Raiders of the Rimrock

by Luke Short

A Large Print Western. Give some men the sight of a rich, peaceful cattle range, and they won't rest easy until the place is over-run with sheep. Such a man was Sands, the shrewd, ruthless sheepman hell-bent on taking over all of tornado Basin, after buying out the more desperate nesters and killing off the law. Against him stood a motley gang of men bound by nothing more than anger, a determined young woman who'd stop just short of murder to save her birthright, and a range detective named Tim Enever--a saddle-lean stranger to the land and the violent war to win it, but no stranger to trouble and the fast gun he'd need to survive.

Genres: Westerns

Paperback

First published January 1, 1938

About the author

Luke Short (real name Frederick Dilley Glidden) was a popular Western writer.

Born in Kewanee, Illinois Glidden attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for two and a half years and then transferred to the University of Missouri at Columbia to study journalism.

Following graduation in 1930 he worked for a number of newspapers before becoming a trapper in Canada then later moved to New Mexico to be an archeologist's assistant.

After reading Western pulp magazines and trying to escape unemployment he started writing Western fiction. He sold his first short story and novel in 1935 under the pen name of Luke Short (which was also the name of a famous gunslinger in the Old West, though it's unclear if he was aware of that when he assumed the pen name.)

After publishing over a dozen novels in the 1930s, he started writing for films in the 40s. In 1948 alone four Luke Short novels appeared as movies. Some of his memorable film credits includes Ramrod (1947) and Blood on the Moon (1948). He continued to write novels, despite increasing trouble with his eyes, until his death in 1975. His ashes are buried in Aspen, Colorado, his home at the time of his death.

Reviews

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid novel from one of the masters of the genre. Back to a range war which was a popular subject for Short. This time nesters and big ranchers are feuding giving a ruthless sheepman, with plenty of gun hands to back him, a toehold. He aims to wipe everyone out and control all of the range. However a range detective was sent for and is able to get all of the cattlemen to fight together. Maybe all of them together can win.

Recommended, never read a bad Short, had a lot of little subplots that make the story interesting.

[Jeff Dickison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good western as Cattleman's Association detective tries to stop a range war between sheepmen & cattlemen. Head sheepman is an arrogant bully who tries to run roughshod over the smaller cattlemen and the nesters. Recommended to western fans.

[Bradthad Codgeroger · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Luke Short was also one of his earliest novels, and seems to be a bit before he hit his stride; however, it was pretty well plotted and peopled, and the action writing was excellent. I look forward to exploring more of his books.