Rio Desperado

Spur and Owen Wister Award winner Gordon D. Shirreffs spins tales of adventure in the old west that are heart-pounding and invigorating. Two of those tales are found in this volume, for your enjoyment.In Rio Desperado, Burke Dane sets out to avenge the unlawful lynching of his half-brother. The further he goes, the more entangled he becomes in a web of lies and deceit. His desire for vengeance is tempered and strengthened when he finds himself a hunted man, on the run for his very life. He'll get justice, though, no matter the price...In Top Gun, Dade Averill was fed up with being a gunslick. Before getting locked into the path he'd been on for years, he'd wanted more out of life than the clothes on his back and the pair of silver-inlaid Colts on his hips.When an old friend pleaded for his help to fight off a bunch of killers, he wanted no part of it but couldn't simply turn his back. He knew what he had to do, simply because he was the best. There was no rest for the weary, and no resting place for a top gun-except the final one.Shirreffs' work is a mastery of pacing and tough, gritty prose. - James Reasoner