Collected here are ten Western short stories by Richard S. Wheeler, the award-winning author who makes storytelling look easy.

In "Mugs Birdsong's Crime Academy," celebrated criminal Mugs Birdsong decides to found an academy that will instruct lawmen on the ways and means of lawlessness. "The Last Days of Dominic Prince" is the tragic tale of a cattle baron and his final conflict with the forces of political correctness. "Dead Weight" introduces

...

Lonnie Kilgore and his fellow Texans, headed for home after the scramble of the California Gold Rush, change direction when they hear about a lush range waiting to be claimed in northern Utah, but they do not realize the land along the Green River comes equipped with trouble from Indians, the law, and women.

Johnstone Country. Be Quick or Be Dead. In a twist of fate, Slash and Pecos are riding hard for the law, dispensing justice as they see fit, and determined to watch their final sunset as heroes ... not outlaws. His wicked ways mostly behind him, reformed bank robber Jimmy "Slash" Braddock is getting hitched to his sweetheart. But before the honeymoon, Chief U.S. Marshal Luther T. "Bleed-'Em-So" Bledsoe needs Slash and his former partner-in-crime,...

"Bandits, outlaws, romance, and adventure abound in Hard Ride, the second-ever collection of tales of the American West from renowned, seven-time Spur Award-winning author Elmer Kelton. Each of Elmer Kelton's superb stories of the West showcase the strength and power of western spirit. They are filled with marvelous characters--from a rodeo clown who seeks redemption via romance, to an outlaw who comes to the aid of ranchers with no other recourse...

"A biography of the late Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry from New York Times bestselling author Tracy Daugherty. In over forty books, in a career that spanned over sixty years, Larry McMurtry staked his claim as a superior chronicler of the American West, and as the Great Plains' keenest witness since Willa Cather and Wallace Stegner. Larry McMurtry: A Life traces his origins as one of the last American writers...

"Months have passed since five ruthless men killed Lone McGantry's partner and stole the horses from their ranch. Now, finally free of obligations that have kept him from taking up pursuit sooner, Lone has set out on a cold trail to track down the killers and make them pay. He'd prefer revenge, he'll settle for justice . . . But the trail is not only cold, it is twisty and marked by dangers at every turn, even apart from the quarry he is after. Lone...

Provides in-depth analysis of the life, works, career, and critical importance of Max Brand.

"In this compelling new installment of bestselling author Ralph Compton's Sundown Riders series, a man seeks revenge for the death of his wife and sons while caring for his traumatized daughter. Carl Novak returned to the Texas hill country after fighting in the Civil War, but unlike most of his neighbors, Carl didn't fight for the Confederacy. He was a Union soldier. Carl tries to resume his life as a farmer with his wife and three children. One...

"Howdy Merchant was a nice, quiet guy who liked to live his own life in his own way. But he was never free from one soul-searching memory: the cold-blooded killing of his father by Black Mike Guzman. Years had gone by, and Howdy had worked endlessly to blaze his own trail. At the Muleshoe Bar Ranch, he had earned a reputation as the best cow-puncher in the country. He could have settled down and forgotten the past. But then he heard that Black Mike...

The perfect murder is a work of art. The final book in the New York Times–bestselling author's sexy and suspenseful Raines of Wind Canyon series.
In one catastrophic instant, Haley Warren's father was taken from her. She knows the explosion that killed him was no accident. Tyler Brodie, the provocative and handsome P.I. hired by Haley, discovers that her father was investigating a suspected art theft. As Haley and Ty get closer...