Whiskey River

Sundown Riders #5

by Ralph Compton

Mark Rogers and Bill Harder return to their Texas spreads only to find the properties repossessed. In a moment of rage, the pair gun down two Yankee tax collectors. Sentenced to an agonizing existence at Fort Worth, they are then offered a deal by an Army captain -- break out of jail and infiltrate a deadly gang of whiskey runners -- and their lands and lives will be returned to them. The pair escape and find work as drivers for the gang, all the while looking to bring them down and save the two fair ladies being held hostage. Fighting back-to-back and gun-to-gun, the heroic twosome find themselves in a fight for survival on the open plains

Genres: Westerns, Historical Fiction

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Ralph Compton (April 11, 1934—September 16, 1998) was an American writer of western fiction.

A native of St. Clair County, Alabama, Compton began his writing career with a notable work, The Goodnight Trail, which was chosen as a finalist for the Western Writers of America "Medicine Pipe Bearer Award" bestowed upon the "Best Debut Novel". He was also the author of the Sundown Rider series and the Border Empire series. In the last decade of his life, he authored more than two dozen novels, some of which made it onto the USA Today bestseller list for fiction.

Ralph Compton died in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 64. Since his passing, Signet Books has continued the author's legacy, releasing new novels, written by authors such as Joseph A. West and David Robbins, under Compton's byline.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/ralphc...

Reviews

[HornFan2]

Wanted to read a Western, noticed that Berkley republished Ralph Compton's 'Whiskey River', it's been a while since I read one of his books and plucked this one out of my Library.

With 'Whiskey River', it's set in Texas post Civil War and Indian Territory. Mark Rogers and Bill Harder come home from the war only to learn they lost there spreads, they end up killing the men on their land and end up being offered a deal verse being hung.

Mark and Bill end up going to Indian Territory hoping to end up obtaining teamster jobs with Wolf Estrello's gang, who are running whiskey from St. Louis to trade in the territory to renegade Indians led by Broken Nose.

Along the way they meet naked twin sisters, they get jobs with the gang, Estrello kills the gangster who supplies the whiskey, they'll battle other outlaws and to know more you'll have to read 'Whiskey River'. It's an entertaining read, written in the similar style of two legends being Jory Sherman and Elmer Kelton, yet it stands on it's own and well worth if you haven't yet too give Ralph Compton a try.

Especially with his books being released by Berkley right now. Also glad to see that they are bring back the Ralph Compton Western books. Like the Johnstone books, it's done through an agreement with his estate and the publisher, but with his they give writing credit to the author, which is a good thing, great to discover a new author and weed out ones writing wise that you don't like.

[Scott]

I keep trying to find a western writer as good as Louis L’Amour. I thought this might be it. It was not. The story is okay, but a little slow. There are lots of characters, some I have no idea why they are included in the story. What bothered me the most is that there were some glaring errors in what a person in 1866 could and could not do. Compton added events to the story to move the story along, but it did not make the story any better. A western must at a minimum be realistic. This sadly was not.

[Jay Wright]

A nice story. Two return from the Civil War and kill 2 carpetbaggers. Army gives them a chance for a new life by going undercover after a group selling whiskey to the Indians. They infiltrate the organization and gather helpful information. Fighting the group they infiltrated, other gangs and several groups of Indians. It is rather predictable and for this reason, I rated it a 3.

[Nolan]

Interesting enough story to keep me entertained. Are some parts of it very unrealistic, like riding a horse 120 plus miles in one day.

[Leonard]

A fun story. A lot of different groups mixed in and that kept me busy remembering who was who. A quick and interesting read. Fun.

[Donna]

Learned interesting facts about the old west & what a hard life it was.