The body of a man hung from the rafters The eerie silence bristled the hair on Pat Stevens’ neck. He took an involuntary step backward. It was Dan Stout! But things didn’t add up. The chair upon which Dan had presumably stood did not reach his feet. And Dan’s brother, Red John Stout, only became excited when Pat told him, “You know of course that Dan left everything to his wife.” “Damn it man, you’re lying!” Red John shouted. But Pat knew what he was talking about. And he and his two friends also knew the unconvincing suicide blazed a sinister trail to a six-gun showdown.

To save his wife’s closest friend, Sheriff Pat Stevens—with the help of his trusty friends Sam and Ezra—pursues a gang of masked gunmen Sheriff Pat Stevens should be the happiest man in Powder Valley. He has a thriving ranch, a healthy son, and the prettiest wife in Colorado. After a shootout with a gang of outlaws nearly cost him his life, he promised Sally he would hang his guns up for good. But trouble is coming to the Valley, and Pat can feel his trigger finger starting to itch. In nearby Dusty Canyon, a troop of hooded killers menaces the honest miners who toil in the local goldmines. The local sheriff has already been wounded once trying to stop them, but he continues the fight—and begs for Pat’s help. At first, Pat resists the urge to join the fray, but when Sally’s closest friend is put in the line of fire, he has no choice but to ask his loyal sidekicks, Sam and Ezra, to ride into battle with him once more.

"Έλα στο Μπλαντ Μπαίηζιν..." έλεγε το σημείωμα του φονιά, που κρατούσε στα χέρια του ο Πατ Στήβενς. Έλα να πεθάνεις όπως ο σερίφης Εντ Γκράιμς, με το στομάχι τρυπημένο από τα σκάγια ενός δίκαννου. Έλα να πεθάνεις όπως η Μαρία, με το χέρι σφιγμένο στο πιστόλι και το κεφάλι ανοιγμένο... Αλλά ο Πατ Στήβενς δεν ήταν άνθρωπος που υποχωρούσε μπροστά στον κίνδυνο. Κι όταν βρέθηκε στο έδαφος, με το αίμα να κυλάει από τις πληγές του - τότε ήταν πολύ αργά για να υποχωρήσει... Out of print - Εκτός κυκλοφορίας

In a formerly peaceful western valley, a sheriff and his friends battle a corrupt land speculator Pat, Sam, and Ezra came to Powder Valley together, to tame the West and find a place to settle down. Soon, Pat is the sheriff, and Sam is married, but big, powerful Ezra, with his craggy face and missing eye, remains a loner. This state of affairs usually doesn’t get Ezra down, but tonight the big man is too gloomy to eat peach pie. When Ezra can’t eat peach pie, something is wrong—and Pat is certain it has to do with Eustis Harlow. After six months in Powder Valley, Harlow has established himself as the most powerful rancher in the area. Before he came, the locals were content with what they had. Now, half of them are in his debt, and the others have been consumed by greed. With the sheriff and his friends gearing up to quash Harlow’s dominance, the rancher sends for an army’s worth of gunmen. Powder Valley is about to explode.

An all-star gang of villains descends on peaceful Powder Valley On a tawdry street in the heart of Denver, men crowd into the saloon for two reasons: cheap whiskey and Connie Dawson. The loveliest singer in Colorado, Connie has a golden voice and a brassy personality, but along with a crooked preacher, a hotshot gambler, and the fastest gunman in town, she’s about to find herself in a whole lot of trouble. All four owe the sinister Judge Prink a favor—and he’s ready to collect. Prink has recently discovered the idyllic township of Powder Valley, home to Sheriff Pat Stevens and his faithful friends Sam and Ezra, and declared it ripe for the picking. With the help of his indentured gang of miscreants, he plans to strip the innocent little community bare. But when he meets Powder Valley’s courageous trio, Prink comes face to face with the law of the gun.

A retired Colorado sheriff rides south to the Mexican border to save a naïve young man Ben Thurston is only twenty, and his years in college have taught him little of the real world, yet he believes he’s ready for anything. His whole life, he’s heard stories about the ranching empire of Jim Rollins, his father’s friend who made a fortune near the Mexican border. When Jim dies, Ben gets a letter from his daughter, a young beauty named Katie, pleading for help. With dreams of love and glory dancing in his head, Ben heads south from Powder Valley. Pat Stevens, the Valley’s former sheriff, knows Ben is riding into a hornet’s nest—the Big Bend of the Rio Grande is the most lawless place in the country, and it will take a fast gun to bring order to it. Luckily for Ben and Katie, Pat and his friends Sam and Ezra are the fastest in the West.

When two prize cattle are slain, the sheriff of Powder Valley is called to a freezing, violent town It’s bitterly cold in the Rockies when the locomotive reaches the end of the line. Only one passenger alights from the caboose: Nate Morris, a lean private detective with an easy grin and icy eyes. Sanctuary Flat is a grim little town, alone in the mountains and cut off from the world. The only business there is cattle breeding, and business is rotten. Two prize cattle have been killed, and the owners have hired Morris to find out what happened. When Morris is found with a knife in his throat, the men who run Sanctuary Flat call on the only men tough enough to tame this wild ranching town. Pat Stevens, sheriff of Powder Valley, and his sidekicks, Sam and Ezra, have faced death dozens of times. But nothing can prepare them for the evil corruption at the heart of Sanctuary Flat.

To save the Pony Express, Sheriff Pat Stevens and his sidekick Sam Sloan must ride faster than ever before In a barren stretch of southern Colorado, a small shack links Powder Valley to the rest of the world. Every other day, Sam Sloan comes thundering over the range with a mail sack over his shoulder—just one link in the long line of riders known as the Pony Express. In all the time he’s been riding the route, he’s never been one minute late, and his perfect record has won the attention of company brass. The Express is planning a new route linking Colorado and Wyoming, and they want Sam to break it in. The trail between Denver and Laramie is raw, with danger lurking on all sides. To deliver, Sam will need speed, ammunition, and the help of his two best friends, the one-eyed giant, Ezra, and Powder Valley’s sheriff, Pat Stevens.

Pat Stevens slugs his way through the toughest, roughest bullet fest of his career.

In Powder Valley, in the town of Dutch Springs, the election for a new sheriff is going on. Matt Mason, who owns the Golden Eagle Saloon, had been the only candidate until recently. Jim Cater, the new editor for the Springs Gazette, had printed that there was another candidate and that his name was Pat Stevens. The only thing was, Pat didn't know any thing about this. Belle Carter, Jim's sister, also worked for the small newspaper, and she handed Pat the latest edition. He tells Belle that his isn't interested in running for sheriff and that he decided long ago that politics wasn't his line of work. The people in the town support the idea of Pat being sheriff, but Pat is determined not to run. The town doesn't seem to trust the other candidate because he is new in town and seems a bit on the shady side. When Jim Carter is found shot to death in the newspaper office, Pat begins to investigate his death at the request of Belle. Three new gunslingers had just arrived in town and Pat tries to befriend them by offering them a drink at the saloon. Two of the men are named Blackie and Laredo while the third goes by the name of The Kid and is "lightning death with either hand." Pat is determined to find out who killed the newspaperman. He knows that Jim Cater was out to soil the name of Matt Mason and was constantly hanging out in the saloon trying to find a juicy story. What he doesn't know is why The Kid and his two cronies are in town causing problems with the locals. Then, when the current sheriff ends up dead too, Pat begins to realize that he may have to pin that star to his shirt after all.

It all started when Pat Stevens missed eight steers from the Lazy Mare herd. Suspicion naturally focused on redheaded Ray Morgan, an ex-convict. Then the steers were found on Morgan's spread, and suspicions seemed confirmed. But Pat wasn't jumping to any conclusions. Besides, pretty Candace Cowan believed in Morgan's innocence, and she wasn't a girl to stand up for a rustler. Then Candace suddenly disappeared, and another girl was cruelly murdered. Now Pat had to play a long hunch—and when it backfired, he found himself trapped in a blazing ranch house, shooting it out with a gang of desperate rustlers.

This vintage western is part of the Powder Valley series.

Terror in the Badlands! Pat Stevens flattened himself against the house as the harsh slam of gunfire tore the night. Gun in hand, he waited for the next move. "Close in and blast him, boys!" Yandell shouted gruffly. "He ain't gettin' away!" More shots racketed, one slamming pat Pat's head. He caught a quick murmur of voices and fired at them, moving as he did so. The menacing guns drummed an answer. They were determined to cut him off from his horse in the corral. Pat's confidence began to wane. For the first time he began to wonder: Would he make it out of there alive. \*The plains of South Dakota are aflame with violence. A gang of rustlers is terrorizing the countryside, and the local ranchers are powerless to stop the viscious stealing and killing. Pat Stevens hears of the trouble and with his friends Sam and Ezra rides into the Dakota country to smoke out the outlaws. \*At first the rustlings and murders are blamed on the Sioux, but Pat soon learns that the real culprits are a desperate bunch of renegade ranchers. This discovery leads to a furious showdown full of hard-fisted fighting and blazing six-guns in a pitched battle on the brink of a plunging canyon.

Vintage paperback

Sometimes the best way to catch an outlaw is—to become one!

PB, Man from Robber's Roost, Peter Field, 1st Avon Books Printing, January 1989, Overall Good to almost VG condition; covers have some minor scuff marks and edge creasing/scraping. Has vintage all around yellow color outside page edging. A classic book.

classic western

Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0671550497. Originally published by Jefferson House in January, 1959

Pat Stevens, a tough and fearless cattleman, sells a herd of stock to a neighboring rancher. Two months later the buyer wants his money back-or else. That's when Stevens learns the cattle are infected with a suspicious and deadly fever. But, as Stevens discovers, when he meets the greedy owner, there is more than one fatal disease that plagues the buyer's ranch.

When a wounded and exhausted rider appears at the Bar ES ranch in search of Pat Stevens, Sam and Ezra are all ears. The stranger- Kern Clymer- has come over from Hardrock at the request of a mine owner named Bragg to ask Pat's aid, but all they can get out of Clymer is something about fuel shipments to the Fire Mountain Mine being blocked.

An exciting Powder Valley western. This is a mass market paperback published in 1973 by Pocket Books.

Used book

Western. A very nice vintage collector's item. Number # 80287. Originally $1.25.

When Tork Gundel was elected sheriff, Pat Stevens and his friends Sam and Ezra knew Power Valley was in for serious trouble. They were right! Soon a band of ruthless outlaws galloped into town, and it was obvious that Tork was no stranger to them. Then the bank in nearby Ganado was robbed ... Were Tork and his son in cahoots with the outlaws? Or had one of them acted alone? When Pat discovered the truth, the whole town got a jolting surprise!

NO ONE COULD STOP HIM BECAUSE HIS WORD WAS LAW He wanted more than money from the man he killed. He wanted the man’s daughter. In their newest adventure, Pat Stevens and his men, Sam and Ezra, face their deadliest adversary yet. He was part of a crooked land-grabbing scheme. He was a murderer who would stop at nothing. He also word a badge. He was the Outlaw Deputy.

Powdr Vlly Getaway \[May 01, 1977\] Peter field

The army had offered Sam and Ezra eighty dollars a head to drive their herd of choice roans to Texas. The two men were elated, but their friend Pat Stevens was skeptical. He knew that only the toughest kind of men could get those horses through miles of dust storms, rattlesnakes, and—most dangerous of all—bands of violent outlaws. Only if they could enlist the services of a few tough hombres themselves could they hope to make it. For no one could tangle with outlaws better than their own kind!