Shadow of a Hang Rope (Five Star Western) - Hardcover

Paine, Lauran

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1432827707 ISBN 13: 9781432827700

Publisher: Five Star, 2014

Synopsis

Risking the last of his funds to purchase and profitably resell a stolen herd of horses, an unemployed John Hawk takes a promising job as an outrider gun guard on a stagecoach line only to have his questionable choices threaten his prospects.

About this title

About the Author:

Lauran Paine who, under his own name and various pseudonyms has written over 1,000 books, was born in Duluth, Minnesota. His family moved to California when he was at a young age and his apprenticeship as a Western writer came about through the years he spent in the livestock trade, rodeos, and even motion pictures where he served as an extra because of his expert horsemanship. He served in the U.S. Navy in the Second World War. Paine s Western fiction is characterized by strong plots, authenticity, an apparently effortless ability to construct situation and character, and a preference for building his stories upon a solid foundation of historical fact.

From Booklist:

John Hawk, a young cowboy, sees a beautiful young woman, Joyce Porter, and knows she’s the love of his life. But, with only $100 in his pocket, he has no prospects. Then he overhears a couple of shady characters talking about some horses to be exchanged at a place called Hunter’s Spring for a down payment of $100. John gets to Hunter’s Spring first, gives the man with the horses $100, and sells the—obviously stolen—herd for $600, enough to buy into the local stage line. He soon learns that the stage line is run by a crook, and that’s the late Paine’s amusing MacGuffin: everybody’s a thief, even respectable businessmen. Everybody but Joyce and her father, who’s a judge, but John works hard, improves the line with sensible changes, and, when he confesses his crimes to Joyce, he’s surprised to find that she’s still on his side. Of course, there’s a showdown between the crooks trying to go straight and the crooks who feel they’ve been cheated. An easygoing western from a master of the genre. --John Mort

About this edition

• Publisher: Five Star
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1432827707
• ISBN 13: 9781432827700
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 172