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Ralph Compton was an American author that wrote western fiction. Born in 1934 in St. Clair County, Alabama, Compton attended St. Clair County High School, Odenville. The author had the misfortune of being born during the Depression.
Order of Gunfighter Series
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Reunion in Hell | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
2 | Blood of the Hunters | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
3 | Broken Rider | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
4 | Return to Gila Bend | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
5 | Death Valley Drifter | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
6 | Ride for Justice | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
7 | Ride the Hammer Down | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
8 | Frontier Medicine | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
9 | Face of a Snake | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
10 | Dalton's Justice | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
11 | Shot to Hell | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
12 | Hell Snake | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
13 | The Wrong Side of the Law | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
14 | Guns of the Greenhorn | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
15 | The Devil's Snare | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
16 | Hellbound Posse | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
17 | Blood on the Prairie | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
18 | Die Trying | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
19 | Counterfeit Lawman | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
20 | Thirteen Bullets | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
21 | My Brother, My Killer | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
22 | The Guns of Wrath | 2022 | Description / Buy |
Order of Sundown Riders Series
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | North To The Bitterroot | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
2 | Demon's Pass | 2000 | Description / Buy | |
3 | Runaway Stage | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
4 | Do or Die | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
5 | Nowhere, TX | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
6 | Across the Rio Colorado | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
7 | West of Pecos | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
8 | The Winchester Run | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
9 | Whiskey River | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
10 | Skeleton Lode | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
11 | Devil's Canyon | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
12 | Tin Star | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
13 | The Wolves of Seven Pines | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
14 | Never Bet Against the Bullet | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
15 | Lost Banshee Mine | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
16 | Prairie Fire, Kansas | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
17 | Calvert's Last Bluff | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
18 | The Trail's End | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
19 | Stagecoach to Hell | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
20 | Snake's Fury | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
21 | The Outlaw Hunters | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
22 | Flames of Silver | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
23 | Seven Roads to Revenge | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
24 | The Winter of Wolves | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
25 | Ghost Hollow Ranch | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
26 | The Reluctant Lawman | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
27 | The Robber Barons | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
28 | Snake Oil Justice | 2022 | Description / Buy |
Order of Trail Drive Series
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Goodnight Trail | 1992 | Description / Buy | |
2 | The Western Trail | 1992 | Description / Buy | |
3 | The Chisholm Trail | 1993 | Description / Buy | |
4 | The Bandera Trail | 1993 | Description / Buy | |
5 | The California Trail | 1994 | Description / Buy | |
6 | The Shawnee Trail | 1994 | Description / Buy | |
7 | The Virginia City Trail | 1994 | Description / Buy | |
8 | The Dodge City Trail | 1995 | Description / Buy | |
9 | The Oregon Trail | 1995 | Description / Buy | |
10 | The Santa Fe Trail | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
11 | The Old Spanish Trail | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
12 | The Green River Trail | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
13 | The Deadwood Trail | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
14 | The Dakota Trail | 2001 | Description / Buy | |
15 | The Alamosa Trail | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
16 | The Bozeman Trail | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
17 | The Abilene Trail | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
18 | Trail To Fort Smith | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
19 | The Palo Duro Trail | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
20 | The Ogallala Trail | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
21 | The Ellsworth Trail | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
22 | The Tenderfoot Trail | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
23 | Trail to Cottonwood Falls | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
24 | The Amarillo Trail | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
25 | The Omaha Trail | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
26 | Big Jake's Last Drive | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
27 | The Kelly Trail | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
28 | Drive for Independence | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
29 | Red Trail | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
30 | The Empire Trail | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
31 | The Too-Late Trail | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
32 | Terror Trail | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
33 | The Saltwater Trail | 2022 | Description / Buy |
Order of Border Empire Series
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Border Empire | 1997 | Description / Buy | |
2 | Six guns and Double Eagles | 1998 | Description / Buy | |
3 | Train to Durango | 1998 | Description / Buy |
Order of Buck Fletcher Series with Joseph A. West
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Doomsday Rider | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
2 | Showdown at Two-Bit Creek | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
3 | Vengeance Rider | 2004 | Description / Buy |
Order of Danny Duggin Series with Ralph Cotton
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Death Rides a Chestnut Mare | 1999 | Description / Buy | |
2 | The Shadow of a Noose | 2000 | Description / Buy | |
3 | Riders of Judgement | 2001 | Description / Buy | |
4 | Death Along the Cimarron | 2003 | Description / Buy |
Order of John McBride Series with Joseph A. West
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | West Of The Law | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
2 | Shadow of the Gun | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
3 | Blood on the Gallows | 2008 | Description / Buy |
Order of Tom Navarro Series with Peter Brandvold
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Navarro | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
2 | Bullet Creek | 2005 | Description / Buy |
Order of Trail of the Gunfighter Series
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | The Dawn of Fury | 1995 | Description / Buy | |
2 | The Killing Season | 1996 | Description / Buy | |
3 | Autumn of the Gun | 1996 | Description / Buy |
Order of Ralph Compton Western Series
# | Read | Title | Published | Details |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Clarion's Call | 2001 | Description / Buy | |
2 | Blood and Gold | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
3 | For the Brand | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
4 | Rio Largo | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
5 | Guns of the Canyonlands | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
6 | Texas Empire | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
7 | By the Horns | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
8 | Deadwood Gulch | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
9 | The Bloody Trail | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
10 | A Wolf In the Fold | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
11 | Bluff City | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
12 | West Of The Law | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
13 | Blood Duel | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
14 | Death of a Bad Man | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
15 | Ride the Hard Trail | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
16 | Blood on the Gallows | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
17 | Bullet for a Bad Man | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
18 | The Convict Trail | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
19 | Bounty Hunter | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
20 | Rawhide Flat | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
21 | Outlaw's Reckoning | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
22 | The Man From Nowhere | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
23 | Bounty Hunter | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
24 | Fatal Justice | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
25 | Stryker's Revenge | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
26 | Death of a Hangman | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
27 | North to the Salt Fork | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
28 | Rusted Tin | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
29 | The Shadow Of A Gun | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
30 | The Burning Range | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
31 | [ The Burning Range ) - Large Print ] By West, Joseph A [ 2011 ) [ Hardcover ] | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
32 | The Last Manhunt | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
33 | The Stranger from Abilene | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
34 | The Ghost of Apache Creek | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
35 | Dead Man's Ranch | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
36 | Slaughter Canyon | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
37 | One Man's Fire | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
38 | Tucker's Reckoning | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
39 | Down on Gila River | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
40 | Brimstone Trail | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
41 | Straight Shooter | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
42 | The Hunted | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
43 | Hard Ride to Wichita | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
44 | The Cheyenne Trail | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
45 | Double-Cross Ranch | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
46 | Comanche Trail | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
47 | The Dangerous Land | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
48 | Vigilante Dawn | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
49 | The Evil Men Do | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
50 | Straight to the Noose | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
51 | Shotgun Charlie | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
52 | The Law and the Lawless | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
53 | Brother's Keeper | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
54 | Texas Hills | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
55 | Outlaw Town | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
56 | Phantom Hill | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
57 | Hellbound Posse | 2021 | Description / Buy |
Because his family was poor, Compton couldn’t rely on his family to meet all his needs. The only way to pay for his high school education was to pursue odd jobs. Fortunately, the author was a diligent worker, and he found a way to pay for his necessities.
Compton stood out in high school because of his talent for writing. The author’s principal took note of his abilities and pushed him to pursue subjects like literature and history that suited his gifts. However, it took a while for Compton to find his footing as a novelist.
Although, writing followed him wherever he went. The author pursued songwriting after moving to Nashville in the late 1970s. By the time he entered the publishing arena, Compton had developed a knack for telling compelling stories.
But even though his friends and family were well aware of his aptitude for storytelling, no one expected ‘The Goodnight Trail,’ the author’s first novel, to do so well. The book struck a chord among readers because of the personal nature of the topic.
‘The Goodnight Trail’ explored the hard life Compton lived as a child that had to grow up during the Great Depression. Some people read it because they had experienced the struggles in the author’s book. Others wanted a glimpse at an era they barely understood.
Eventually, ‘The Goodnight Trail’ sold a million copies. If Compton had doubts about his future as a published author, they disappeared once ‘The Goodnight Trail’ came out. He wrote several critically acclaimed and financially successful books in the years that followed.
He was 64 when he died. Doctors blamed cancer. But his legacy has persisted, and not just in his hometown. His estate has hired various authors over the years to write and publish new books under his name.
Ralph Compton Awards
Compton was nominated for a Medicine Pipe Bearer Award (Western Writers of America).
Best Ralph Compton Books
The author’s talents were not limited to storytelling. He also worked as a musician, record producer, and newspaper columnist. Compton’s best books include:
The Dawn of Fury: Nathan Stone was tougher than most men. Circumstances had led him through various battlefields. But he had emerged victorious, and when he went home, Nathan expected a warm welcome.
Unfortunately, a nightmare is all that awaited him. His father was dead. Someone murdered him. His mother and sister had fared no better. The killers had raped the women before claiming their lives.
The family’s former slave was barely alive when Nathan came home. It was from this final victim that Nathan learned the truth. Several northern ruffians had swept through and decimated his family before moving on.
They should have waited until Nathan came home. They should have killed him along with everyone else because now Nathan is furious, and he won’t stop until he kills every last one of them.
Death Rides A Chestnut Mare: Daniel Strange was a loving husband and father. But the Wild West was a ruthless place that rarely rewarded the good deeds of men. In Daniel’s case, he found himself in lawless Indian territory at the wrong time.
Daniel was the best gunsmith in St. Joseph, Missouri. But that hardly equipped him to overcome impossible odds. The cowboy was on his way to Texas to make a purchase when he met his end.
The outlaws that killed him went so far as to hang his lifeless body from a rope. But if they thought their misdeeds would go unpunished, they were dead wrong.
A mysterious gunslinger was on the loose. The fact that he was picking Daniel’s killers off one at a time wasn’t a surprise. After all, men of that ilk had plenty of enemies. But this gunslinger was something new, something disturbing.
First of all, his weapon of choice was Daniel’s Colt. Secondly, he only answered to Daniel’s name. Those who knew Daniel before he died noticed that the stranger had the same green eyes and fiery temper. But who was he, and what did he want?
When Does The Next Ralph Compton book come out?
Ralph Compton doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is Devil's Canyon and was released on September, 3rd 2013. It is the newest book in the Sundown Riders Series.