DEAD OR ALIVE?

Dead or Alive sees three of bestselling western author Christopher Kenworthy's wild west adventures brought together in one epic collection.

 DEAD OR ALIVE

A Wild West Omnibus

by

Christopher Kenworthy

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NO SURRENDER
There's no surrender in the Wild West…

Morton Tolliver thought he had fixed the problem of ownership of the Flying V the day he sent his men to wipe out Francisco Villa and his family.

But he couldn't be more wrong.

The murder of Villa sparks the beginning of a war, which bursts into flames the day a quiet stranger rode into the town of Hammerhead asking after his good friend Francisco.

Barn Milburn isn’t afraid of Tolliver.

Nor any of the hired guns he has drafted in to protect his land empire.

And the scene is set for a showdown between Tolliver and Milburn - with victory the reward for the quick and death the penalty for the slow.

But who will be victorious in the end?

FIGHT OR DIE
The Sonoran Desert has claimed many lives…

Desperate to get to California before the little money they have runs out, the Wheatley family brave the Badlands and vanish into the dust.

Army scout John Best, takes it upon himself to go and find them - but he's too late to save them all.

The parents have been brutally murdered by Apaches and Best only finds teenage Lucien alive and the body of his beautiful sister, Emma, is still missing.

Has she escaped or has she been captured by the ruthless Apaches?

Together Lucien and Best set out to find and rescue her. But the trail is dangerous and they soon realize that they have more than one enemy in the desert.

Best and Lucien have no one to depend on but themselves.

Can they make it out alive and rescue Emma Wheatley before it's too late?

Or will she be one more victim of the harsh desert?

SHOOT TO KILL
Trouble is brewing in the west…

Carnigan, a lone rider travelling through the mountains of Colorado, wants to build a ranch and forget his troubled past.

But the steep ranges are overrun with Apache who will shoot without question and without mercy.

And that’s not the only enemy that Carnigan faces.

When a commander’s beautiful daughter is kidnapped by outlaws, it’s up to Carnigan to bring her back.

But at what risk?

Without knowing who to trust Carnigan finds himself caught in the middle of a dangerous power play.

Fighting for his life, Carnigan soon realises that he must either shoot to kill or be killed himself.

THE AUTHOR

Christopher Kenworthy was a journalist and novelist, with over 45 years’ experience in writing for British magazines and newspapers. After 25 years working on Fleet Street, he turned to freelance journalism and worked as a professional researcher covering a diverse range of topics - including the American South West, Tucson, the Sonoran Desert and the Native Americans in Arizona. 

 

MY THOUGHTS

 

The author definitely gives the reader three true ole west stories where the reader finds they are right there with the good and the bad.   We get outlaws, ranchers, Indians, scouts, deadly deserts, treacherous mountains and most importantly the fight between the good and the bad.   But does the good always win?   Once again it depends on shooting to kill or be killed.  That's the way it was back then.  You either protected yourself or you didn't survive.  The sceneries were vividly described by the author.  You could actually visualize the hot, dusty, deadly desert, the cool, steep mountains with snow on the peaks.   The characters were almost real to me.  I could see the Apaches with their war paint and their long black shiny hair.   The author describes the broken wagon and the bodies that had been left by the Indians in the desert for the critters to feed off of and the sun to burn what was left.  A great set of three stories of which I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.  I'm a big fan of the ole' west so these stories were right up my alley.  If you're a lover of westerns, than you won't be disappointed by this omnibus of the wild west.  The author gives something for everyone.

 

NO SURRENDER:   The author puts you in between Morton Tolliver and Barn Milburn.    Morton has put to rest the ownership of the Flying V or at least he thought he had.   He had wiped out Francisco Villa and his family.   But instead of solving the ownership of the ranch, it started a war and that war became all out when Hammerhead, a friend of Francisco rides into town.   I loved the name the author gave to this quiet stranger, Barn Milburn.  He isn't a back down kind of man.  So Tolliver and his hired men don't scare him off.   The time has come for either the fast to be the victor or death because one wasn't quick enough on the draw.

As the reader turns the pages you wait in anticipation for evil or good to be victorious.  Of course, you want the good to prevail but back in the day, it wasn't whether you were good or evil, it was who was the quickest and smartest on the draw.

 

FIGHT OR DIE:  The ole west was often a place where the towns were small and the desert surrounding them was full of danger.   Sonoran Desert was no different.  Many had died crossing that wide open space.   The Wheatley family has run out of money and resources so they decide to brave the Badlands to reach California.   But something happens out there in the vast desert.  The Wheatley family disappear.   When they were found by an Army scout, John Best, it was too late.  The desert had claimed some more lives.   Not by the nature of the land but by another danger of the Badlands, the Apaches.  Out of the Wheatley family, the daughter, Lucien is still alive but where is Emma?  She could have been taken by the Apaches or did she escape into possibly a worst fate, the desert?   Together Lucien and Best follow the trail hoping to find Emma.   But they soon face more than the desert.  Can the two of them find Emma alive or will they be too late to save her?   The desert isn't the only enemy they face.   Will any of them come out of this alive or will the desert take more lives?

 

SHOOT TO KILL:    Trouble isn't a stranger to the ole west.  It's around every corner in every town, out on the trails, in the desert and everywhere you go.   The setting is Colorado and Carnigan is traveling alone through them.   He wants to leave his past behind and build a future.    But trouble is brewing with the Apaches.  They don't ask questions or give an inch. They just shoot.  They are not the only enemy in the Colorado mountains.   Carnigan has more to face than just the Indians.

Carnigan now has a mission.   He is trying to find  the daughter of a commander who was taken by a group of outlaws.    Carnigan hopes to bring her back but what will he have to face in order to find her and hopefully get her out alive?   Carnigan is in the middle of a battle for victory.   Carnigan is now fighting to stay alive and he has no choice.  He either shoots to kill or DIE!

 

 I received a copy of this book from Pioneering Press and the author and voluntarily decided to read and review it.

 

I would give this book 5 STARS. 

 

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