Showing results by author "Matt Braun" in All Categories

Wyatt Earp was a man who craved fame, power, and prominence. He came to Tombstone with a plan to get elected sheriff and a dream of building the biggest business empire the booming mining town had ever seen. But by Christmas, both his brothers had been struck down, and their assassins were coming after him and Doc Holliday. For Earp, a man of ambition and pride, it would mean putting aside his dream for one last fight...not for glory, but revenge.

For decades, the Texas plains ran with the blood of natives and settlers, as pioneers carved out ranch land from ancient Indian hunting grounds and the US Army turned the tide of battle. Now the Civil War has begun, and the Army is pulling out of Fort Belknap - giving the Comanches a new chance for victory and revenge.

He came from the American South, a gentleman by breeding, a dentist by training, a gambler by vocation. But as Dr. John H. Holliday, a man fleeing his tragic past, drifted across the West, living among some of the roughest men on the frontier, word spread quickly he never walked away from a fight, and he never drew too late.Now, from Dodge City to Denver and Cheyenne, from boomtown to sinkholes, "Doc" Holliday was driven by the demons of his past, a skilled gambler and a seasoned mankiller....

In a place called No Man's Land, Texas rancher Ben Langham hired Luke Starbuck for his loyalty and toughness gained by riding with Rip Ford's Texas volunteers. But when Langham sent Starbuck after a band of horse thieves, a loyal man left behind the only home he had ever known - and met the stranger in himself.

The Brannock brothers have very different dreams for their lives in the wide-open spaces of the American Southwest. Virgil is a railroad man; Clint is in the Calvary; and Earl has settled in with the Comanches. Their paths cross in a fatal gun battle that puts their code of honor to the test.

Texas rancher Ben Langham left his sprawling inheritance to the man he trusted most: Luke Starbuck. Once Starbuck had dreamed of having land of his own. Now he dreams of finding the man who gunned down Langham - and bringing him to justice. With the Cattlemen's Association behind him, Starbuck has all the authority he needs to ride into New Mexico on the path of a murderous band of thieves.

Matt Braun's Spur Award-winning Dakota tells the compelling story of Teddy Roosevelt's foray into rugged Dakota Territory. Stunned by a Valentine's Day telegram, Teddy Roosevelt reached his Manhattan home just in time to watch death claim first his mother and then his wife on that dark day in 1884. Abandoning a promising political career, 25-year-old Teddy sought the healing solace of the Dakota Bad Lands.

In the Texas Panhandle, Newt Bascom and Sam Jordan are stock detectives who have the brains to outwit most rustlers - and the brawn to outfight the rest.

Earl Brannock was a gambling man who fled the fires of the Civil War and found a boomtown called Denver - in a land being built on dreams, luck, and gold. Virgil Brannock joined him next, fresh from Lee's surrender at Appomattox, determined to rise to the top of the frontier's rough and treacherous business world. Finally, Clint came riding a trail of revenge: a fiery young Brannock who dared to wear a badge.... The three brothers were reunited once again.

America's richest legends come from the frontier - from the land where the events of a single moment might erase the lines between law and lawlessness, between safety and mortal danger, between heroes and villains. The carefully selected stories in this collection are vibrant proof that the great American West is a fertile ground to storytellers. Here's the most varied collection of short stories, by 17 highly acclaimed Western writers.

Print Oliver gave his blood and his soul for the Confederacy. Then he came home to find his family ranch under siege from Union carpetbaggers and his neighbors turned against him. For the Texan there was no choice but to blaze a trail toward power, rounding up wild longhorns and driving them toward markets from Galveston to Abilene.

In Matt Braun’s The Last Stand, the land of Five Civilized Tribes is stolen from its people by a Federal government determined to make Oklahoma the 46th state. Chitto Starr, a full-blood Cherokee, will not go gently into the night. Instead, Chitto ignites an armed rebellion - and brings an honest, determined lawman onto his trail. For Deputy US Marshal Owen McLain, hunting down Starr and his rebels is the last job he wants - and the one he has to do right, or die. Now, the two men are locked in a duel of cunning and violence on a tragic, history-scarred land.

Winner of the Golden Spur, Matt Braun writes novels with an unparalleled knowledge of the West.

In the harsh land of New Mexico, Clint and Virgil Brannock keep a sharp eye on their ranch, the Rio Hondo, and family, lest cheats and hustlers move in. When corrupt attorney Stephen Benton and his Santa Fe Ring threaten the ranch, the two brothers realize they must fight for the land and livelihood they cherish, or die trying.

Luke Starbuck knew Death’s designs were as uncompromising as justice, and as cold and final as an unmarked grave. But when Wyatt Earp and his gang were ambushed one moonlit evening and Earp emerged from the barrage of shotgun fire very much alive, Starbuck began to wonder if there was more to the ambitious, flint-eyed desperado than met the eye.

A rare breed of bulldog and bloodhound, private detective Luke Starbuck has been hired to ferret out the Judas working for the Central Pacific—a mastermind behind a string of train robberies. The target: gold shipments from the Frisco mint. All Starbuck has to do is pass himself off as an outlaw and infiltrate the pack. But chumming up to a gang leader like Denny O'Brien means that Starbuck must follow him into the vice pits of the notorious Barbary Coast. Getting inside this hellhole of crime is easy if you make the right moves. Make the wrong ones, and getting out could be murder.

It is 1881. El Paso, the wildest border town in an untamed Texas, is at a crossroads. A booming sin city crawling with corrupt politicians and gunslick outlaws, the town now faces its greatest challenge: the savagery of the notorious Banning Brothers. Dallas Stoudenmire is the marshal El Paso has hired to bring a quick end to the Bannings' reign of terror. Bloodshed erupts as the Bannings hire an assassin to send Stoudenmire to an early grave. Now the former Texas ranger will rely on nerves and a quick gun to save his own life - and bring swift justice to a desperate town....

Ben Thompson carved out a name for himself as a gambler and a shootist - from Dodge City to the Rio Grande. But settling down in Austin with a wife and young son didn't settle Ben's taste for the sporting life. He still found himself in the gambling dives - where the turn of a card too often led to a shootout. Soon a circle of powerful businessmen decides that Thompson is the only man who can tame Austin's wild side. They ask him to rule the streets - and take no prisoners. They want him to take on the job of a marshal in a town in which every man packs a gun.

Lucas Brokaw is an incredibly wealthy man. But though he has amassed one of the greatest fortunes in the world, he is without an heir. Looking death in the face, he decides to leave his money to whoever can prove to be his reincarnated self. He has set up a foundation to oversee his assets until someone steps forward as the reincarnation of Lucas Brokaw - and can prove it. Hundreds of candidates emerge, each claiming to be the millionaire returned to collect his fortune. But all of them fail to provide significant knowledge of the life of Brokaw to back up their petition.

When Luke Starbuck takes on a wealthy banker as a client, the only thing more compelling than the paycheck is his prey. The James-Younger gang has confounded countless detectives, including the men of the Pinkerton Agency. Now it's Starbuck's chance to bring down the most notorious group of outlaws the West has ever seen-led by none other than cold-blooded killer Jesse James. Undercover work and patient tracking take Starbuck from Kansas City straight through the Indian Territory

Matt Braun turns the classic elements of tough men and rough land into westerns that ring with authenticity. A native of the West and author of 31 novels, he bases many of his book on historic records. Deadwood draws on accounts of the infamous Butch Cassidy and his gang. The mountains and canyons of Dakota Territory create the perfect hideout for lawless men—Hole-in-the-Wall.