AustLit

'Buck Halliday was a sudden man with a gun. That’s why Judge Cowper, of Shimmer Creek, hired him. The judge wanted a man named Jason Henley killed. Henley, he said, had taken over the town, lock, stock and barrel, and now he expected every other businessman to pay him protection money.

'Halliday had killed men before, but he wasn’t a killer for hire.  Still … maybe he could convince Henley that it might be better for his health if he made dust and headed for someplace else.

'Trouble was, Henley had more lives than a cat. And to get to him, a feller first had to go through his pet gunman, the notorious Rafe Murchison.

'It appeared to Halliday that he was really going to earn his money on this job.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Drifter Blake Durant was arrested and thrown into the Sunfish Creek jail on a simple case of mistaken identity. The town was expecting a visit from outlaw Tom Moran, who’d sworn to get revenge on its lawmen, and Deputy Billy Owen suspected that Blake was part of Moran’s gang, sent out ahead of the main gang to scout the lay of the land.

'Then everything became even more complicated when some genuine owlhoots broke jail and committed a cold-blooded murder. A manhunt followed, as did the unexpected appearance of Moran’s beautiful young daughter, Lisa. And Blake found himself on the trail of the outlaws… because the only way to clear himself of the murder was to bring back the guilty parties, either in their saddles… or across them.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Blake Durant was on his way to Crimson Falls when he stopped by Jessica Gray’s ranch for water. Before he could move on again, the young widow’s son came galloping into the yard, badly beaten. Three men had stolen their two calves and beaten young Jess when he tried to stop them. Much as he knew he should just ride on, Blake knew he couldn’t. So he stood shoulder to shoulder with the young widow and her son against a vicious land-baron with an army of gunnies on his payroll. And when the gunsmoke finally cleared, the winner would take all!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Blake Durant wasn’t looking for trouble, but as usual, trouble found him anyway. It came in the shape of a crusty old miner called Pete Doubell, who was outnumbered and under attack by a bunch of gunmen when Blake ran across him. Ever the loner, Blake wanted no part of it, but somehow he got drawn into a complicated web of lies, death and double-dealing. Along the way he locked horns with gunfighter Vance Carter, and vengeance-hungry Reke Bodie and his gun-hung crew. But when he looked into the eyes of Doubell’s niece Christine, all the danger seemed a price worth paying …'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The old man and his lovely niece Hope were in big trouble. The local land baron, bully-boy Aldo Latimer, wanted their ranch – at any cost.

'But what made the old Clayton place worth so much to him? Why was he willing to try every dirty trick in the book to get it?

'All Dick and Hope Clayton knew was that they needed protection … and when Buck Halliday rode in, they figured they’d found it.

'Halliday wasn’t looking for gun-work right then, but he liked the old man, and there was something about Hope that got under his skin and made him think it was time to settle down. So he signed on.

'But the stakes were so high that soon, Halliday wasn’t sure who he could really trust – not old Dick, not Hope …  and certainly not his arch rival, Aldo Latimer’s hired gun, Rees Mann.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Buck Halliday fled the town of Pardoo after being falsely accused of murder. In his haste to avoid a lynching, he strayed from the main trail and ended up in a desolate valley with a bad reputation. They said plenty of men had ridden into the nameless valley, but none had ever returned.

'It wasn’t long before Halliday discovered why.

'Almost before he knew it, he was fighting for his life against a vicious clan led by a madman named Masterson, and his only hope of salvation lay with the very posse that was trailing him, and determined to make sure he kept his date with the noose!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When Blake Durant reached the town of Lincoln, he really should have just kept riding. But he didn’t get the chance.

'Within moments of his arrival, a gun-tough named Nico Semole injured his horse and then tried to pick a fight with an old man. Blake stopped him and beat him to pulp. But Nico just didn’t know when to quit. Later that day he came at Blake with a gun … and set off a chain of events that was to end in murder and bloody revenge.

'Nico’s brother Kent aimed to settle the account with Blake, and he had just enough gun-speed to do it. Furthermore, the local marshal was all burnt out, and Blake knew he couldn’t rely on the man to keep the peace. So it looked as if the man they called The Loner would have to take matters into his own hands … and when he did, there was gunsmoke in the air and dead men on the ground.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It all started with the discovery of three dead men, each of whom had been shot from ambush. Blake Durant did the decent thing and buried them, and that should have been the end of it. But then he met up with Ben Adamson, discovered that the men had been working for him, and decided to help the old-timer drive his cattle into the next town down the trail.

'That was when all hell broke loose. There was an attempt to steal the cattle, and in the process Durant was accused of a cold-blooded killing and sentenced to hang. Loyal to the end, Ben Anderson fought tooth and nail to save him from the trumped-up charge … but that only led to even more problems, including a terrifying manhunt and, finally, an audacious plan to get even with the bad men who ruled Outcast County.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It was drought country. The land was little more than dust, the cattle slowly but surely dying on the hoof. For most of the ranchers in those parts, it had been a year-long disaster. But for local businessman Harp McPhee, it was a situation he aimed to exploit for all it was worth.

'Knowing the drought couldn’t last forever, McPhee aimed to buy the land and the stock at rock-bottom prices, and he brought in a bunch of hired gunnies to back him against any opposition.

'The situation seemed hopeless. And yet banker Finch Rogan had an idea that his old friend, Buck Halliday, might be able to challenge McPhee and his army of gunslingers.

'Halliday didn’t want trouble. But the settling of trouble was how he made his living. So he tied down his .44 and came to deliver salvation to a town called Redemption.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.