Cruel Rider

Deadwood's always a dangerous town, but the worst is yet to come. Bill Pike wasn't born a bad man. It took years of hardscrabble living and a cruel, violent upbringing to forge Pike into what he is-a savage killer with no mercy for those who get in his way or do him wrong. Now, his wife has up and run off on him, and he's not about to let her go without a reckoning. When pretty Polly Pike hires mountain man Jordan Gray to guide her to the Black Hills, he has no problem taking the job-but finds nothing but problems when the pair hit the booming gold town of Deadwood. There's no shortage of sinister men in town who want to get Polly under the sheets for a spell-and put Gray under the ground forever. But the greatest danger is yet to come. Bill Pike has discovered where his errant wife ran off to, and he's coming to Deadwood to take back what's his. "This is the West as it really was-savage, heroic, and unforgettable." -Ralph Compton

Charles G. West