Five Star Westerns are standard print, first editions from top Western writers. The majority are brand new manuscripts from the best contemporary writers; a few are serials from magazine publications of many years ago, and -- occasionally -- we find an unpublished manuscript from some of the classic Western writers of a bygone era.Five Star consistently brings you the best quality writing the genre has to offer. Five Star Western authors have won numerous awards including the National Cowboy Hall of Fame's Western Heritage Award, Levi Strauss' Golden Saddleman Award, the Spur Award from Western Writers of America and many regional awards as well.The Western genre is not dead! The Western story is the American story. There's a morality and a certain nobility in Westerns, not consistently found in other genres. Westerns are much more than guns and horses. Strong characters and a strong sense of place and time characterize all our Five Star Western titles.Five Star publishes the best Westerns available today by the top writers of both the present and past. All are published in our durable library edition hardcover format. Actual covers may be different from those shown.

"Inspirational romantic suspense"--Spine.

In this book, Bob Lee "revisits the days he spent as a fish and wildlife law enforcement officer in northeast Florida, detailing the many dangers he encountered while patrolling the waters and environs of the St. Johns River region from 1977 to 2007. With thirty years of Florida backcountry patrol experience, Bob Lee has lived through incidents of legend, including one of the biggest environmental busts in Florida history. His fascinating memoir reveals the danger and the humor in the unsung exploits of game wardens." --from jacket flap.

MEN! THE MAN WHO WOULDN'T MARRY Police chief Rick McBride knew right off the bat what kind of woman Jodi Hopkins was—an earth mother, the type who would shower a man with love and want tons of kids. The kind of woman he had once wanted for himself…but could no longer dream of having. THE WOMAN WHO WOULD BE HIS WIFE Rick might say he wasn't a marrying man, but Jodi's woman's intuition insisted otherwise. She would find a way to woo the sexy lawman—right into her waiting arms…. MEN! A good one isn't hard to find—we've handpicked the strongest, bravest, sexiest heroes yet!

In The Story of Oklahoma, Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves appears as the "most feared U.S. marshal in the Indian country." That Reeves was also an African American who had spent his early life enslaved in Arkansas and Texas made his accomplishments all the more remarkable. Black Gun, Silver Star sifts through fact and legend to discover the truth about one of the most outstanding peace officers in late nineteenth-century America--and perhaps the greatest lawman of the Wild West era. Bucking the odds ("I'm sorry, we didn't keep Black people's history," a clerk at one of Oklahoma's local historical societies answered one query), Art T. Burton traces Reeves from his days of slavery to his Civil War soldiering to his career as a deputy U.S. marshal out of Fort Smith, Arkansas, when he worked under "Hanging Judge" Isaac C. Parker. Fluent in Creek and other regional Native languages, physically powerful, skilled with firearms, and a master of disguise, Reeves was exceptionally adept at apprehending fugitives and outlaws and his exploits were legendary in Oklahoma and Arkansas. In this new edition Burton traces Reeves's presence in the national media of his day as well as his growing modern presence in popular media such as television, movies, comics, and video games.

Much of Seth Bullock's modern renown comes from TV, film, and his friendship with Theodore Roosevelt. But Bullock was much more than the frontier law enforcer portrayed in fictional accounts. In Seth Bullock, David Wolff examines the life work of Bullock as he helped build Deadwood, found the town of Belle Fourche, and promote the Black Hills.

Born into slavery, Bass Reeves became the most successful US Marshal of the Wild West. Many "heroic lawmen" of the Wild West, familiar to us through television and film, were actually violent scoundrels and outlaws themselves. But of all the sheriffs of the frontier, one man stands out as a true hero: Bass Reeves. He was the most successful Federal Marshal in the US in his day. True to the mythical code of the West, he never drew his gun first. He brought hundreds of fugitives to justice, was shot at countless times, and never hit. Bass Reeves was a black man, born into slavery. And though the laws of his country enslaved him and his mother, when he became a free man he served the law, with such courage and honor that he became a legend.

The role of the lawman in the development of the American West has been distorted by an overabundance of dime novels, pulp westerns, Hollywood films, and television programs. Myth has merged with reality, and the stereotype of the badge-packing, gun-wielding marshal has gained complete acceptance in the popular mind. Examining the legends that surround the western peace officer, Professor Prassel argues that he was no better or worse than the members of the community he served. His work was largely routine. Only after journalists and novelists glorified him beyond all recognition did he acquire the resplendent finery and flamboyant manner now common to the cinematic hero. This book describes the activities of a number of law-enforcement agencies. Each level of civil administration in the West had its own police force. Banks, railroads, and cattlemen's associations hired private detectives, and Indian police patrolled reservations. Pinkerton men, Texas rangers, Canadian mounties, and Mexican rurales all played a part in western law enforcement. Men like Dallas Stoudenmire, James Butler Hickok, and Wyatt Earp are discussed, together with more colorful but less publicized figures like Frank Wattron, one-time sheriff of Navajo County, Arizona. Wattron, who ran a drugstore and tended bar, wore a diamond-encrusted badge of solid gold. He once announced a hanging by sending invitations that promised "the latest improved methods in the art of strangulation ... to make the surroundings cheerful and the execution a success." Despite a century of effort, the peace officer failed to bring law and order to the American West. Outdated police methods and antiquated statutes may help to explain why the West is more violent and crime-ridden today than when the frontier was new. By considering such problems, Professor Prassel's book acquires a particular significance for our times.

Bass Reeves was a man of color and a deputy United States marshal. For thirteen years he was sided by Dave Adams, also a deputy marshal, and a white man. Bennie Reeves was Bass Reeves son and a barber, a good one, before he shot down his unarmed wife who had been cheating on him and then disappeared. U.S. Marshal Leo E. Bennett, known as Doc because he had been a physician before his appointment in federal law enforcement, had reservations about handing the warrant to Bass Reeves to be served against Bennie. For Bass there was no reservation. His son had broken the law and was a fugitive. He was willing to find and capture Bennie, to bring him back to face trial for his crime.

This is a book that for over forty years was carefully researched and footnoted by the principal author Ernest S. Sanchez. It is a story that is weaved together by multiple interviews with families and their familial history that makes this account and supported by documentation. This book brings into focus the following points: 1. History of the settlement of New Mexico from Onate to the present 2. The principal families that were involved in the settlement and their experiences... 3. The New Mexican experience from the Hispanic view in the history of the settlement of Lincoln County and the Lincoln County War 4. An insight on the personal relationship of the Hispanics with William H. Bonney (Billy the Kid). 5. A very accurate reference in the genealogy of the families that settled in Lincoln County New Mexico. This story illuminates the rich customs and traditions of the people that make up New Mexico history. We get a view of the every day life experiences of the Nuevo Mexicanos, that were passed forward from generation to generation. This account also exposes the violence, greed and racism that not only permeated the Spanish settlement of New Mexico but also fueled the Lincoln County War. It is an American story, a story of the painful birth of a nation.