Luke Short – författare

The US Army and a brutal Apache chief prepare for an epic showdown in the New Mexico desert in this novel from a master storyteller of the West. Ward Kinsman has done all he can to escape civilization, spending the summer in a desert mountain range, deep in Apache territory, sifting for gold and praying he never sees another settler again. After a month of backbreaking work, he sees a trail of dust in the distance, and knows a white man has come to find him . . . which means the Apache are right behind.   The Apache leader is Diablito, or the Little Devil, a warrior so vicious even his own men fear his rage. He’s clever and unpredictable, and he hates Kinsman. The US Army has Diablito in its sights, and they want Kinsman to lead them to him. But finding the Little Devil will mean putting Kinsman’s own neck on the line—and risking the life of the most beautiful woman in the territory.   Made into a 1950 MGM film starring Robert Taylor, this tense western adventure, considered one of the genre’s best cavalry stories, is a classic example of Luke Short’s fiction. From its daring lone-wolf hero to its sweeping desert landscapes, Ambush is the American West at its roughest, toughest, and most exciting.  

Hired to find a killer, a drifter rides into a deadly family feud, in this action-packed novel from an award-winning storyteller of the West. For $10,000, Tip Woodring must ride into a frontier town full of murderers and find one particular killer. The deal—offered by Rig Holman, a saloon owner who liked the way Woodring knocked out a nasty drunk in front of his bar—could make him a fortune . . . or cost him his life.   Last spring, a prospector named Blackie Mayfell walked into Holman’s office with $15,000 in gold and a strange proposition. He asked Holman to keep the money and get it to his daughter if he died, handing over a little extra for insurance. Then Mayfell was slain by someone who wanted a piece of his claim. Holman wants to know who pulled the trigger, and Woodring will find out—or die trying.   Filled with stunning action scenes, memorable characters, and authentic historical atmosphere, Bounty Guns is a suspenseful tale: part mystery, part western, all Luke Short.  

A gunfighter rides high and low on a manhunt for the Apache who killed his fiancée in this blazing story of revenge from a master storyteller of the West. The army wagon train carried rifles, ammunition, and a chestful of gold through Apache territory, where every white man was a target. With the soldiers rode a single stagecoach carrying the woman whom Chris Danning planned to marry. When the train passed through Karnes Canyon, an Apache raiding party stormed out of the shadows, and the creek ran red with blood.   For eighteen months now, Danning has searched for the Apache who attacked the wagon train and killed his fiancée. He’s also hunting the corrupt white man who sold the soldiers out. With the help of a grizzled Indian scout, Danning finally gets the name of the Apache chief and a description of their informer. When he finds them, the real battle will begin.   A truly unique saga of vengeance and obsession in the American West, Coroner Creek—which was made into a 1948 Columbia Pictures film starring Randolph Scott—explores the darkest parts of the cowboy soul. .  

A hard-riding cowboy teams up with a stubborn farm girl to save her family’s freight business in this adventure from a master storyteller of the West. When her brother finds himself locked in a vicious battle with corrupt kingpin Craig Armin for control of the freight business in a silver town called Piute, Celia Wallace sells the family farm and goes west to help him. She’s just short of her destination when bandits attack her stagecoach, pressing a pistol to Celia and making her hand over every cent she has. She’s ruined—but she’ll fight to get her revenge.   Meanwhile, Armin’s nephew Cole, who knows nothing about his uncle’s underhanded dealings, has come to Piute looking for a job running one of his uncle’s mule trains. But he will find a cause instead: helping Celia search for her stolen money, betraying his own family to do what’s right.  Dead Freight for Piute is a hard-hitting, authentic western about the brave men and women who had the true grit to stand up to evil, greedy men in a land where the only law was the law of the gun.  

A freight captain races across the desert to protect priceless cargo in this rollicking adventure from a master storyteller of the West. The guns come down the Colorado River, cases of army rifles that could mean life or death for the soldiers fighting the Indian Wars throughout the American West, and Dave Harmon is waiting for them. A grizzled, one-eyed freight captain, Harmon knows better than anyone how to drive cargo over the broad, merciless desert. The rifles could attract Apache, bandits, or worse, but none of that frightens him. The real trouble is one of the passengers: a major’s beautiful daughter he’s not sure he can trust.   Soon Harmon is fighting off not only ruthless outlaws and Apache determined to defend their land, but backstabbing members of his own wagon train. In order to reach Fort Whipple with the guns and the girl, he’ll have to take on his enemies singlehandedly—and destroy them all.  Desert Crossing is a thrilling chase story featuring vibrant characters and rich, authentic western atmosphere from legendary author Luke Short.    

When the postman sees the letter addressed to Dave Coyle, he knows trouble is coming to Yellow Jacket and guns will soon be blazing. Coyle’s face is plastered all over town on Wanted posters offering $7,000, dead or alive, but there’s not a man in the territory fast enough to take him on. As word spreads that Coyle is to return, every man in town grabs a gun. But that won’t be nearly enough.   Coyle sneaks back under cover of darkness. He wears his guns, but he hasn’t come to use them. He’s here for Carol McFee, the only woman who ever saw any good in him and needs him desperately now. In a town where every man wants him dead, Coyle will do a good deed—or die trying.   One of legendary author Luke Short’s most popular westerns, Hardcase delivers a pulse-pounding story that twists and turns, and a wide cast of vibrant characters, including the memorable Dave Coyle, who embodies the courage, toughness, and loyalty of American frontiersmen.    

A master storyteller of the American frontier presents a western about a town that could not be tamed—and the vicious things men will do for gold. Picket-Stake Hendry has spent thirty years roaming the Calico Mountains in search of gold. Finally, in a lonely little canyon far from civilization, he strikes the mother lode, and as soon as he gets home to register the claim, he’ll be a millionaire. But before he can make it to Cosmos, a bandit attacks him.   Cosmos sheriff Johnny Hendry prefers playing cards to fighting crime, and he’s kept the peace in this rough-and-tumble western town by letting bandits do whatever they want. But when he hears that Pick, his adoptive father, has been murdered, he vows bloody vengeance. For the sake of the old prospector, he will clean up Cosmos—or die where he stands.   This incredible story of frontier justice from author Luke Short, winner of a special Western Heritage Trustees Award and the Western Writers of America’s Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award, is a classic of the genre.  

A strong-willed woman enlists a hard-bitten gunslinger to fight a ranch war in this classic western drama from an award–winning author. Dave Nash smells trouble the moment he rides into Signal. He’s only been working for Walt Shipley three weeks, but he feels he owes the man his life for giving him a job when no one else would. Now, Nash will do anything for Shipley—even if it means staring down the barrel of a gun. He’ll face any danger for his new boss, but he hasn’t reckoned on the most dangerous creature of all: a conniving frontier woman.   Connie Dickason is the most seductive woman in Signal, and Shipley has his heart set on marrying her. But a brewing war with a powerful cattleman drives Shipley from town, leaving Connie and Nash to defend the ranch together. The ranch hand soon discovers that the boss’s wife will stop at nothing to get what she wants.   Adapted into a 1947 United Artists film starring Joel McCrea and Veronica Lake, Ramrod is a classic noir western that displays the versatile storytelling powers of award-winning author Luke Short.    

One of the top twenty-five westerns of all time: an action-packed tale about a range war in a violent town—and the honest foreman who risks his life to keep the peace. Phil Evarts is dead, and the Hatchet Range is up for grabs. That’s 70,000 acres of prime turf just waiting for the man rich enough to buy it . . . or the gunman crazy enough to kill for it. Every schemer in town has his eyes on Hatchet, and Bide Mariner leads the charge. An unscrupulous rancher who’ll stop at nothing for cash, Mariner has the money and the guns to take whatever he wants. Only Will Ballard stands in his way—and that means Ballard is marked for death.   The foreman at Hatchet Range, Ballard is an honest man who’ll do anything to keep the ranch from falling into Mariner’s hands. In a town so rotten with greed that even the sheriff is against him, Ballard must stand alone to save this little piece of the American West.   Voted one of the top twenty-five westerns of all time by the Western Writers of America and made into a 1952 Republic film starring Rod Cameron, Ride the Man Down showcases award-winning author Luke Short at the height of his writing powers.    

A ranch foreman must tame a bunch of cutthroat cowboys—or die trying—in this rowdy, action-packed western from a master storyteller. San Jon may be the sorriest town Jim Wade has ever set foot in. Its dry river, ramshackle buildings, and vicious lawlessness make it the spitting image of hell on earth . . . so Wade feels right at home. He’s used to solving problems with his fists and his gun.   Wade’s come to take a job as foreman for a ranching outfit, which he finds in just as bad of shape as the town itself. The killers his employer calls cowboys are the roughest bunch he’s ever seen, and they’ve schemed up an awful plan that could cost Wade his neck. To survive, he’ll have to do what he’s done all his life: shoot fast and ride hard.   Classic Luke Short, from the pitch-perfect setting to the hard-driving action, Savage Range is western fiction at its most intense.      

A hard-charging tale of oppression and revenge by an award-winning author who helped define the western genre. Frank Chess didn’t care for much in this world. Especially himself. So taking a job for local big shot Rhino Hulst was an easy choice. Each day drifted into the next: running Rhino’s crooked errands, blowing his meager pay in the nearest poker game, drinking it down in the closest saloon, and handing it over to the next soiled dove. All because Rhino killed a man in cold blood, pinned it on Frank, and now holds the hangman’s rope over him.   And who would give a damn? Frank came into town a drifter—a fiddlefoot, they called him—worth nothing to no one. He didn’t matter.   But none of the townspeople know Frank. Where he came from. What he’s done. And when he finally remembers what it’s like to care about something, they have no idea how much hell he’s about to bring down on them all.   Along with legendary authors like Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour, Luke Short helped transform the stories of the American West from dime-store pulp into a respected and immensely popular literary genre. Originally serialized in the Saturday Evening Post, Fiddlefoot combines Short’s plainspoken style with the hard-edged authenticity that marks his novels as true classics of western adventure.    

From a master storyteller of the Old West: A ferocious tale of murder, loyalty, and revenge set in a rough-and-tumble frontier town. Tony Braden’s first sin was being an Englishman in the American West. His second was being rich enough to try and make a go of ranching.   Those two faults were enough to whet the appetites of the fine citizens of Indian Bend, who proceeded to hornswoggle, ridicule, and outright rob the uncomprehending Brit for an outrageous amount of money. Then someone decided to finish the deceptive dance with a knife straight to the gut. No one blinked an eye when Braden died in a pool of his own blood.   No one, that is, except Traf Kinnard. Braden had been like a brother to him . . . until the man stole away the woman he loved. Now she’s in danger, and to protect her, Kinnard must find his old friend’s killer—even if it means turning Indian Bend from a town into a cemetery.   Luke Short, along with such legendary authors as Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour, helped transform the stories of the American West from dime-store pulp into a respected and immensely popular literary genre. Guns of Hanging Lake is one of the grittiest and most suspenseful of his classic novels.  

An early master of the western spins a dramatic yarn about a ruthless mine baron and the unlikely duo who risk their lives to stop his dastardly plans. Charles Bonal is a self-made man who believes in getting the job done whatever the obstacle. But his newest project to drive a tunnel through the mountains is hitting more than immovable earth. A vicious mining magnate, Chris Feldhake, doesn’t want Bonal interfering with his own plans to expand his power and empire—and he’ll kill to stop him.   Phil Seay will do anything to make his way in the West, so when Bonal asks the young man to join him as a tunnel boss, he accepts—even though the old man’s prideful daughter tends to ride his last nerve. But the routine job turns far more dangerous when Feldhake sets out to bury them all. Only Seay and Bonal can keep the crew above ground.   Luke Short, along with such legendary authors as Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour, helped transform the stories of the American West from dime-store pulp into popular and respected literature. A winner of the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award, he is a true icon of the genre and a king of western adventure.    

A captured outlaw gets caught up in a bloody range war in this thrilling tale of the Old West from a Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award–winning author. Lawbreaker Webb Cousins is headed for a short trial and a long stretch in jail. A bounty hunter has him cuffed and covered, with no chance of escape. But when the prisoner and his captor ride into the town of Wagon Mound, death rides with them.   In a flash of rifle fire and a spray of blood, Cousins finds himself shackled to a dead man—and unwittingly caught up in a murderous range war he wants nothing to do with. To ride away a free man will take more than breaking his bonds. He’ll have to wage a one-man battle against two bitter enemies locked in a vicious cycle of vengeance and cruelty.   It will take every ounce of cunning, a double shot of courage, and a long, dark ride into hell for Cousins to finally break free.   Luke Short, along with such legendary authors as Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour, helped transform the stories of the American West from dime-store pulp into an immensely popular literary genre. Marauders’ Moon is one of his grittiest and most suspenseful stories of western adventure.  

From a winner of the Western Heritage Trustees Award: The thrilling story of a sheriff caught between his outlaw in-laws and the woman he loves. Being the sheriff of Sutton County is no easy job, but Reese Branham keeps the peace—even though his own wife comes from the dreaded Hoad clan. The Hoads have always been troublemakers. And when one of them murders a man in cold blood, Branham does his duty, only to watch in dismay as the jury lets the killer go free.   Being a woman on the harsh frontier is bad enough. But Jen Truro is also the local prosecutor, and when a killer walks free because the jury doesn’t trust her, it’s a hard pill to swallow. Complicating the situation is her past with Branham, whom she spurned one too many times, driving him to marry a woman he doesn’t love.   The Hoad clan is not a forgiving family, and when they plan a massive cattle heist, they have to know Branham won’t get in the way. If his wife can’t convince the lawman to mind his own business, the Hoads will be damned if they let him—or his old flame—stop them.   A legend of western fiction, Luke Short broke the trail for writers such as Louis L’Amour and Elmore Leonard. Paper Sheriff is an unforgettable tale of the men and women brave enough to tame the Old West.  

A desperate man is caught in a range war in Oklahoma cattle country in this tale from a Western Heritage Trustees Award–winning author. Giff Dixon doesn’t remember how he got to the town of Corazon. All he knows is that some cowboys found him way off the beaten path in Oklahoma cattle country, barely alive and carrying a belly full of buckshot. Now, he’s broke, friendless, and at the end of his rope.   Everything changes when, out of the blue, he’s offered a job guiding a government expedition to investigate reports of homesteaders being forced off their land by the all-powerful Torreon Cattle Company. It seems an easy enough ride until Grady Sebree, the iron-fisted boss of Torreon, approaches Dixon. Sebree has a proposition: Keep him informed of what the government men are up to, and get a prime job after the dust settles.   But Dixon isn’t the kind to betray the men who gave him a chance for redemption. And soon enough, he finds himself caught in a brutal range war he never wanted—and has no choice but to finish . . .   A winner of the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award from the Western Writers of America, Luke Short was a master of the frontier epic. Play a Lone Hand is one of his most dramatic and engrossing tales.  

A hard-riding adventurer returns home to settle down—and stirs up a heap of trouble—in this action-packed western from a master of the genre. After ten years of hard fighting and harder living, Will Danning is coming home to Yellow Jacket. His arrival is anything but celebrated, however—the last time he cast a shadow here, he wasn’t exactly walking the straight and narrow.   Danning has returned to buy the Pitchfork Ranch, where he used to work cattle that weren’t always legally his. For his neighbors, that’s cause for concern; Angus Case still remembers when his herds were ravaged. What’s more, Danning’s friends can’t understand why he’d want such a dried-up parcel of land. And Pres Milo, Case’s chief ramrod and enforcer, wants the land for himself—and will do anything to get it.   If Danning wants to keep what’s his, he’ll have to fight. And in a frontier town like Yellow Jacket, fighting often means dying . . .   A legend of western fiction, Luke Short blazed the trail for writers such as Louis L’Amour and Elmore Leonard. Raw Land is one of his grittiest and most authentic tales of frontier adventure.    

From an award-winning storyteller of the Old West: A successful prospector returns to his family’s ranch and walks into the middle of a bloody cattle war. When he learns of his parents’ death in a train crash, Sam Dana makes his way home to the Bar D ranch—not to claim it, but to settle the estate and move on. He has no need for the hard life of a cattleman after finally striking it big as a prospector.   But what Sam finds is far from the home he remembers. The ranch has become an armed camp led by his cantankerous half-brother, Walt, who’s been hiring men more skilled with a six-gun than a lasso. In Sam’s absence, things have gone downhill in all ways possible. But worst of all is the rumor that Walt has been pilfering livestock and selling it as his own. Cattle thieves make a lot of enemies in the Old West, and Walt’s enemies want his land, his stock, and his head.   Sam could cut and run. This problem wasn’t his making. But the Bar D is still half his—and no man is going to take that away without a fight . . .   Luke Short helped transform the stories of the American West from dime-store pulp into a respected and immensely popular genre. Trouble Country is a classic western adventure rich in grit, authenticity, and intrigue.  

A riveting story of feuding brothers in a fight to the death from an early master of the western genre. Years ago, Owen Daybright was an orphan on a railroad crew when old Arch Stobie took him under his wing at the Acorn ranch. He needed the quiet, hardworking Owen for a special job: to act as a friend and be a calming influence on his fiery-tempered son, Lee. But, instead, the boys showed an immediate hatred for each other that never waned. Only out of loyalty to Arch did Owen cover for Lee’s stupidity and carelessness.   But now Lee’s crossed the line. There are some angry men after him for disgracing their sister. And he’s put a target on Owen’s back. Unless Owen is very fast and very careful, he’s going to end up taking a bullet for the brother he’d like to kill himself.   Luke Short, a winner of the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award from the Western Writers of America, blazed the trail for authors such as Louis L’Amour and Elmore Leonard. Vengeance Valley is one of his most compelling tales of western adventure.  

Two cattle punchers share a dream of making it big—until one of them is murdered—in this suspenseful western from an award-winning author. Frank Christian and Morg Wheelon were going to build something great. After the two veteran cattle punchers saved up enough to start their own outfit, Frank was to ride down to Texas and buy whatever herd he could, then bring them up the Chisholm Trail through Indian country to the rich grasslands of the Cheyenne in Wyoming. Morg would be waiting with the grazing rights in hand. It was a risky plan, but Frank and Morg weren’t about to give up their dream.   But when Frank arrives with the herd, Morg has been murdered. The land has been stolen by a gang of outlaws, and a corrupt army officer wants to bring Frank down. Frank has never backed away from trouble, however, no matter how long the odds. To avenge his friend’s death and keep their hopes alive, the small-time cowpuncher must become a world-class gunslinger.   A winner of the Levi Strauss Golden Saddleman Award from the Western Writers of America, Luke Short was a master of the frontier epic. War on the Cimarron is one of his most thrilling and unforgettable tales of the Old West.