With more than 120 titles still in print, Louis L'Amour is recognized the world over as one of the most prolific and popular American authors in history. Though he met with phenomenal success in every genre he tried, the form that put him on the map was the short story. Now this great writer - who The Wall Street Journal recently compared with Jack London and Robert Louis Stevenson - will receive his due as a great storyteller. This volume kicks off a series that will, when complete, anthologize all of L'Amour's short fiction, volume by handsome volume. Here is a treasure-trove of over 30 frontier tales for his millions of fans and for those who have yet to discover L'Amour's thrilling prose - and his vital role in capturing the spirit of the Old West for generations to come.

The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour, Vol. 1: Frontier stories

Literature & Fiction

L'AMOUR, LOUIS

Genre Fiction

BANTAM BOOKS

In Louis L'Amour's frontier stories, the American West is the crucible in which character is tested, reputations are won or lost, and life always hangs in the balance. Struggling to survive against the elements, hostile Indians, or outlaws who prey upon the honest and hardworking, the men and women in these tales each come face-to-face with what they're made of—often in moments that explode with the violence of an avalanche or the speed of a drawn gun. Here L'Amour demonstrates the unerring touch for detail and keen insight into human nature that lend these stories the power to thrill, surprise, and entertain listeners of every generation. Here are stories of honest thieves and crooked lawmen, of dream chasers and treasure hunters, of men and women hoping for a second chance and others down to their last. This rich and varied cast embodies not only the spirit of the West but the timeless struggle of the best and worst in us all, on a stage as big as the frontier itself. Full of suspense, mystery, adventure, this remarkable collection has everything that's earned Louis L'Amour his well-deserved reputation as America's favorite storyteller.

The Collected Short Stories of Louis L'Amour: Volume 7: The Frontier Stories

United States

Random House Audio |

Ride the Dark Trail

Matt Bardoul was a good man to have as a friend and a bad one to make trouble with. He was also a single-minded drifter—until he met his match in an outspoken beauty named Jacquine Coyle. She was headed into the Bighorn Mountains with her father and an expedition in search of gold. After Matt signs on to join them, he discovers that there is a group of outlaws in the party—gunfighters and thieves that Matt wouldn’ t trust for a minute. At first it’s unclear what they are planning, but before long Matt realizes that he’s the only man standing between innocent people and a brutal conspiracy of greed, lust, and cold-blooded murder.

Westward the Tide

Clay Bell spent the last six years fighting Indians, rustlers, and the wilderness itself to make the B-Bar ranch the prize of the Deep Creek Range. But Jud Devitt, a ruthless speculator from the East, now threatens everything Clay has worked for. Devitt, holding a contract with the Mexican Central to deliver railroad ties, wants to harvest timber off the land where Clay grazes his cattle. Backing Devitt are shady politicians, a dishonest banker, and fifty of the toughest lumberjacks in the county. But as Colleen Riley, Devitt’s fiancée, realizes the brutal game he’s playing, her disapproval of his actions, and Clay Bell’s obvious integrity and charm, pull her toward a destiny that will tip the scales in their bloody battle over timber and cattle.

Guns of the Timberlands

Louis L’Amour has been best known for his ability to capture the spirit and drama of the authentic American West. Now he guides his readers to an even more distant frontier—the enthralling lands of the twelfth century. Warrior, lover, and scholar, Kerbouchard is a daring seeker of knowledge and fortune bound on a journey of enormous challenge, danger, and revenge. Across Europe, over the Russian steppes, and through the Byzantine wonders of Constantinople, Kerbouchard is thrust into the treacheries, passions, violence, and dazzling wonders of a magnificent time. From castle to slave galley, from sword-racked battlefields to a princess’s secret chamber, and ultimately, to the impregnable fortress of the Valley of Assassins, The Walking Drum is a powerful adventure in an ancient world that you will find every bit as riveting as Louis L’Amour’s stories of the American West.

The Walking Drum

“For sheer adventure L’Amour is in top form.”—Kirkus Reviews Here is the kind of authentically detailed epic novel that has become Louis L’Amour’s hallmark. It is the compelling story of U.S. Air Force Major Joe Mack, a man born out of time. When his experimental aircraft is forced down in Russia and he escapes a Soviet prison camp, he must call upon the ancient skills of his Indian forebears to survive the vast Siberian wilderness. Only one route lies open to Mack: the path of his ancestors, overland to the Bering Strait and across the sea to America. But in pursuit is a legendary tracker, the Yakut native Alekhin, who knows every square foot of the icy frontier—and who knows that to trap his quarry he must think like a Sioux.

Last of the Breed

“I am Johannes Verne, and I am not afraid.” This was the boy’s mantra as he plodded through the desert alone, left to die by his vengeful grandfather. Johannes Verne was soon to be rescued by outlaws, but no one could save him from the lasting memory of his grandfather’s eyes, full of impenetrable hatred. Raised in part by Indians, then befriended by a mysterious woman, Johannes grew up to become a rugged adventurer and an educated man. But even now, strengthened by the love of a golden-haired girl and well on his way to making a fortune in bustling early-day Los Angeles, the past may rise up to threaten his future once more. And this time only the ancient gods of the desert can save him.

The Lonesome Gods (Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures)

Ninety years ago the Toomey brothers, along with twenty-five other men and four thousand head of cattle, vanished en route to Arizona. When writer and historian Dan Sheridan is invited to the missing brothers’ ranch by its current owner, he jumps at the chance. The visit fits right in with his plan to solve the century-old mystery—but it turns out that his host isn’t a fan of books, writers, or people who don’t mind their own business. Soon Dan is living the dangers of the Old West firsthand—tracked through the savage wilderness by vicious killers straight out of the most violent pages of his stories. However, his enemies have made one serious mistake: Sheridan is no pencil-pushing greenhorn, and killing him won’t be as easy as they think.

The Broken Gun

This three-story collection includes: Bill Carey Rides West Life on an Ohio farm couldn’t hold young Bill Carey. He wanted the adventure he knew waited in the territories to the west. He’d drifted into the outlaw life, and now he found himself holed up on a small farm near the lair of Tabat Ryerson. Ryerson, the man who’d introduced him to cattle rustling and bank robbery, a cold-blooded killer. On a remote little farm, Carey’s caught between both sides of the law, and he finds a reason for staying alive in a rancher’s pretty daughter. The Town No Guns Could Tame Basin City is a place where no respectable citizen feels safe. That’s why three of the town’s foremost businessmen have gone and hired a new marshal. Tomorrow he’ll be in charge of protecting a stagecoach carrying over a quarter million dollars in gold. For Perry, a gunfighter on the run, this job should have turned his life around. Instead, it’s landed him in a peck of trouble. Bowdrie Rides a Coyote Trail On the trail of a ruthless killer named Carl Dyson, Ranger Chick Bowdrie finds the body of a rough-riding Californian left to rot in the sun. With the dead man’s horse in tow, Bowdrie ambles into the middle of a dispute between the H&amp;H ranch and the Darcy spread. Seems some H&amp;H hired guns are giving Jack Darcy a hard time . . . and leading the troublemakers is ranch owner Rack Herman. Will Bowdrie travel far to track down Dyson . . . or is this killer closer than he thinks?

Bill Carey Rides West/The Town No Guns Could Tame/Bowdrie Rides a Coyote Trail

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