Showing results by author "Ralph Cotton" in All Categories

Jeston Nash, Quiet Jack Smith, and a mysterious black man named Big Shod find themselves in the midst of Chief Red Cloud’s war. They come looking to sell some stolen horses to the cavalry and find themselves fighting against outlaws, warriors and the US government - not just for their lives, but for the chance to do what’s right.

Sure, it would've been easy killing Two Diamond Joe with a second shot. No man takes a .44 round square between the eyes and survives. But Jeston Nash only wants his prize horse back from the man, and a fast trail out of the New Mexico badlands. Together again with Quiet Jack, Nash is on a hunt that will take him through unforgiving terrain, a tangle of firebrand beauties, and even into a lawman's trust - before squaring off with most ruthless pack of gunmen ever to rule the desert frontier.

Jeston Nash bears a striking resemblance to his cousin Jesse Woodson James of Clay County Missouri. After killing a Yankee soldier in self-defense, Jeston meets his cousins, Jesse and Frank, and joins them to fight in Quantrill's guerilla forces. Later, after the war, he rides with the James-Younger gang as they invent their special brand of bank and train robbery. All the while, Jeston seeks vengeance against Daniel Zanone of the Free Kansas Militia - the man responsible for the death of his child.

Arizona Ranger Sam Burrack is a predator lying in wait. He's undercover as an outlaw to infiltrate a pair of vicious border gangs and bring them down. This mission has already had its share of casualties, and if Burrack has his say, there will be more. A cloud of dust rises as four men ride toward the Twisted Hills. The only thing between them and certain death at the hands of the Apaches is Sam, who also wants those men dead.

When wanted men don't want to be found, they hole up in Agua FrIa, Mexico. Nestled in the twisted hills of the Blood Mountain Range just across the border from Arizona, the town is divided by two ruthless gangs of thieves and killers. On one side stands Texas Red Madson, and on the other is Raymond Segert. Between them stands Arizona Ranger Sam Burrack. He rides into Agua FrIa in the guise of a vicious gunslinger with a plan to ingratiate himself with both gangs - and stir up the bad blood between them into a war that will leave Burrack the last man standing .

Blowing into Kindred, New Mexico, like a sandstorm, mercenary Sherman ''The Teacher'' Dahl quickly locates his prey and guns them down in a blazing firefight. But Dahl's troubles are only just beginning. The town's power-hungry marshal doesn't take kindly to Dahl's brand of justice and he's determined to end the hired killer's career once and for all.

In Guns on the Border, Arizona Ranger Sam Burrack heads out into the Mexican badlands to track down the dirtiest scoundrels to ever strap on a six-gun and laugh in the face of the law. But Burrack is anything but amused, and retribution is soon to be paid.

The Traybo brothers have a reputation for being gentleman outlaws - the kind who will make polite chatter as they take your life savings. But Ranger Samuel Burrack has no sympathy for those who show poor manners when it comes to obeying the law. He's traveled as far as the Mexican Badlands to pick up the Traybo brothers' ex-cohort, Fatch Hardaway, to lead him to his prey. Burrack isn't alone in his pursuit.

Federal Deputy Sullivan Hart thinks he has broken up the outlaw organization Los Pistoleros after he arrests its leader, J.T. Priest - the man who killed his father. But Priest escapes from jail and he's determined to rebuild his criminal empire. Only Quick Charlie Sims knows where Priest is headed. And Hart is none too sure he can trust the wily gambler, who has his own debt to settle with Los Pistoleros.

A killer storm - In the dark of night during a raging storm, a criminal is on the loose in the Arizona badlands. His name is Wilson Orez. Half-Apache and a former cavalry scout, Orez is skilled with weapons, seasoned in the desert, and trained to keep a cool head while death lurks all around him. Or when it springs from his own hands. Arizona Ranger Sam Burrack knows the only way to stop Orez is to kill him.

They gunned down his father in cold blood. They are his most elusive enemies, the outlaws known as Los Pistoleros. And they're still at large. But Federal Deputy Hart will not give up the chase...until they hang.

When Arizona Ranger Sam Burrack arrives in Mesa Grande with a few outlaws in tow, he finds the town in chaos. The sheriff's just been shot, and the new deputy - supposedly out in search of the gunman - is acting suspicious. Now it's up to Burrack to sort out who can be trusted and who needs to be put behind bars. But just as he starts putting the pieces together, a new kind of threat descends on Mesa Grande: Scalp hunters ride in - with a band of wrathful Apache warriors hot on their trail.

Arizona Territory Ranger Sam Burrack knows all too well that criminals don't concern themselves with consequences. So it's no surprise to him when Big Silver's sheriff, Sheppard Stone, makes an enemy of wealthy cattle rancher Edsel Centrila, whose son thinks he's above the law. After Stone refuses a large payoff to let Centrila's son out of jail, Centrila throws all of his money into buying up Big Silver, putting gunmen on every corner, aiming right at the sheriff's office.

Ralph Cotton casts a long shadow as one of the finest practitioners of Western fiction to ever set pen to paper. Burnished with the unmistakable character of the Old West, Escape from Fire River showcases Cotton at the height of his form. There’s not a man alive who can outdraw Lawrence Shaw, but that doesn’t mean he’s invulnerable. Garris “The Cat” Cantro and his band of miscreants are hellbent on securing a fortune in gold.

Lawrence Shaw still has the reputation as the fastest gun alive. But since the death of his beloved Rosa, his shots have come out of a bottle. Then a friend gets Shaw a job helping a widow with her ranch, and Fast Larry sees the glimmer of a second chance.

Old ways and new clash in head-on confrontation: When journeyman hit man Ray Dylan agrees to look in on Sami Bloom, former mistress of a deceased Canadian crime financier, he realizes he must keep his profession a secret. What he doesn’t realize is how difficult that is now that he has fallen for this warm-hearted beauty. While he struggles with the idea of confiding to her about his secret past, Dylan learns that Sami Bloom has some secrets of her own—and her secrets reach into the upper echelons of the very organization he works for.

Jeston Nash knew horses—he'd stolen enough of them in his time. But the lookalike cousin of Jesse James was going respectable, almost. Then, in a New Orleans teeming with drunks and blue uniforms, he sold a horse to a well-bred lady. It was the biggest mistake of his careers.

In a chaotic blast of gunfire, the James Gang fled a posse's attack—and the infamous Jesse threw his cousin Jeston Nash a hoard of stolen cash. But dodging the law with thirty thousand dollars in a dusty carpetbag is a risky proposition. Hoping to lie low in the mountains of the Northwest, Jeston and his partner, Quiet Jack, find themselves on a journey into the dark heart of human nature—and deadly animal instinct....

Adventure, action and dark humor galore, delivered Ralph Cotton style, in his fictional take on the real-life DEA - FBI joint Operation Swordfish, a covert effort launched by the two agencies in the early 1980s. Meet Eddie Vango - Chicago gambling debt collector for the Outfit, the lovely Leslie Wright, and ex-con Delbert Moss as they make their way through the ranks of South Florida Drug Lords and take a giant share of the underworld’s operating capital while the drug world is busy 'replacing' its leadership.

When Chicago hitman Ray Dylan started out he was one more young professional struggling to get ahead of the pack. But he knows his world is about to change quickly when he takes on a job for high-level KGB elitist Leonid (The Professor) Volkov, founder of a unique Cuban-Russian spy community operating out of southern Florida. After Volkov double-crosses him and tries to have him killed, Dylan must take on the entire criminal spy operation even as a wild hurricane named Dennis ravages its way up the heart of the Florida peninsula.