Other editions of book Donnegan: Gunman's Reckoning

One of the most prolific writers ever, Max Brand (1892 – 1944) is considered the world's most celebrated writer of Westerns---a virtual Shakespeare of the Western Range. For Old West adventure it can't get any better than Max Brand.Max Brand originally published "Donnegan" in Western Story Magazine, April 16-May 21, 1921----effectively and realistically portraying the early struggles encountered in establishing law and order on the Western Range.

Solitary, mysterious figure Donnegan is on the run from his past. The last thing he has time for is love. But like all matters of the heart, sometimes emotions bloom when they are least convenient - as they do the first time Donnegan encounters the kind, free-spirited Lou Macon. Do they have a shot at a happy life somewhere - or are Donnegan's misdeeds bound to catch up with them?

Frederick Schiller Faust penned his finest when he wrote his literary famous Westerns utilizing the pen name Max Brand. "Donnegan Gunman's Reckoning" has a thoughtful storyline which is enough to hold your interest throughout the book. Solitary, mysterious figure Donnegan is on the run from his past. The last thing he has time for is love. But like all matters of the heart, sometimes emotions bloom when they are least convenient – as they do the first time Donnegan encounters the kind, free-spirited Lou Macon. Do they have a shot at a happy life somewhere – or are Donnegan's misdeeds bound to catch up with them?

Enforcing his own brand of justice with his ever-ready six-gun, Donnegan shoots down everyone who stands in his way and sets his sights on a sidewinder with whom he has a personal score to settle. Donnegan, a short red-haired tramp, rides the rails in search of a man named Rusty Dick. Having discovered that his quarry is dead, Donnegan jumps off the train, forces his way into a stranger's house, and falls in love with the owner's daughter on the spot. Colonel Macon, sends Donnegan with his daughter to the Corner, a mining town, hoping that the girl will win back her lover, Jim Landis, from the shadowy Lord Nick, who has horned in on the Colonel's profitable business arrangements with Landis. Failing that, Donnegan is to kill Landis. Max Brand, was the pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust. He was a prolific American author best known for his classic western novels. Brand also created the famous character Dr. Kildare which became the basis of many films and television shows.

The fifty empty freights danced and rolled and rattled on the rough road bed and filled Jericho Pass with thunder; the big engine was laboring and grunting at the grade, but five cars back the noise of the locomotive was lost. Yet there is a way to talk above the noise of a freight train just as there is a way to whistle into the teeth of a stiff wind. This freight-car talk is pitched just above the ordinary tone—it is an overtone of conversation, one might say—and it is distinctly nasal. The brakie could talk above the racket, and so, of course, could Lefty Joe. They sat about in the center of the train, on the forward end of one of the cars. No matter how the train lurched and staggered over that fearful road bed, these two swayed in their places as easily and as safely as birds on swinging perches. The brakie had touched Lefty Joe for two dollars; he had secured fifty cents; and since the vigor of Lefty's oaths had convinced him that this was all the money the tramp had, the two now sat elbow to elbow and killed the distance with their talk. "It's like old times to have you here," said the brakie. "You used to play this line when you jumped from coast to coast." "Sure," said Lefty Joe, and he scowled at the mountains on either side of the pass. The train was gathering speed, and the peaks lurched eastward in a confused, ragged procession. "And a durned hard ride it's been many a time." "Kind of queer to see you," continued the brakie. "Heard you was rising in the world." He caught the face of the other with a rapid side glance, but Lefty Joe was sufficiently concealed by the dark. "Heard you were the main guy with a whole crowd behind you," went on the brakie. "Yeh?" "Sure. Heard you was riding the cushions, and all that." "Yeh?" "But I guess it was all bunk; here you are back again, anyway." "Yep," agreed Lefty. The brakie scratched his head, for the silence of the tramp convinced him that there had been, after all, a good deal of truth in the rumor. He ran back on another tack and slipped about Lefty. "I never laid much on what they said," he averred. "I know you, Lefty; you can do a lot, but when it comes to leading a whole gang, like they said you was, and all that—well, I knew it was a lie. Used to tell 'em that."