„Fortune’s Christmas” is a short story by Max Brand originally published in December 20, 1924. Brand was an American author best known for his thoughtful Westerns under the pen name Max Brand. Prolific in many genres, he wrote historical novels, detective mysteries, pulp fiction stories and many more. „Fortune’s Christmas” is a Christmas story, told from the perspective of Anthony Hazzard, a miser to end all misers. Anthony Hazzard is money lender to the desparate, a man wi...
Freedom can mean a lot of things, but the hardest to earn and most rewarding will always be wild freedom. Max Brand turned Westerns into an art form with cleverly crafted tales like this one. An old-style cowboy and Indian tale involving Tom, an animal lover, and his romance with Gloria. Plot twists, adventure, suspense, romance and humor combine in this delightfully fulfilling read. Faust (Max Brand ) wrote more than 500 novels and over 400 short stories & novellas usi...
After a successful prison breakout Lou Alp, a thief, and Jack Chapel, a wrongly accused person, form an unlikely pair and plan to rob a bank. But when the attempt at bank robbery goes awry with a bullet wound on Alp’s legs, Chapel comes forward to take care of him. But things are not going to be as easy as both of them fall for the same girl, Kate. What happens after this is sure to melt many hearts. No writer captured the excitement, humanity, or adventure of the American ...
Sixteen In Nome is narrated by young Joe May, an Arizonian who has come to Alaska to "make his stake for a ranch." Joe May, a starving, overgrown youth, had provided a small service for Hugh Massey, owner of the most famous husky in Alaska, in exchange for a monetary reward. He’d heard that Massey’s life revolved around the dog and it was a chance to murder the man he hated with an undying rage. But he never thought he would become the bait Massey needed to lure his enemy i...
The outlaws chasing Silvertip were the deadliest in the West. They wanted the famous man - and the six-shooters they carried always got them what they wanted. The story relates Jim Silver’s continuing battle of wills and wits with his arch-enemy Barry Christian, in the process of which Silver’s wolf Frosty and his powerful horse Parade are abducted. Now, with guns drawn, Silvertip and Christian faced each other to settle their old feud once and for all! We also meet the eni...
Valley of the Vanishing Men begins with Ben Trainor receiving a letter from home that tells him that his brother who was bound for Alkali Valley has been missing. Alkali Valley was a lawless desert outpost, known for its gunplay and gold. Ben Trainor rode into town searching for his vanished brother. Within twenty-four hours he had been slugged, shot at, and bushwhacked. ""Go home while you’re still in one piece"" the sheriff advised him. But Ben decided to stick it out. An...
If you enjoy a fast moving Western dealing with vengeance and well-deserved payback, you’ll like "Under His Shirt" by Max Brand (1923). Fascinating characters, action-packed adventure, skillful literary description, and a plot that keeps you guessing - Max Brand’s "Under His Shirt" offers something to appeal to every reader, whether you’re a confirmed fan of the genre or someone who is dipping into Western for the first time. Faust wrote more than 500 novels and over 400 sh...
He was the toughest cowpuncher in the Wild West, the surest shot who ever lived. Where Ronicky Doone went, trouble was sure to follow. So Doone wasn’t surprised when he rode into Twin Springs and found himself in the middle of a deadly war between two rival families. The stakes are high - honor, revenge, and rich ranch land. Though the townsmen favor the Jenkinses, Ronicky is drawn to the Bennetts - and especially the beautiful Elsie Bennett. As the struggle builds up in vi...
In "The Cross Brand", Sheriff Harry Ganton and Jack Bristol have been friends since they were young. But when Harry accuses Jack of trying to steal his girl, guns blaze and the sheriff is shot. Jack Bristol stole his horse and rode off, not into the sunset, but into the mountains. The mountain man held him captive for months and then released him. Why? And why did the girl scream with terror when she saw his face? A Western take on the story of Kane and Abel. This is Max Br...
The Streak had blasted seven vicious killers single-handedly, tamed the wildest mustangs on the range and outsmarted the sharpest dealers in Jasper Valley. The stories about the fabulous Streak were endless. BUT ... not one of them was true! The Streak was really a harmless young man named Blondy Terrance. A series of crazy coincidences had earned him a reputation for violence he never deserved. Now, the deadliest gunslingers in the territory are after him - to put him to t...
Lee Garrison, a solitary fence rider in the southwest, is entranced with stories he has read of daring medieval adventures. Then a dying Indian stumbles into his camp, telling of a magnificent wild mustang called Moonshine. Garrison pursues the elusive horse across the plains on a quest of self-discovery. The chase would lead him across thousands of miles of plains, deserts, and rivers, and before his quest had ended, Lee Garrison would learn the meaning of hope and the cos...
One of many recommended westerns by this prolific author. Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 – May 12, 1944) was an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary westerns under the pen name Max Brand. In this short story told in the first person, Leon Porfilo, an outlaw of poor beginnings and lowly ancestry, goes up against Jeffrey Dinsmore, a gentleman outlaw born of the privileged class, in an attempt to clear his name and gain a pardon. In „His Fight ...
Another great Western by Max Brand aka Frederick Faust, Clung is one his most memorable and intriguing characters. As a Western author, Brand did not shrink from controversial topics such as race relations in the Old West. There is a mystery about the birth of Clung, who is raised by an old Chinese man in a small Arizona town, but none about his skill with weapons. At first he shoots in self-defense, then recklessly to avenge an insult. With a price on his head, he begins a l...
In „Calling Dr. Kildare”, Dr. Kildare has left his family home to work in a metropolitan hospital with the brilliant Dr. Gillespie who is slowly dying. Kildare has been chosen to work under the irascible Doctor and receive his vast knowledge. On his first case, young Dr. Kildare defies his chief-of -staff, and faces danger and scandal... It is the second in the „Dr. Kildare” series, written by Max Brand, which was the pen name of prolific author Frederick Faust. He is best kn...
Doctor Kildare approached just in time to hear Meg say to the officer, „"I heard a shot outside my apartment, then a crash. When I ran out, this man was lying on the landing... „” „"Whiskey Sour"” (1938) is a Doctor Kildare story that continues the depiction of a „"gangster"” atmosphere surrounding the young doctor as he cared for East Side streets toughs and local political bosses while defying his hospital superiors. Max Brand (1892-1944) is the best-known pen name of widel...
„The Face and the Doctor” is another short story by Frederick Schiller Faust (1892-1944) who was an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary westerns under the pen name Max Brand. This story filled with excitement, suspense, good guys and bad, and plot twists aplenty! Orphaned at an early age, Faust studied at the University of California, Berkeley. He became one of the most prolific writers of our time but abandoned writing at age fifty-one to become a...
Something natural or supernatural enters the soul of Andrew Creel, a commonplace and disaffected young man, and drives him into a swift game where death is a probability on the one side and love only a possibility on the other. Creel plays it to the end: an end unlike the end that seemed so sure when dusk fell on the garden of that charming mansion with its sinister residents who have taken up residence in the title’s Windon Manor after a bank failure wiped out their fortunes...
They called him Speedy because he could outsmart bankers, outfox barkeeps, and outwit bounty hunters faster than any man alive. He arrived on an iron horse. The day he rode into Durfee, he was more than ready to use his skills to make a killing. To Speedy, Durfee didn’t look any different from a hundred other towns he’d seen before. There were fat bankers waiting for his smooth talk, and lovely young ladies ready to swoon over his smile and his guitar playing. But this time t...
Another Sleeper story, featuring Sleeper, a gunslinger turned horse-thief, from the collection „More Tales of the Wild West”. Six action-packed stories of the Old West, filled with unforgettable characters, includes „A Lucky Dog,” in which man’s best friend helps a would-be killer and thief find salvation, along with „A First Blooding,” „Inverness,” (aka „Sleeper Turns Horse-Thief”) and „Death in Alkali Flat.” In this story Sleeper is hired to break a horse and turns horse-th...
Max Brand (1892-1944) is the best-known pen name of widely acclaimed author Frederick Faust, creator of Destry, Dr. Kildare, and other beloved fictional characters. Orphaned at an early age, Faust studied at the University of California, Berkeley. He became one of the most prolific writers of our time but abandoned writing at age fifty-one to become a war correspondent in World War II, where he was killed while serving in Italy. „Billy Angel, Trouble Lover” is the rare pulp...
In the crowded waiting room of Dr. Gillespie there were people of ten nations of more than ten degrees, from the old pugilist with rheumatism in his broken hands to the Indian mystic whose eyes already were forgetting this world; but little Florrie Adams took precedence over all of these. Her mother lagged breathless, a step behind, as Florrie was led quickly on by a nurse so pretty that the little girl had to keep looking up at that freshness and that bloom; and so her stumb...
When young doctor James Kildare and his fiancée, nurse Mary Lamont, make plans for their wedding day, brother Mary Douglas arrives at her. Douglas asks Kildare to arrange an appointment with a wealthy Mr. Chandler, whose daughter Kildare rescued at Young Doctor Kildare to ask for a fund to create three subsidized trading schools to train unskilled workers. Kildare does not want to impose Chandler for ethical reasons, but is concerned that Doug, who hears nonexistent sounds, m...
The most dangerous killer in Alaska, Menneval sends a certain Bill Ranger to California in search of information about his father and son Crosson. After many setbacks, Bill finally finds the Crossons in the woods. The life of father and son is shrouded in deep mystery. Bill will be with them to become a member of incredible adventures and bloody skirmishes.
