Showing results by author "Robert J. Hogan" in All Categories

Long before Smoke Wade rode into the drought-stricken valley his reputation as a feared gunslinger had been known. The ranchers knew him as a pistolero whose cool eyes and lightning hands were just what was needed to stop the Bristol gang. Even as he rode in, Smoke could sense the trigger-taut atmosphere of thirsty men and cattlemen who were itching to get at the bushwhackers whose guns controlled the waterholes. Tempers were getting shorter and guns were being loaded.

Dakota Territory: 1885. A violent band of Civil War veterans, who roamed the Badlands were roused from their restless inertia by the murder of the Colonel they idolized. The towns simmered, and hatreds flared up anew, and every stranger became suspect. Since Smoke Wade was a stranger, when he stepped out of the hotel a dozen tough and sullen men were waiting for him. They followed him down the dusty street like a pack of hungry dogs stalking a young deer. Someone in their midst spoke the word. "Murderer."

Stampede Canyon held all the natural beauty of the West—and all of it's dangers. Sheer cliffs studded with silver rose straight to the sky on three sides—and the fourth was pitted with traps.