his is a Western anthology, featuring rarely-published stories by some of the all-time greats, including Elmer Kelton, Loren Estleman, William W. Johnstone, and a Louis L'Amour story, The Defense of Sentinel, that has been unavailable for more than 25 years!
The sound of a crowded saloon...The cry of a train coming through the night...The pounding of horses ridden by friends or foe...From the searing sun to snow-steeped winters, towns called Sentinel, Iron Mountain and St. Elmo stood strong and fierce-before they finally died. Now, these ghost towns return to life under the spell of such great Western tale-tellers as William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone, Louis L'Amour, Elmer Kelton, Loren D. Estleman, and Johnny D. Boggs.
From a soldier on the run from the fires of war...From a gambler who has long since played his last hand to a solitary, singing rifle man protecting a besieged town...With dreamers and schemers, with men and women of courage, conscience and faith, here is an unforgettable round-up of astounding adventures fueled by a passion for the West the way it really was-and the way it lives on forever...
Author Biography:
Louis L'Amour was one of America's most prolific and bestselling authors, writing more than One Hundred novels in a thirty year career. His novels of the old west have sold more than 250 million copies, and made him well known and appreciated around the world. L'Amour's skill as a storyteller and chronicler of white and Native American Western lore won him an amazing following of loyal fans. The high moral standards, the ideals and respect for all that he wrote of in his stories, were a great part of the attraction. The creation of the Sacketts and other families that appear throughout his books, brought the reader into the heart of early family life in North America, and the reader quickly became attached to these respectable characters, looking forward to their next appearance.
Elmer Kelton is the author of over 40 novels, and published over more than 50 years. Three of Kelton's novels have appeared in Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Four books have won the Western Heritage Award from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Oklahoma City- THE TIME IT NEVER RAINED, THE GOOD OLD BOYS, THE MAN WHO RODE MIDNIGHT, and the text for THE ART OF HOWARD TERPNING. Seven have won the Spur award from Western Writers of America- BUFFALO WAGONS, THE DAY THE COWBOYS QUIT, THE TIME IT NEVER RAINED, EYES OF THE HAWK, SLAUGHTER, THE FAR CANYON and THE WAY OF THE COYOTE.
In 1987 he received the Barbara McCombs/Lon Tinkle Award for "continuing excellence in Texas letters" from the Texas Institute of Letters. In 1990 he received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the Western Literature Association. The Texas Legislature proclaimed Elmer Kelton Day in April 1997. In 1998 he received the first Lone Star award for lifetime Achievement from the Larry McMurtry Center for Arts and Humanities at Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls, Texas.
William W. Johnstone is Kensington's favorite, and most-published author, with over 125 books published over the last 25 years with more than 10,000,000 copies in print. He is also the author of the popular ASHES series. In the western category, Johnstone is also the author of the BLOOD BOND, A TOWN CALLED FURY, THE LAST GUNFIGHTER, THE MOUNTAIN MAN, THE FIRST MOUNTAIN MAN, SIDEWINDERS, THE FAMILY JENSEN, and MATT JENSEN, THE LAST MOUNTAIN MAN series.
