy for that to be the end of the matter.   Then he receives a visit from his brother’s widow, asking for his help in finding his kidnapped niece, and Sherman is left with no choice but to pick up his guns once more and head out into the wilderness to rescue her before it’s too late. But you cannot escape the past, and Sherman soon finds the ghosts of yesterday waiting for him on the bleak, unforgiving prairie…

Ralph Compton Books # 96) Die Trying (The Gunfighter Series)

Die Trying (The Gunfighter Series)  by Tony Healey

Book Summary: Two bandits are forced to put aside their rivalry to find a hidden cache of gold in this suspenseful installment in Ralph Compton’s bestselling Gunfighter series.   Outlaws. Assassins. Thieves.   That is how Chris Burr and Katie Roper are known. Ordinarily they’re enemies and competitors. But when they each find themselves in possession of half a map that will lead them to a fortune in hidden gold, they’re left with no choice but to work together. Their alliance is tenuous at best, and what begins as a tentative, untrusting partnership will soon become a game of cat and mouse through a sun-scorched land ravaged by the fiery conflict of the civil war.   As Chris and Katie learn that survival may depend on trusting each other, they are pursued across the desert by both a sheriff and a relentless, cold-blooded killer. With their fortunes and futures hanging in the balance, the hunters and the hunted find themselves on a collision course that will culminate in a final, deadly reckoning!

Ralph Compton Books # 97) North to the Salt Fork (A Ralph Compton Western)

North to the Salt Fork

Book Summary: In this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series, a Civil War veteran learns the fight isn’t over… Captain Jack Starr served the Confederate cause with honor for four years. The Texas town of Lost Dog Creek promised an opportunity for the war veteran to rebuild his life—and a woman to share it with. But not everyone is willing to roll out the welcome wagon for Jack.   Hiram Sawyer has designs on every inch of cattle range in the surrounding territory and he isn’t about to let some ex-reb steal the heart of the widow whose ranch he covets. With men on both sides of the law willing to do his bidding, Sawyer begins a campaign to destroy Jack.   But he’s just declared war on the wrong man…More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A 5-Star Review: This was one of the best western books I have ever read. And I read a lot of western books.

Ralph Compton Books # 98) Slaughter Canyon (A Ralph Compton Western)

Slaughter Canyon (A Ralph Compton Western)

Book Summary: In this classic Ralph Compton western, Uncle Sam wants a lawman to become an outlaw….Deputy U.S. Marshal Matt Battles is being blackmailed—by President Chester A. Arthur. The commander in chief needs someone to discover why Hatfield J. Warful is gathering every notorious gunslinger in the West at his home in Slaughter Canyon. Thanks to a falsified news report planted by the Secret Service, Battles is now wanted for robbery and murder, leaving him no choice but to infiltrate Warful’s gang by posing as an outlaw on the run.But Warful’s trigger-happy gunfighters share some unpleasant history with the supposed ex-Marshal, and they don’t care which side of the law he’s on. And if Battles doesn’t have enough worries being targeted by both lawman and outlaw alike, failing his mission could result in a second Civil War….   More Than Eight Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A 5-Star Review: Ralph Compton’s westerns are all good and this one didn’t disappoint me. He has lots going on and they get in a jam you wonder now how are they going to get out of this. Lots of twists and turns to keep you reading. His books have a happy endings.

Ralph Compton Books # 99) The Law and the Lawless (A Ralph Compton Western)

The Law and the Lawless

Book Summary: The USA Today bestselling Ralph Compton series continues as a lawman goes up against a gang of uncommon criminals… When a bunch of ruffians rob a bank in the sleepy town of Alpine, it’s only natural for the locals to be alarmed. But this gang and its leader, Cestus Calloway, are a different breed of outlaw. In fact, Cestus is known as the Robin Hood of the Rockies, distributing his loot to those less fortunate, raining stolen money down on the townsfolk. As if that weren’t too good to be true, this gang holds to one important rule: steal but don’t kill… All Alpine’s Marshal, Boyd Cooper, wants is a nice retirement, not to get a posse together to track outlaws. However, when an altercation leads to the exchange of gunfire and the spilling of outlaw blood, he doesn’t have much of a choice. The outlaws fear their reputation might be at stake, so they declare revenge on the tin stars of Alpine. They’re mad enough to break their own no kill rule, and Boyd Cooper knows things could end as bloody as they started…More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print! 

A 5-Star Review: An outlaw gang that is reputed to be non violent and downright generous, throwing money to folks as they escape. You’d never believe that after reading this page turner written by David Robbins!

There’s revenge, violence and romance in this novel. An entertaining and well written story with memorable characters like Mad Dog Hanks, Cestus Calloway and Sheriff Boyd to name a few!

Excellent entry in the COMPTON series written by David Robbins!

A Critical Review: not enough story, to much description of landscape and so on. will not buy his books again.

Ralph Compton Books # 100) North To The Bitterroot: With a Winchester, a Wagon and a Bowie Knife, They Were the Men Who Opened the Wild Frontier… (The Sundown Riders Book 1)

North To The Bitterroot: With a Winchester, a Wagon and a Bowie Knife, They Were the Men Who Opened the Wild Frontier... (The Sundown Riders Book 1)

Book Summary: Between Kansas City and Montana Territory were a thousand ways to die-and a few bold men who would never turn back.Miners dug for fortunes. Soldiers died on open plains. And a few brave men drove the wooden freight wagons into the wild land. Now, master Western novelist Ralph Compton tells the real story of the touch-as-leather men who carried supplies, guns and gold into the untamed frontier.Dutch Siringo rose from modest beginnings and proved his skill with a team of horses and a gun. Betrayed by a woman, hunted by a desperate man, Dutch led a group of hard-fighting teamsters where no other shippers would go-through the heart of the Sioux territory, into the teeth of winder along the murderous Bozeman Trail. Now, between Fort Kearny and the mining camps in the Bitterroot Mountains, Dutch and his teamsters faced Montana blizzards, hungry wolves and the kind of enemies you have to bury to outrun.

A 5-Star Review: Great saga of the hardships encountered in freighting goods in the dead of winter from Missouri to the Bitterroot mountains. Excellent character development from merchants, teamsters, Indians, and all kinds of shady outlaws looking to steal whatever they can. Compton puts you right in the howling blizzards, and makes you feel the 20 degrees below zero numbing temperatures. You can feel the crunch of the frozen snow, the freezing of exposed skin, and the desperation realized when you can go no further on the trail. Based in fact, you feel the fear of a miner leaving the gold fields, know a number of outlaws will try to take your gold on the trail, and your life if you fall. A significantly different story altogether from the usual dusty cowboy and Indian tales.

Ralph Compton Books # 101) Across the Rio Colorado (The Sundown riders)

Across the Rio Colorado (The Sundown riders)  (2000-01-01)

Book Summary: Across rivers of blood and plains of tears, he led a wagon train toward a country fighting to be born. . .

Miners dug for fortunes. Soldiers died on open plains. And a few brave men drove the wooden freight wagons into the wild land. Now, master Western novelist Ralph Compton tells the real story of the tough-as-leather men who first blazed the way into the untamed frontier.

Texas! For the pioneers who streamed out of Missouri it was a land of dreams and freedom. Veteran wagon boss Chance McQuade, a man deadly with a pistol and Sharps, had signed on to take a hundred families there. But the man who hired McQuade was joining the wagon train, and turning it into a brawling, rolling city of sin and violence. Now, on the hard drive West, McQuade faces Kiowa, lightening storms, and killers behind his back-all to reach a promised land that’s erupting into war.

A 5-Star Review: Excellent western novel written by Ralph Compton good storyline once you start reading it it hard to put down. Would recommend.

Ralph Compton Books # 102) The Winchester Run (Sundown Riders, No.3)

The Winchester Run (Sundown Riders, No.3)

Book Summary: On a frontier torn by war and renegades, they carried a cargo more valuable than gold…

Miners dug for fortunes. Soldiers died on open plains. And a few brave men drove the wooden freight wagons into the wild land. Now, master Western novelist Ralph Compton tells the real story of the tough-as-leather men who blazed the way into the untamed frontier.

Once they drove longhorns. Now Mac Tunstall and his band of Texans must take a shipment of Winchesters by rail and wagon all the way to the U.S. Army in Austin. But from the moment the wagoneers set out, violence and treachery stalk their trail. From Dodge to the Brazos, half the outlaws on the frontier are aiming to get hold of an arsenal that could blow the West wide open. And Mac and his men don’t see one danger until it’s too late-four beautiful, headstrong women determined to share a trail of courage and tears all the way to the end.

A 5-Star Review: Yet another super read from the Ralph Compton franchise…

Ralph Compton Books # 103) Devil’s Canyon (The Sundown Riders)

Devil's Canyon (The Sundown Riders)

Book Summary: A crew of gunslingers take on a deadly challenge in this Ralph Compton western. They are four hired guns who haul freight for a price into the treacherous, untamed wilderness. Having already risked their lives for the Confederacy, now they’re fighting for themselves—and for a stake in the future—on the great frontier. Led by the poker-playing Faro Duval, these soldiers of fortune are about to take the biggest gamble of all: delivering an explosive cargo from Santa Fe to southwestern Utah. Their destination is Devil’s Canyon…and a mountain of gold. But there’s a wild card in the crew: a man who is one jump ahead of an unsavory past and one piece of silver away from selling them out. In a land of savage outlaws and hostile Utes, with a rattlesnake named Hal Durham in their midst, Duval and his men are running out of time and out of luck… More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A 5-Star Review: Another great read from Ralph Compton.

Faro Duvall must lead five wagons of supplies to a gold strike in Utah. The claim is being kept under wraps by Levi Collins, who came to Santa Fe looking for teamsters with the sand to haul his goods through an unforgiving frontier wilderness filled with hostile Ute Indians, outlaws, and claim jumpers. If they manage to reach their destination, the reward would be beyond their wildest dreams…

A Critical Review: Unfortunately, Ralph Compton’s writing is being compared to Louis L’amour but whoever is making the comparison forgot one important characteristic of L’amour: he knew what and where he was writing about. For example, Compton would have the reader believe that the Colorado River in the deep canyons of Utah can be bridged in one-two days with (in reality) non-existent timber and that the Green River seems to run east-west. The dialogue is terribly simplistic. The characters are poorly developed and often inconsistent. The ending reveals no satisfactory (believable?)tension or resolution in the story line which practically dissolves before you can even turn the pages.

Ralph Compton Books # 104) Whiskey River (Sundown Riders, Book 5)

Whiskey River (Sundown Riders, Book 5) (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: The war is over, but the fight has just begun in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series.They came back from the war, and their land was gone. The Texas soil they’d nourished with years of backbreaking work had been snatched away. And in a moment of fury at this Yankee plunder, Mark Rogers and Bill Harder cut down a pair of tax collectors…and wound up behind bars in Fort Worth.   But then the former Confederate soldiers are offered a choice: they can face their sentences—or infiltrate a gang of whiskey runners who’ve been evading the law between St. Louis and Fort Smith. If they succeed, they’ll gain their freedom…and their confiscated land.   But when they meet up with Wolf Estrello and his fellow bandits, they just might wish they’d taken their chances with the firing squad…   More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A 5-Star Review: Terrific! Ralph Compton is a great Western Writer!

A Critical Review: This was the first Ralph Compton book I could not finish. I usually really enjoy his work. Simply put this was a very boring read.

Ralph Compton Books # 105) Skeleton Lode (The Sundown Riders Series)

Skeleton Lode (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: The chase is on and the stakes are high in this western in Ralph Compton’s USA Today bestselling series.They’re ex-cowpunchers looking to strike it rich—and not having much success.  When they deliver a wagon of scotch to a shantytown saloon, the bartender drops dead before paying. No sooner do they take over the bar as payment than it burns to the ground. The cloud above Arlo Wells and Dallas Holt has no silver lining…   They finally get a break when they receive a message from an old friend, along with a map. It seems the grizzled prospector finally hit the mother lode in the Superstitious Mountains, only to die shortly thereafter.  His last wish was for the two boys to find his beloved nieces and share the claim with them—easy money, except for a few minor problems… Like the despicable stepfather who’s got the nieces, a gang of hired gunmen, and the other half of the map and the Apaches who’ll slaughter anyone daring to tread the ground of their sacred mountains. For Arlo and Dallas, this lucky break may be the worst thing ever to happen to them…   More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A 5-Star Review: Excellent reading. If your a fan of great western reading then you’ll really like this book. It will hold your interest to the very end

Ralph Compton Books # 106) Demon’s Pass (Sundown Riders, No.7)

Demon's Pass (Sundown Riders, No.7)  by Robert Vaughan

Book Summary: Two men brave the unforgiving frontier in this western in Ralph Compton’s Sundown Riders series. Parker Stanley’s family had a dream: to start a new life in the Far West. But en route, a Cheyenne band slaughters his parents and abducts his sister, leaving him for dead. Then a cowboy named Clay Springer rides to the rescue—and comes up with an idea. He’s got a team ready to deliver goods to the Mormons in Utah, but he’s short on funds for supplies. He knows that Parker managed to hold on to his family’s savings, so he suggests a fifty-fifty partnership. With a three-wagon, seven-man team, Parker and Clay will traverse the barren land to find a secret mountain pass that will save them three hundred miles on their journey. But out in the wilderness, Parker’s sister needs saving—and he has vowed to find her.More Than Eight Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A 5-Star Review: Like every book by Vaughn I’ve read, this one is dead on. It’s not one to pick up if you don’t have time to read until the last page…a true page turner. From the first paragraph, when the worst kind of trouble visits a young man, the drama and conflict grows to a climax that will leave you gasping, and sorry it’s over. Don’t miss this one if you love the west and great western writing. Another one inch group by a true marksman.

A Critical Review: I couldn’t even make it through 3 chapters before I had to stop reading this book, this has to be one of the worst books I’ve ever (started to) read. It reads like something a 14 year old would come up with. Horrible plot, horrible characterization and ridiculous dialog.

Ralph Compton Books # 107) Runaway Stage (Sundown Riders, No. 8)

Runaway Stage (Sundown Riders, No. 8)  by Robert Vaughan

Book Summary: Quince Fremont, wanted for a crime he did not commit; Rachel Kincaid, en route to her family’s ranch from Boston; and Damon Parker, a notorious gambler, find their fates tied to the journey of a single stagecoach that is carrying $100,000.

A 5-Star Review: From the beginning when Quince Fremont escapes prison to clear his name from a crime he did not commit RUNAWAY STAGE is filled with gunsmoke and action….equally the best book I have read about a stage coach trip. RUNAWAY STAGE is filled with memorable characters including Damon Parker a gambler that hides a surprising past that emerges in the surprising ending. Also on the stage is Rachel Kincaid who has never lost faith in Quince’s innocence. RUNAWAY STAGE is a MUST READ for western fans.

Ralph Compton Books # 108) Do or Die: A Ralph Compton Novel

Do or Die

Book Summary: When two down-on-their-luck ranch hands team up and decide to become bounty hunters, they soon learn that the job is much harder than it looks when they go after one of the most wanted outlaws in the West, a mission that could cost them their lives. Original.

A 5-Star Review: Great old western underdogs some how. win and redemption for the old person who was past his prime. Good read before bed.

Ralph Compton Books # 109) Nowhere, TX: A Ralph Compton Novel (Sundown Riders)

Nowhere, TX: (Sundown Riders)  by David Robbins

Book Summary: The townspeople of Nowhere, Texas, band together to overthrow the ruthless gangs of thieves, outlaws, and desperadoes that have plagued their town for far too long. Original.

A 5-Star Review: Good story of how people who are struggling to get by can be so mis led by evil men. Even a good innocent girl.

A Critical Review: Nowhere, TX. is sort of not quite in the state of Texas and Okalhoma is not a state yet. Nowhere is just that, no man’s land. The very small town is not under anyone’s juristiction, and the sheriff was crippled at Gettysburg and has only one working hand. He doesn’t carry a gun, and drinks too much. A band of deperados, led by a large man named Blackjack, decide that this is the perfect town for them. The author has a way with words and settings, but drags the most unseemly elements he can think of into his story. One of the outlaws is a young man who is such a psycopathic serial killer that Hannibal from Silence of the Lambs would have been proud. This is a very bloody book, resulting in the deaths of most of the main characters. I found it too dark and depressing.

Ralph Compton Books # 110) Bucked Out in Dodge (Sundown Riders, No. 11)

Bucked Out in Dodge (Sundown Riders, No. 11)

Book Summary: Four men–Jess Donner, a Rebel and Southern gentleman; Steve Ellsworth, a ladies man with a foul temper; Stu Wilkens, a Yankee; and Heck Myers, a teller of tall tales–find their friendship sorely tested by a dance hall girl and a gang of outlaws. Original.

A 5-Star Review: David Robbins was apparently taken on by the Compton Estate to continue writing “Compton” westerns, which is a shame because if Compton himself could read this one: yikes! (Well, you get the idea.) Robbins does have quite a flair for amusing dialog and some of his other “Compton” books are acceptable I guess, but unless you like blood, guts, and gore galore, take a pass on this disaster. Personally, I could see nothing in it to recommend. (Nor probably will you). Be warned therefore….

Ralph Compton Books # 111) West of Pecos: A Ralph Compton Novel

West of Pecos

Book Summary: When two Civil War veterans from opposing sides–Jed Adams and Tom Waldron–settle in the Guadalupe Mountains, they must cast aside their differences when their homes and families are threated by Indians and outlaws. Original.

A 5-Star Review: I discovered Ralph Compton about two months ago and I have been reading nothing but his books. I have yet to read one I didn’t like and this is no exception.

A Critical Review: It had an ok story line, interesting character development and good descriptive passages. I would recommend it for light, easy reading

 

Ralph Compton Books # 112) Tin Star (The Sundown Riders Series)

Tin Star (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: A man rides a path of vengeance in this all-new Ralph Compton Western in the Sundown Riders series. Luke Hadley never imagined he would be left for dead with a chest full of bullets on the day of his wedding. All he wanted to do was tend to his farm with his new wife, Audrey, and begin their lives together. But when the Rhodes Gang crashes his wedding party, they wreak havoc and abduct his bride, leaving the lifeless bodies of his guests. Luke has only a sparse trail of clues to follow, but with help from a phony Pinkerton badge and a mysterious woman with many skills—including breaking him out of jail—he finally rides down those who’ve wronged him….“The greatest Western writer of them all.”—The Tombstone Epitaph

A 5-Star Review: This is a typical – action packed with lots of slang – Western novel but there is an interesting plot twist. I can’t say more without giving away the surprise. 

Ralph Compton Books # 113) The Wolves of Seven Pines (The Sundown Riders Series)

The Wolves of Seven Pines (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: A brand new, wild and thrilling Western in Ralph Compton’s Sundown Riders series!His wife is gone to tuberculosis, his reputation was lost in the war, most of his life has already passed by, and now even his horse has been taken by colic. All Carpenter has left are the men from his Army company. During the journey to California to reunite with them, he strikes up a friendship with Rafael Silva, an educated man making for the same town to start up a rifle factory. When they arrive, Carpenter’s former brothers-in-arms actually try to run Silva out of town, despite the much needed factory. There’s trouble afoot, and Carpenter has to choose between his new friend and the ones who stood with him through the war. His old comrades just aren’t who they used to be but, then, neither is he.

A 5-Star Review: To me maybe not as good as William Johnstone but still a good read.

A Critical Review: This was not very book as far as I’M concerned.

Ralph Compton Books # 114) Never Bet Against the Bullet (The Sundown Riders Series)

Never Bet Against the Bullet (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: In this thrilling new Ralph Compton Western, the fate of a small town rests in the hands of a gambler who’s ready to risk more than money. The people of Meridian, Colorado, live and die by coal mining, and when the railroad bypasses them, their livelihood is in peril. However, they discover that for a hefty sum of money they can create a spur line and save the town. A hefty sum that the town does not have. Their only hope is former gambler Asa Newcombe. The townspeople pool their money so Newcombe can enter the big poker game in Golden Junction, and as much as he wants to leave his past life behind, the whole town is counting on him. Winning the big pot will burnish his reputation, but his goal is simple: Get the money and get out alive. His opponents include wealthy ranchers, tinhorn gamblers, and men who are outright criminals—and many of them will stop at nothing to make their fortune, even if they have to cheat, drug, or kill to do so….

A 5-Star Review: well written and lots of twists and turns. a book you couldn’t put down. a must read.

Ralph Compton Books # 115) Lost Banshee Mine (The Sundown Riders Series)

Lost Banshee Mine (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: Two struggling miners may have just found their ticket to fortune—if they can keep it—in this riveting new Ralph Compton Western. England Dan Rutledge and his partner John Cooley have worked their claim for a year and are barely eking out a living. When Cooley shows up with a map of the abandoned Irish Lord Mine he drunkenly bought off a shady cowboy, England Dan is sure it’s a complete fraud. After all, no one knows what happened to the most valuable gold mine in the Superstition Mountains after a banshee frightened off the last owner. But when England Dan gets a good look at the map, details start clicking into place. Maybe they have the key to a fortune after all! But soon an infamous bank robber shows up looking for this mysterious map he claims is his. Now England Dan and his partner will have to fight off hostile Indians, miners, and a dangerous felon to find the cache of gold and strike it rich.

Ralph Compton Books # 116) Calvert’s Last Bluff (The Sundown Riders Series)

Calvert's Last Bluff (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: In this brand-new Ralph Compton Western, a hard-bitten gambler and a hard-luck kid begin a treacherous journey to new lives. In Omaha, Tom Calvert boards a riverboat to play high-stakes poker, but accusations of cheating cause some serious trouble, and a deadly gun battle ensues.  Tom is injured and knows that his enemies will be looking for him, so he reluctantly accepts a bargain from young stowaway Asher. In exchange for Calvert teaching him gunslinging skills, Asher will guide them to a possibly mythical town of peace and plenty called Friendly Field. To get there they just have to battle assassins, dangerous Shoshone, and the rough wilderness of the Oregon Trail.

A 5-Star Review: This was a gift for my husband. He really,really likes westerns. Ralph is one of his favorites,. Came on time exactly as advertised.

A Critical Review: hard to finish, had to force myself to read this book. was boring. had a slow pace.

Ralph Compton Books # 117) Prairie Fire, Kansas (The Sundown Riders Series)

Prairie Fire, Kansas (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: In this roller-coaster new installment in bestselling author Ralph Compton’s Sundown Riders series, a young cowhand faces a trial by fire on his way to a new home and an old love. Fresh from a successful trail drive, cattle hand Seth Coe is feeling flush, especially after a lucky streak at the poker table. But his good fortune earns him a dangerous enemy, notorious tinhorn gambler Hannibal Fisher, who is none too happy about being cleaned out.   The innocent Coe starts the long ride back to Texas with big plans to buy his own ranch. All he needs now, he figures, is a wife. To his amazement, in tiny Prairie Fire, Kansas he meets the perfect woman, his childhood love Josette Dubois. But she is under the thumb of her brutal father, who will stop at nothing to prevent her happiness, including killing Coe—that is, if Fisher doesn’t get there first. . .

A 5-Star Review: well written and a story worth reading. has it all. action and plenty of drama.

Ralph Compton Books # 118) The Trail’s End (The Sundown Riders Series)

The Trail's End (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: In this brand-new, suspenseful Ralph Compton Western, a reformed gambler races to unmask a murderer. 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 work of the devil. Tom doesn’t believe in the devil, just the evil that men do, and he resolves to solve the gruesome crime before fear causes the people of peaceful little Friendly Field to turn against one another.

Ralph Compton Books # 119) Stagecoach to Hell (The Sundown Riders Series)

Stagecoach to Hell (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: An ambush leaves a motley group of stagecoach riders fighting for their lives in this new Ralph Compton Western. A quiet stagecoach run between two Texas towns turns bloody when the riders are attacked by bandits and renegade Comanche. They are forced off the main trail and take cover in an abandoned bunkhouse once used for vaqueros when the land was part of a great estate. The stage was not only hauling a strongbox filled with Army pay, but a couple of dozen crates of new rifles for the cavalry. Unfortunately, the guns are useless as the team’s ammunition is limited. Now the besieged stage riders have to join forces to fight off the surrounding desperados. The cast includes a veteran freight driver, an impatient disgraced Army captain looking to regain his standing, a newly promoted sergeant in his first battle, and the man riding shotgun, who has a horrible yet useful set of skills. When a vaquero riding outlier for a cattle drive rides out to investigate the siege on the old bunkhouse, he finds himself in the middle of a pitched battle for survival between the ragtag freighters and desperate outlaws.

Ralph Compton Books # 120) Snake’s Fury (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: A sheriff in search of forgiveness faces off with a preacher who hates the sin AND the sinner. . .   The Yates Gang, led by its charismatic leader, William Fox, operates by a code. They’ll harm no women or children, they’ll give half the money they steal to the poor, and they’ll kill any lawman, banker, or trainman who tries to stop them.   Then a robbery gone bad sends the gang on the run. Fox knows their days are numbered, so he leads his men to a distant town called Crowsfall, Kansas, where they can reform themselves and start fresh. He’ll be the town sheriff, and atone for his past by offering a second chance to those who would normally hang.   But Crowsfall has drawn the attention of another man interested in redemption. Full of righteous fury, sinister cult leader Reverend Jessup intends to purge Crowsfall of all sin—and declares war on the outlaw-turned-sheriff and the entire gang.

A 5-Star Review: I loved this book. William was an outlaw and leader if his gang. When things go bad William takes a chance at a new beginning for them all. William is a good man at heart and always tries to help people. He is determined to make this change a good thing for them all. Confronting evil and the consequence we have to live with makes this an exciting story. Well worth reading

Ralph Compton Books # 121) The Outlaw Hunters (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: In this rousing new Ralph Compton Western, a young man must learn to lead if his companions are to face a band of outlaws—and survive.Back home in California after a failed attempt to strike it rich in the silver mines of Colorado, the last thing Eugene Castor wants is to be recruited to join a manhunt. But Castor finds it impossible to turn down his father’s old friend, Marshal Arthur Adams. Besides, the reward is sizeable. Not only did a band of outlaws rob Old Man Herbert, the richest man in town, but they kidnapped his new wife, too!   The posse is a volatile mix that includes Herbert’s hot-tempered son, the family’s cold-eyed hired gun, a crack shot rancher with no time for a loser like Castor, and Geneva Harriot, the town’s controversial lady doctor. Out on the trail of the fugitives, the group encounters a traveling medicine show, a band of rowdy prospectors, and a whole passel of bloody trouble.   As they race to catch up to the outlaws, Castor starts to realize things may not be what they seem. After his previous failures, will he be able to trust himself enough to get to the bottom of what really happened?

A 5-Star Review: great story worth reading.take the time and read this book.

Ralph Compton Books # 122) Flames of Silver (The Sundown Riders Series)

Flames of Silver (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: In the tinderbox of Virginia City,  fireman Morgan Mason learns the hard way that he just volunteered for the most dangerous job in town in this scorching new Western in Ralph Compton’s bestselling Sundown Rider series. Thanks to the discovery of the Comstock Lode, Virginia City, Nevada has made many a rough-hewn millionaire. It seems like everyone is looking to strike it rich, but to Morgan Mason the real prize is being selected as one of the volunteer firemen who are seen as heroes in the dry, tinder box of a town. Recently inducted into the fire brigade, Mason is called to put out a blaze and stays to investigate its cause. His searing discovery? The fire was no accident–it was deliberately set. As a series of mysterious fires burns through the town, Mason begins to perceive a pattern no one else can. And when the fiery trail leads to the Wells Fargo building–holding what he suspects the arsonists are really after–Mason knows he is the only one who can take the heat and catch the crooks before the wealth of the entire town goes up in smoke.

A 5-Star Review: no cowboys instead you get miners and firemen. good story and fun to read.

Ralph Compton Books # 123) Seven Roads to Revenge (The Sundown Riders Series)

Seven Roads to Revenge (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: In this compelling new installment of bestselling author Ralph Compton’s Sundown Riders series, a man seeks revenge for the death of his wife and sons while caring for his traumatized daughter. Carl Novak returned to the Texas hill country after fighting in the Civil War, but unlike most of his neighbors, Carl didn’t fight for the Confederacy. He was a Union soldier. Carl tries to resume his life as a farmer with his wife and three children. One day, when returning from an overnight trip to buy a calf, he finds his home burned to the ground and, even worse, his wife and sons murdered. His young daughter escaped the slaughter by hiding in the fields. She is so traumatized that she refuses to speak. Carl has one clue: a group of strangers has just left town. One man had a tattoo of a scorpion on his hand and one man was missing two fingers. Carl is determined to track them and exact his revenge.

Ralph Compton Books # 124) The Winter of Wolves (The Sundown Riders Series)

The Winter of Wolves (The Sundown Riders Series)

Book Summary: A young cowboy finds gold—and a whole lot of trouble—in this action-packed adventure in Ralph Compton’s Sundown Riders series.   It’s the bitterest winter anyone can remember, and Earl Tyrone can barely hold back the wolves preying on his family’s last few cattle. He gets no help from his older brother, Byrd, who’s only interested in striking out for California. Leaving Earl the sole protector of their ma and sister, Byrd finally reveals the secret source of the funds for his ticket West: he found gold on the ranch, and now it’s Earl’s fortune to mine—if he’s strong enough and smart enough to hold on to it. Earl realizes he’ll have to weave a fabric of lies to protect his family and keep prospectors from swarming his land. He hits on a clever plan, but its unintended consequences are rife: painful misunderstandings, conflict with the Utes, and outright murder. Earl’s stash of glittering gold has become instead a black cloud over his family. Can he come up with a new plan to dispel that cloud and find peace and stability at last?

Ralph Compton Books # 125) Showdown At Two-Bit Creek (A Buck Fletcher Western Book 1)

Showdown At Two-Bit Creek (A Buck Fletcher Western Book 1)

Book Summary: In this Ralph Compton western, home is a battlefield….Buck Fletcher, infamous shootist, was once a boy raised in a cabin near Two-Bit Creek in Montana. Returning home to pay his respects at his parents’ graves, Buck finds an unconscious woman in the woods—bleeding from a head wound. She might be the victim of a range war that’s brewing in the territory.  Buck soon finds himself drawn into the escalating conflict—courted by one side, threatened by the other. What the feuding ranchers don’t realize is that Buck’s guns aren’t for sale—and if anyone gives him trouble, he’ll start shooting lead for free….  More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print! 

A 5-Star Review: Showdown At Two Bit Creek, cassette version is as good as can be. Narrated by Mr. Texas, Jim Gough. The narrator is different and inferior on the CD version. Back to the cassette. There are sound effects too. A good western story with some mystery too and many witticisms.
For example:
– I’m not a man that likes to be stampeded.
– He was a man to ride the river with.
– He knew every last grain of sand had run
through the hour glass; the time for talk
was over.
Buy the cassette version, you won’t be
disappointed even if you have to pay $25 as
I did. Don’t buy the CD version.

A Critical Review: I bought all three of these books without knowing at the time that they were written by Joseph West. I have to say he sure likes to keep the “Hero” shot, dragged, whipped, etc., etc., etc., the entire book. I like my “hero” to be on top of the game at lease most of the time. Couple that with Joseph spending half the book describing the scenery and other characters really distracts from the story line. The book could have been written with half the space with most of the descriptions left out. It’s okay to describe something to get the lay of the land but page after page get’s wearisome after awhile.

Ralph Compton Books # 126) Doomsday Rider (A Buck Fletcher Western Book 2)

Doomsday Rider (A Buck Fletcher Western Book 2)

Book Summary: To win his freedom, a man must save a wayward woman in this Ralph Compton western. Buck Fletcher is facing a twenty-year sentence for a murder he didn’t commit. But he just might have one chance at freedom. Senator Falcon Stark needs a man of Buck’s notoriety and gunfighting skill to travel to northern Arizona—and locate his missing daughter. Estelle Stark has joined a doomsday cult led by the charismatic prophet known as the Chosen One—and she refuses to go home. To find her, Buck must elude a band of Apaches on the warpath before descending into the lair of a possible madman. But Buck’s got competition on the trail—someone who has set his gunsights on Estelle….More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print!

A 5-Star Review: Excellent as always

A Critical Review: Not up to Ralph Compton usual standard.

Ralph Compton Books # 127) Vengeance Rider (A Buck Fletcher Western Book 3)

Vengeance Rider (A Buck Fletcher Western Book 3)

Book Summary: Saddle up with legendary gunfighter Doc Holliday in this Ralph Compton western.Buck Fletcher plans to race his horse for a $10,000 prize—money he needs to send his sick daughter to a faraway clinic. Then some outlaws steal his steed, and his daughter’s last hope with it. Though it’s been ten years since Buck slapped leather and traded lead with the badmen of the frontier, he’s quick to fasten on his gun belt again for the chase.The thieves are led by Port Austin, a man who fears no retribution for the lives he takes—not with a ruthless band of brothers guarding his back. But Buck is not alone either. Doc Holliday, a legend of loyalty and ferocity, rides beside him, eager to help on a mission of vengeance—and a quest to save a little girl’s life….More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books in Print! 

A 5-Star Review:I purchased this book as a gift for my son, who loves westerns. Thus I did not read it myself…but the book arrived on time, is in good shape, and he loves it, so we both are very happy. Cindy.

A Critical Review: The pace of the book and events made good reading, leading the reader looking forward to a bright conclusion. It may be my romantic expectation about most westerns, but the ending of this one left me COLD. Either part of my book was omitted at the end or the author was trying to leave a message that eluded me. I felt emptied and have wasted my time reading the book. Two stars for the rest of the story a -2 for the ending.
 

Ralph Compton Books # 128) The Too-Late Trail (The Trail Drive Series)

The Too-Late Trail (The Trail Drive Series)

Book Summary: A rancher discovers just how many times a man’s luck can hold out in this thrilling novel in the bestselling Trail Drive Series After struggling for years to work a raw-patch ranch in the arid flatlands of Texas, young Mitchell Newland learns that his herd of scrubby range cattle will fetch ten times their local price if they’re driven to Montana. He strikes a one-sided deal with the devil, neighboring rancher Corliss Bilks, to back his play with cattle, men, and horses. The trail brims with hellish hardship: prairie fire, stampede, flooded rivers, hailstorms, rattlers, sickness, long, broiling days and frigid nights. Halfway to Montana, range pirates and a rogue Apache war party close in. Mitch and the boys fight, grim and helpless, watching as their herd is driven westward in a cloud of dust and cackling laughter. Cut down to two bloodied men, Mitch collapses, far too late, and admits the old man has won the bet. But salvation in the form of a Basque sheepherder revives Mitch and his pal, Drover Joe, and Mitch realizes he isn’t done. Not by a long shot. And now he has nothing to lose.

A 5-Star Review: really great story and worth reading

A Critical Review: Very convoluted, decent story but all in all hard to keep ones interest. i know the author can do better.
 

Ralph Compton Books # 129) Red Trail (The Trail Drive Series)

Red Trail (The Trail Drive Series)

Book Summary: A cattle drive faces long odds in this exciting new installment in Ralph Compton’s Trail Drive series.   An outbreak of hostilities with Comanches has disrupted the usual trail routes. But Mase Durst must get his cows from his Texas ranch to the railway up in Wichita, Kansas, or face losing his land, which the bank is fixing to foreclose on. He’s forced to take his herd on a little-used route called the Red Trail—little used for good reasons. It’s a tough trek: dangerous, narrow, and fraught with banditry.   Along the way, Durst and his men face numerous obstacles thrown up by Mother Nature, cattle rustlers and crooked lawmen. But even their safe arrival in Wichita will offer no relief if he can’t make it home in time to save his ranch from the bank—and his wife from the predations of their rapacious neighbor. . .

Conclusion

Ralph Compton may have started his writing career late in life, but his memory, works, and legacy continues to inspire many aspiring writers, as his experience and Western novels left a marking in the industry. If you love action-packed western fiction, then we encourage you to check out our list of similar western authors here. And if you are looking for a book you can read for free, check out this month’s free read.

1 Comment

  1. john R. gerende

    could you post a list like inside the cover of the trail books. pictures of all the books will kill my printer so I can keep track of what I read. thank you

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