Rider of Lost Creek: A Western Story (Five Star Western Series)
Rider of Lost Creek has appeared in several formats, but this edition reprints the text of its first publication in West magazine in 1947. Lance Kilkenny, an itinerant knight errant, rides into south Texas to help an old friend, Mort Davis. Mort and his small but well-watered ranch are being squeezed by two big operators, and Lance soon brushes up against them both in fights he ably brings under control, mindful of the larger goal of peace on the range. But something doesn’t add up. The rash of murders in the backcountry can’t really be attributed to any of the ranchers. Someone to the south, near the outlaw town of Apple Cañon, is fomenting the trouble. This mystery man wants to establish a pipeline for stolen cattle, which he’ll drive into Mexico. A showdown brews between Lance and this formidable schemer. If he wins, Lance can ride on—or maybe settle down with the pretty saloonkeeper, Nita Riordan. This is early, pulpy L’Amour, but western readers will love it. --John Mort