Reardon is an ex-Confederate officer. The war is over, and, at the start of the book, he's on his way out west to join the US Army. Joining the cavalry out west isn't much different to a prison sentence. It is a remote post, surrounded by hostile Indians, with extremely limited food, drink and access to the ladyfolk. It is normally the last respite of desperate men. Reardon's reason is also his weakness - he spotted his ex-love, Caroline, on the arm of an army colonel. Keen to see her again her, he joins the regiment. The book follows his training and his first few missions as a scout.
NEVER SAY NO TO A KILLER - Clifton Adams- Clifton Adams
Roy Surratt escapes from a prison chain gang. It's part of a plan he set up with his former cellmate, Joe Venci. They're to meet later, but when Roy arrives at the appointed place, Joe's wife is there. Joe is dead, and his wife wants Roy to kill someone for her. Roy figures out that Joe was blackmailing the town's prominent citizens, so he decides to take over.
Originally published in 1951, Clifton Adams’ A Noose for the Desperado is decidedly darker than its predecessor, 1950’s The Desperado. In the first book, Talbert “Tall” Cameron was a 19-year-old Texan forced into the life of an outlaw after he exacted vengeance on a Yankee officer that unjustly murdered his father. Now, Tall has made it to Arizona, and to earn some money he takes up with an outfit of criminals who hijack smugglers bringing over silver across the Mexican border. But when Tall is double-crossed, he is faced once again with the dilemma of running away from his problems, or standing up for himself and heading deeper into a life of crime.
Clifton Adams’ The Desperado was one of the earliest Westerns in the Gold Medal roster. Published in 1950. The novel is set immediately after the end of the Civil War, when carpetbaggers and the Yankee army are overrunning Texas. Talbert Cameron, also known as “Tall,” is only nineteen, but already he is on the run. After taking a few swings at a Yankee, he and his friend Ray Novak find themselves hitting the trails to avoid the work gang. But when Tall hears word that the Yankees are roughing up his family and friends, he must decide whether to keep running, or to risk being captured or killed in the name of vengeance.
