Brett Halliday – författare

For the sake of cheated settlers, Sheriff Pat Stevens takes on a Powder Valley conmanOn a weather-beaten stretch of the Kansas prairie, a family fights to survive. Molly Hartsell is only twenty-seven, but years of barely scraping by have made her old before her time. Her children are frail, tired, and hungry. If something doesn''t change soon, the Hartsells are doomed. But Molly''s husband returns from the bank with good news: He sold the farm and invested every penny in property far away in Colorado''s lush Powder Valley. It''s a new start for the Hartsells, but it turns out their troubles are just beginning.When the Hartsells arrive in Powder Valley and discover they were sold a bill of false goods, it seems as if the family is ruined. But Sherriff Pat Stevens—with the help of his loyal friends Sam and Ezra—will fight tooth and nail to defeat the crooked swindlers and make sure everyone in town can call Powder Valley their home.

Hours before his retirement, Powder Valley''s chief lawman stumbles upon a deadly schemePat Stevens never wanted to be sheriff. But when old Ed Grimes was killed, Pat was the only man in Powder Valley with a quick enough gun hand to avenge his predecessor''s death and take on the badge. Now, after years of wearing the silver star, Pat is too old to continue to risk his neck. He only has a few hours before a new sheriff takes over—but a lot of blood can flow in a short amount of time. A well-dressed con artist steps off the stagecoach into the sheriff''s office. Mistaking Pat for the replacement officer, he hints at an evil bargain between sheriff and thief—a scheme of murderous corruption that could destroy Pat''s closest friend. Pat has just a few hours to stop the killers, and he''ll do it with or without his badge.

To save his wife''s closest friend, Sheriff Pat Stevens—with the help of his trusty friends Sam and Ezra—pursues a gang of masked gunmenSheriff Pat Stevens should be the happiest man in Powder Valley. He has a thriving ranch, a healthy son, and the prettiest wife in Colorado. After a shootout with a gang of outlaws nearly cost him his life, he promised Sally he would hang his guns up for good. But trouble is coming to the Valley, and Pat can feel his trigger finger starting to itch. In nearby Dusty Canyon, a troop of hooded killers menaces the honest miners who toil in the local goldmines. The local sheriff has already been wounded once trying to stop them, but he continues the fight—and begs for Pat''s help. At first, Pat resists the urge to join the fray, but when Sally''s closest friend is put in the line of fire, he has no choice but to ask his loyal sidekicks, Sam and Ezra, to ride into battle with him once more.

On the trail to New Mexico, Pat Stevens and his friends Sam and Ezra risk their lives to fulfill a dying man''s last wishTwo men ride across the desert. One is young, nearly mad with thirst and fear. The other is stalwart—a blue-eyed legend who doesn''t panic at the sight of a hanging posse on their trail. He asks no questions of the young man whose life he''s agreed to save. He simply rides. It has been fifteen years since a youthful Pat Stevens, wrongfully accused of stealing horses, placed his life in the hands of the legendary Mose Higgins. Since then, Pat has settled in Powder Valley and hung up his guns to run his ranch and raise his family. One day, a strange letter comes from New Mexico. Someone has threatened Mose''s life, and only Pat can rescue him and his innocent little girl. Pat owes Mose a priceless debt—and it can only be paid in blood.

A retired Colorado sheriff rides south to the Mexican border to save a naïve young manBen Thurston is only twenty, and his years in college have taught him little of the real world, yet he believes he''s ready for anything. His whole life, he''s heard stories about the ranching empire of Jim Rollins, his father''s friend who made a fortune near the Mexican border. When Jim dies, Ben gets a letter from his daughter, a young beauty named Katie, pleading for help. With dreams of love and glory dancing in his head, Ben heads south from Powder Valley. Pat Stevens, the Valley''s former sheriff, knows Ben is riding into a hornet''s nest—the Big Bend of the Rio Grande is the most lawless place in the country, and it will take a fast gun to bring order to it. Luckily for Ben and Katie, Pat and his friends Sam and Ezra are the fastest in the West.

An all-star gang of villains descends on peaceful Powder ValleyOn a tawdry street in the heart of Denver, men crowd into the saloon for two reasons: cheap whiskey and Connie Dawson. The loveliest singer in Colorado, Connie has a golden voice and a brassy personality, but along with a crooked preacher, a hotshot gambler, and the fastest gunman in town, she''s about to find herself in a whole lot of trouble. All four owe the sinister Judge Prink a favor—and he''s ready to collect. Prink has recently discovered the idyllic township of Powder Valley, home to Sheriff Pat Stevens and his faithful friends Sam and Ezra, and declared it ripe for the picking. With the help of his indentured gang of miscreants, he plans to strip the innocent little community bare. But when he meets Powder Valley''s courageous trio, Prink comes face to face with the law of the gun.

In a formerly peaceful western valley, a sheriff and his friends battle a corrupt land speculatorPat, Sam, and Ezra came to Powder Valley together, to tame the West and find a place to settle down. Soon, Pat is the sheriff, and Sam is married, but big, powerful Ezra, with his craggy face and missing eye, remains a loner. This state of affairs usually doesn''t get Ezra down, but tonight the big man is too gloomy to eat peach pie. When Ezra can''t eat peach pie, something is wrong—and Pat is certain it has to do with Eustis Harlow. After six months in Powder Valley, Harlow has established himself as the most powerful rancher in the area. Before he came, the locals were content with what they had. Now, half of them are in his debt, and the others have been consumed by greed. With the sheriff and his friends gearing up to quash Harlow''s dominance, the rancher sends for an army''s worth of gunmen. Powder Valley is about to explode.

To save the Pony Express, Sheriff Pat Stevens and his sidekick Sam Sloan must ride faster than ever beforeIn a barren stretch of southern Colorado, a small shack links Powder Valley to the rest of the world. Every other day, Sam Sloan comes thundering over the range with a mail sack over his shoulder—just one link in the long line of riders known as the Pony Express. In all the time he''s been riding the route, he''s never been one minute late, and his perfect record has won the attention of company brass. The Express is planning a new route linking Colorado and Wyoming, and they want Sam to break it in. The trail between Denver and Laramie is raw, with danger lurking on all sides. To deliver, Sam will need speed, ammunition, and the help of his two best friends, the one-eyed giant, Ezra, and Powder Valley''s sheriff, Pat Stevens.

When two prize cattle are slain, the sheriff of Powder Valley is called to a freezing, violent townIt''s bitterly cold in the Rockies when the locomotive reaches the end of the line. Only one passenger alights from the caboose: Nate Morris, a lean private detective with an easy grin and icy eyes. Sanctuary Flat is a grim little town, alone in the mountains and cut off from the world. The only business there is cattle breeding, and business is rotten. Two prize cattle have been killed, and the owners have hired Morris to find out what happened. When Morris is found with a knife in his throat, the men who run Sanctuary Flat call on the only men tough enough to tame this wild ranching town. Pat Stevens, sheriff of Powder Valley, and his sidekicks, Sam and Ezra, have faced death dozens of times. But nothing can prepare them for the evil corruption at the heart of Sanctuary Flat.

A young woman heads west to Powder Valley in search of her father—but finds trouble insteadWilliam Wilcox could never stand his life in Philadelphia. He adored his wife and their daughter, Joan, but the city strangled him. So he fled west, establishing himself under a false name in the idyllic township of Powder Valley, Colorado. When her mother dies, Joan travels to the Valley in search of the only family she has left. She shows an old photo to the sheriff, Pat Stevens, who recognizes the man in the picture as Bill Freeman, one of the most respected ranchers in the valley. It''s a happy moment, but tragedy is not far behind. The day after Joan''s arrival, Bill Freeman is found dead. Although she insists he was her father, she has no proof and ends up in a showdown with Bill''s adopted son over their inheritance. Unless Pat and his friends Sam and Ezra can settle the matter quietly, the Freeman farm will run with blood.

On the road to easy living, Twister and Chuckaluck ride straight into a heapin'' mess of mystery and intrigueTwister Malone and Chuckaluck Thompson can''t catch a break. These two wisecracking friends—the first lean and clever, the second stout and tough—have ridden together from the Rocky Mountains to the deserts of West Texas. All they want is a trail to follow straight through to Mexico, where a ranching job offers honest work, peace, and quiet. But no matter how fast they ride, trouble keeps hot on their heels. A gunshot breaks the silence of the lonely wagon road. By the time Twister and Chuckaluck reach the corpse, the killer is long gone. In the victim''s pocket they find a letter from a woman begging for help, a woman whose savior now lies dead in the alkali dust. Twister and Chuckaluck have no choice but to take up his mission—even if it means facing down the quickest draw they''ve ever been up against. Death Rides the Pecos is the 2nd book in the Twister and Chuckaluck Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Two easygoing gunslingers take on a gang of vigilantes to save a quiet Texas ranch townTwister Malone and Chuckaluck Thompson have no love for the sun-blasted plains of West Texas. They made their names in the cool mountain air of Colorado, and are headed to a friend''s hacienda in Mexico because, both at the ripe old age of thirty, they''re ready to retire. No more high-noon showdowns for Twister and Chuckaluck. They have years of roping, riding, and dozing to look forward to—but first they must survive the crucible of Sleepy Valley. The two friends are passing through the idyllic patch of ranchland when they come across a quartet of bandits, wearing masks that reveal only one eye, hanging an innocent rancher from the tree. The gang of killers has terrorized Sleepy Valley for months, stringing up anyone brave enough to refuse their greedy demands. But Twister and Chuckaluck have never backed down from a fight, and they aren''t about to start. The sinister plot they uncover, however, will bring them face-to-face with the most dangerous desperadoes north of the Rio Grande. The Hangmen of Sleepy Valley is the 1st book in the Twister and Chuckaluck Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Twister and Chuckaluck spring into action to keep an elderly widow from being run off her landTwister Malone and Chuckaluck Thompson are making their way through a West Texas canyon when they smell death. It pollutes every inch of the winding, narrow trail, so thick and foul they fear they might choke. Finally, the two wandering cowpokes emerge onto the mesa, where they encounter the site of a massacre. A whole family of deer lies dead around a small pond, their skeletons bleached by the Texas sun. Someone has poisoned the water hole. Then a rider comes around the corner, rifle in hand, and gets the drop on Twister and Chuckaluck. The Widow Kelso is a hardened old woman, and she''s ready to kill. Someone has been trying to drive her off her land, and if Twister and Chuckaluck don''t solve the mystery of the poisoned well fast, the deer won''t be the only ones lying dead in the sun. Lynch-Rope Law is the 3rd book in the Twister and Chuckaluck Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

In a dry patch of West Texas, Twister and Chuckaluck go to war for waterAt first, Twister Malone and Chuckaluck Thompson think it must be a mirage. If real, the willow trees they see on the horizon mean that water is nearby, and in this dusty stretch of the Southwest, water is rarer than gold. They rub the grit from their eyes, yet the sight remains. There really is water up ahead—and death just around the corner. As the two friends ride toward the trees, they hear the sound of rushing water. Someone has opened a sluicegate, allowing all the precious liquid to drain into the dirt. When Twister and Chuckaluck close the gate and the roaring stops, a woman screams, "Don''t let him get away! He was going to kill me!" Chuckaluck fires wildly, but the scoundrel has escaped, setting the wandering cowpokes on the trail of a mystery so dark and twisted it might be beyond their powers to solve. Murder on the Mesa is the 4th book in the Twister and Chuckaluck Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Ten years after taking vengeance on his tormentor, a wanted man returns homeThe outlaws of West Texas know every twist and turn of the renegade trail. Carved into the rugged landscape of the Big Bend region by the hoofs of galloping horses bearing desperate men, it crosses the muddy waters of the Rio Grande into Mexico, where freedom—of a kind—can be found. Ten years ago, Jim Markle rode the trail south, fleeing for his life. Now he''s coming home with a new name: Stormy Knight. For years, young Jim had chafed under his stepfather''s whip. Everything changed the night he gunned down the evil old man. Now a battle-tested gunslinger with a stern countenance, Stormy Knight is unrecognizable to all who knew him as a boy. He forfeited his inheritance the night he rode across the border. Now he''s ready claim it—even if it means killing once more.

An outlaw gunslinger begins the journey home to clear his nameA lone rider stops at the border, preparing to return to the United States for the first time in three years. When he left for Mexico, the Rio Kid was eighteen, a terrified youngster fleeing a fraudulent murder charge. He returns a grown man, with blood on his hands and twin .45s on his hips. His destination is a small town in Arizona, where he plans to clear his name and reclaim his legacy. But there is a lot of trail between here and there, with many dangerous twists and turns along the way. Wanted signs paper every border town, offering $10,000 for the Rio Kid—dead or alive. At his first stop on the journey home, the Kid is mistaken for a hired assassin and a Texas Ranger. To continue on his way, he will have to escape the clutches of a crooked rancher and the toughest lawman in the Southwest. Return of the Rio Kid is the 1st book in the Rio Kid Adventures, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

The Rio Kid saves a young boy''s life in this thrilling tale of the Wild WestAfter three years in exile in Mexico, the Rio Kid slipped back into the United States, evading the clutches of a Texas Ranger, a crooked rancher, and a gang of desperadoes. Now he''s ready to press on to Arizona to clear his name and find his fortune. There may be a $10,000 price on his head, but the Kid is unafraid—he has his gun, his horse, and his freedom. When a scream splits the black Texas night, the outlaw rides toward it. In a godforsaken cave, four men are beating a terrified young boy within an inch of his life. The Kid draws two .45s and steps into the line of fire. His homecoming can wait—justice comes first. Death on Treasure Trail is the 3rd book in the Rio Kid Adventures, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

In a cutthroat border town, the Rio Kid must fight or dieAfter being run out of Arizona on a trumped-up murder charge, the Rio Kid spent three years in Mexico, learning how to shoot quicker than any man on the range. Now he''s headed home to clear his name. But before he reaches Arizona, the Kid will have to pass through the deadliest border region in the West. Nestled snugly in a bend of the Rio Grande, Hell''s Half Acre is a lawless outpost claimed by both Mexico and the United States, and belonging to neither. There, justice comes from the barrel of a six-gun, and the only sentence is death. On the wall of the post office hangs a Wanted poster, offering $10,000 for the Rio Kid''s head. The picture is an old one, but one woman recognizes him: the tough-as-nails rancher Amanda Trigg. She promises to keep his secret, but only if he agrees to save her life. Facing down a gang of desperadoes, the Rio Kid has no choice but to use the deadly skills he developed south of the border. Rio Kid Justice is the 2nd book in the Rio Kid Adventures, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

Three years after he was run out of town, the Rio Kid returns home to find a community in desperate need of his gunslinging skillsThree years ago, the sheriff of Chapparell, Arizona, was shot dead. Eighteen-year-old Hugh Aiken was falsely accused of the murder and forced to ride south with a lynch mob hot on his trail. He spent the time since hiding out in Mexico, growing from a fresh-faced Texas youth into the hardened gunman known far and wide as the Rio Kid. Now his exile is over. Chapparell has changed since the Kid last set foot on its dusty streets. Most of the ranchers are dead broke, save for one bloodthirsty scoundrel, Henry Pelham, who backs up his business savvy with hired guns. To clear his name and save his hometown, the Rio Kid must undertake his most dangerous adventure yet. Two-Gun Rio Kid is the 4th book in the Rio Kid Adventures, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.

An innocent young woman is seduced by the temptations of Bourbon Street in this sultry, scintillating tale Twenty-two-year-old Barbara Dorn has always been sure of herself. Sure of her happiness in rural Tancipahoa Parish, Louisiana, where she was born and raised. Sure of her commitment to her fiancé, an agricultural school graduate who cultivates his family farm with scientific exactitude. Sure of her distaste for big-city life and excitement.   But when her old college roommate, Ethel, comes to visit, Barbara realizes she may not have all the answers. Ethel is on a mission to convince her friend to make the hundred-mile trip to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, when the city becomes one vast playground and a half million people throw their cares and inhibitions to the wind. Ethel insists that Barbara experience the carnival of love before settling down to life on the farm. But when Barbara finally arrives in the City That Care Forgot, the beautiful young virgin will discover that her desires are deeper and more passionate than she ever thought possible.

A timid librarian finds passion, romance, and mystery on the trip of a lifetime On the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Vergie Whidby feels unwanted and unloved. She has no romantic prospects on the horizon, yet her body and soul cry out for life, love, and desire.   Desperate for a change, Vergie withdraws most her savings from the bank and books a trip to romantic St. Augustine, Florida. There, amid the old world splendor, she splurges on fancy dresses and lacy undergarments, determined to be a different woman than the small-town librarian she has become. But even in the arms of a skilled and handsome lover, Vergie is unable to let go of a lifetime of inhibitions. It will take a case of mistaken identity and the influence of Valerie Ware, reclusive author of such steamy romances as Shameless Sinners and Penthouse Passion, to unleash the burning desires that Vergie has kept locked up for so long.

A jaded journalist plunges into an intoxicating world of beautiful women and glamorous gambling dens in this captivating tale from the creator of the Mike Shayne MysteriesTabloid reporter Ed Barlow is in Miami on the assignment of a lifetime. A New York criminal syndicate has gone national with a sinister scheme to turn society women into prostitutes by preying on their boredom and naiveté. Barlow has tracked the racket to Philadelphia and Boston, where the gangsters caught wind of his investigation and closed up shop before he could get the full picture. Now, a chance encounter with an old friend leads him straight into the tangled web of sex, lies, and money that has ensnared innocent ladies up and down the East Coast. To break the story, he will have to keep all his wits about him—a task made all the more difficult when he meets a beautiful young woman who may not be as innocent as she seems. An action-packed story of love and adventure in the underworld of 1940s Miami, Ladies of Chance is a thrill ride from beginning to end.