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Larry & Stretch #2
Arizona Wildcat
The outlaws were begging for trouble when they challenged the Texas Hell-raisers!
Larry and Stretch couldn’t stand by and see the honest citizens of Widow’s Peak swindled by the unscrupulous Jay Endean. The boss-thief was selling worthless railroad stock, and courting Tess Hapgood—the girl they called Arizona Wild-Cat.
With fast guns, hard fists and Lone Star luck, the Texans declared war, exposing the plotters for what they really were, and in so doing the stage was set for a violent showdown. They were two against many, but Larry and Stretch had no quit in them. They were in this fight to win, or die trying!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Few writers are ever fortunate enough to number their books in the hundreds, but legendary Australian writer Leonard F Meares was one of them. When he died in 1993, Len could lay claim to more than 700 published novels -- 746, to be precise -- the overwhelming majority of which were westerns.
Leonard Frank Meares was best known to western fans the world over as "Marshall Grover", creator of Texas trouble-shooters Larry and Stretch. He was born in Sydney, Australia, on 13 February 1921. The aspiring author bought his first typewriter in the mid-1950s with the intention of writing for radio and the cinema, but when this proved to be easier said than done, he decided to try his hand at popular fiction instead. Since a great many paperback westerns were being published locally, he set about writing one of his own. The result, Trouble Town, was published by the Cleveland Publishing Company in 1955.
His tenth yarn, Drift!, (1956), introduced his fiddle-footed knights-errant, Larry Valentine and Stretch Emerson, the characters for which he would eventually become so beloved. And nowhere was the author's quirky sense of humor more apparent than in these action-packed and always painstakingly plotted yarns.
Len never needed more than 24 hours to devise a new plot. "Irving Berlin once said that there are so many notes on a keyboard from which to create a new melody, and it's the same with writing on a treadmill basis."
At his most prolific, he could turn out around thirty books a year. These included stand-alone westerns and western series such as Bleak Creek, Rick and Hattie and Rampart County. He also wrote a number of crime novels and romances.
Larry and Stretch couldn’t stand by and see the honest citizens of Widow’s Peak swindled by the unscrupulous Jay Endean. The boss-thief was selling worthless railroad stock, and courting Tess Hapgood—the girl they called Arizona Wild-Cat.
With fast guns, hard fists and Lone Star luck, the Texans declared war, exposing the plotters for what they really were, and in so doing the stage was set for a violent showdown. They were two against many, but Larry and Stretch had no quit in them. They were in this fight to win, or die trying!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Few writers are ever fortunate enough to number their books in the hundreds, but legendary Australian writer Leonard F Meares was one of them. When he died in 1993, Len could lay claim to more than 700 published novels -- 746, to be precise -- the overwhelming majority of which were westerns.
Leonard Frank Meares was best known to western fans the world over as "Marshall Grover", creator of Texas trouble-shooters Larry and Stretch. He was born in Sydney, Australia, on 13 February 1921. The aspiring author bought his first typewriter in the mid-1950s with the intention of writing for radio and the cinema, but when this proved to be easier said than done, he decided to try his hand at popular fiction instead. Since a great many paperback westerns were being published locally, he set about writing one of his own. The result, Trouble Town, was published by the Cleveland Publishing Company in 1955.
His tenth yarn, Drift!, (1956), introduced his fiddle-footed knights-errant, Larry Valentine and Stretch Emerson, the characters for which he would eventually become so beloved. And nowhere was the author's quirky sense of humor more apparent than in these action-packed and always painstakingly plotted yarns.
Len never needed more than 24 hours to devise a new plot. "Irving Berlin once said that there are so many notes on a keyboard from which to create a new melody, and it's the same with writing on a treadmill basis."
At his most prolific, he could turn out around thirty books a year. These included stand-alone westerns and western series such as Bleak Creek, Rick and Hattie and Rampart County. He also wrote a number of crime novels and romances.
- GenresWesterns
Paperback
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About the author
Marshall Grover
679 books11 followersLeonard Frank Meares (13 February 1921 – 4 February 1993) was an Australian writer of western fiction. He wrote over 700 Westerns for the Australian paperback publishers Cleveland and Horwitz using the pseudonym "Marshall McCoy", "Marshall Grover", "Ward Brennan" and "Glenn Murrell".
Among his most famous characters were "Larry & Stretch", Larry Valentine and Stretch Emerson. In the United States (Bantam Books) they they were known as "Larry & Streak" (Larry Vance & Streak Everett)" and the in the Nordic countries they were known as "Bill & Ben".
-Wikipedia
Among his most famous characters were "Larry & Stretch", Larry Valentine and Stretch Emerson. In the United States (Bantam Books) they they were known as "Larry & Streak" (Larry Vance & Streak Everett)" and the in the Nordic countries they were known as "Bill & Ben".
-Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 14, 2019
My brother loves the Larry and Stretch series. Me, not so. Though, in fairness I have only read two so far. Arizona Wildcat is a tale about an inept deputy, a series of no-good crooks and of course the Arizona Wildcat (a young woman). The story hit no highs or lows. It was a middle of the road type of western.
February 22, 2019
Larry and Stretch
I so enjoy these books on Larry and Stretch. I love see what kind of trouble these two get into. Trouble just seems to jump on them where ever they go. I look forward to the next book. Thank you Marshall Grover for a great read.
I so enjoy these books on Larry and Stretch. I love see what kind of trouble these two get into. Trouble just seems to jump on them where ever they go. I look forward to the next book. Thank you Marshall Grover for a great read.
August 10, 2017
This book was a lot of fun to read. It was both funny and exciting and Larry and Stretch are just a couple of great characters. I could imagine this being a weekly TV series.
February 27, 2022
I just re-read this book, because although my e-reader said I'd read it, I remembered next to nothing about it. I enjoyed it much more this time around. I'm sure it helped that I was watching many 1950s Western TV shows while reading, and this book fit right in with those shows. This is a quick, fun read. Nothing ground-breaking, but I don't think that was the intent. If you're looking for anything deep, you will _not find it here, and again, I don't think that is an accident. Just sit back, enjoy the action and the fun, and before you know it, you'll (probably) be looking forward to the next book in the Larry & Stretch series.
March 25, 2017
The boys seek to repay a debt to a timid deputy.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews