Cirrus@Austlit

'They were an odd pair, the one-time Union captain and the former Confederate sergeant. They’d fought each other during the Battle of Pea Ridge and then ended up fighting shoulder to shoulder when a common enemy showed his face.

'Bo Rangle, leader of the guerilla force known as Rangle’s Raiders, took advantage of the slaughter to steal what the two opposing forces had been fighting for – two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of Confederate gold.

'Hank Brazos and Duke Benedict never forgot that day, or each other. And when, by chance, their trails crossed again after the War, they decided to team up, find Rangle and reclaim that gold for themselves. And while they were at it, they swore to get revenge for all of their comrades who’d died that day back in 1862…'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2020 ed.).

'Trouble was brewing in the town of Harmony, between the gun-toughs who manned the Two-Bar ranch, the hardcases who hung around the Rawhide Saloon and the beleaguered miners out at Whipple Creek. Into this explosive situation rode Hank Brazos and Duke Benedict. With a thin bankroll, they were looking to earn some fast money to continue their hunt for a Civil War guerilla who’d killed their comrades and stolen a fortune in Confederate gold …. a fortune they themselves planned to get their hands on.

'So Brazos pinned on the sheriff’s badge in return for a hundred dollars a month, and soon found himself taking his responsibilities more seriously than he’d thought possible!

'Across a poker table, meanwhile, Benedict ran into an old acquaintance named Doc Christian. They were rivals, these two gambler-gunmen. And frankly, Benedict had no idea where Doc fitting into the various warring factions. When the chips were down, however, Benedict and Brazos found themselves in the thick of a fiery showdown, with just about every gun-filled hand turned against them!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'After witnessing the cold-blooded killing of a man named Boyd Larsen, Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos found themselves up to their gunbelts in mystery, murder and mayhem. Someone was rustling cattle from Nate Kendrick’s Rancho Antigua, and while that in itself wasn’t Benedict and Brazos’ business, rumor had it that the man doing all the rustling was Bo Rangle, the cut-throat outlaw they’ve been tracking ever since he massacred their men in the closing days of the Civil War.

'Signing on as range detective and wrangler respectively, Benedict and Brazos set out to run the rustlers to ground and exact their revenge on Rangle. But before they can find the man, they need to find the cattle… and somehow or other, those cattle have vanished right off the face of the earth!'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2020 ed.).

'The sheriff of Tumbleweed took an instant dislike to Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos. The dude and the giant in the garish purple shirt looked like trouble to him. So he gave them one-way tickets for the next stage out to Flintlock …. and that’s when the trouble really began.

'The minute it left town, the stagecoach became a target. Among the other passengers was a federal marshal delivering his prisoner, notorious outlaw Jack Savage, to Flintlock for trial. But Savage’s gang had other ideas. They planned to stop the stage and rescue him, even if they had to kill everyone else on board.

'They reckoned without Benedict and Brazos, and when the stranded passengers took refuge in a deserted town called Buckaroo, they found themselves up against hot lead – and stone-cold ghosts from the past!'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2020 ed.).

'It had been months since Brazos and Benedict had started their search for Bo Rangle, the outlaw who’d killed most of their comrades in the War and stolen a fortune in gold. But the west was a big place and Rangle could have been anywhere.  Then they chanced upon the best lead they’d had in months…. the only trouble was, Race Sackett, the man who could take them right to Rangle, was behind bars, awaiting a noose. There was only one thing to do – bust the outlaw out and force him to take them to Rangle’s lair. But that was going to be easier said than done ….'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2020 ed.).

'Spargo was a mining town… but there hadn’t been any mining there for a while. The mines were in a dangerous condition, and their owner, Foley Kingston, refused to make improvements. So the miners–those who’d survived the numerous cave-ins and accidents–went on strike, and Kingston called on his old friend, Duke Benedict, to help him break it.

'Benedict’s partner, big Hank Brazos, immediately sided with the miners. And even though Benedict knew Kingston was at fault, he had to stand by him. Back in the War, Kingston had saved his life, so he owed the man.

'But there were darker forces at work in Spargo–from Kingston’s cheating wife Rhea to saloon owner Ace Beauford, who wanted to run the entire outfit all by himself. And then there was a man-mountain named Paddy Clancy, who figured to double-cross all of them!'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2020 ed.).

'Crossing the Red Man River when it was in full flood wasn’t the wisest thing gambler Duke Benedict and his cowboy sidekick Hank Brazos had ever done. And when the ferry they riding tore free of its ropes, they found themselves driven downstream until their wild ride ended on the banks of Peaceful Valley. Here, a religious order had built itself a town …. but the Devil had settled in those parts, too, for one of the townsfolk had just been murdered, and the two newcomers quickly found themselves accused of the killing!

'As if that wasn’t bad enough, Peaceful Valley was about to get a visit from bad man Chad Irons and his gang of cutthroats. Before he’d been sent to prison, the valley had been Irons’ hideaway. Now he intended to take it back – and kill everyone who stood in his way!

'One way or another, it was time for Benedict and Brazos to start fighting back …'

Source: Publisher's blurb (2020 ed.).

'Benedict and Brazos — They braved a thousand perils in the hunt for gold!

'Hank Brazos had served under Colonel Orson Clairborne during the war. So when their paths crossed again, he was delighted to meet up with his old commanding officer. Their reunion was cut short, however, when the Colonel was kidnapped, and his beautiful daughter, Angela, received a ransom demand for twenty thousand dollars.

'For Brazos, the course was clear. He had to save Clairborne and make sure the kidnappers paid for their crime. But his partner, Duke Benedict, had other ideas. The only thing that mattered to Benedict was finding Bo Rangle, the man they’d been pursuing, and the missing $200,000 Rangle had gotten away with.

'They went their separate ways, and rendezvoused in a gunfire hellstorm when the kidnappers decided to kill them as down-payment for the Colonel’s safety!'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Bold Venture ed.).

'The town of Glory was anything but glorious. It was actually a town filled with fear—fear of the wild Yellow House River bunch, and an outlaw gang led by Ben Hollister, a bad man they called the Living Legend for his gun-speed.

'Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos had no intention of buying into Glory’s troubles. All they wanted was a lead on Bo Rangle, the man they were hunting. But then a good man was shot dead by the Yellow House boys. That’s when Benedict pinned on the town marshal’s badge and together he and Brazos set about restoring law and order.

'With the Yellow House gang dealt with, there was still the matter of Ben Hollister, and a schemer in the shadows saw to it that he and Benedict would eventually clash.

'It was a showdown Benedict would have done anything to avoid. Because he and Hollister had once been friends. And it was the Living Legend who’d taught him everything he knew about guns, and how to use them.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Bold Venture ed.).

'As usual, Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos were low on funds … until they ran into a drunken miner by the name of Arnie Woodcock. Arnie bore such an uncanny resemblance to a wanted outlaw called Turk Jory that it gave Benedict an idea. Suppose they were to turn Arnie in and claim the reward on Jory’s head? They could then bust Arnie out of jail, quit the territory and split the money three ways.

'What could possibly go wrong? In short — everything.

'Nobody figured on the real Turk Jory showing up to take a look at the man who was to hang in his place. Nobody figured that he would use the hanging as a diversion while he hit the local bank. And nobody figured that Benedict and Brazos could still come out of the whole sorry mess as heroes!'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Bold Venture ed.).

'As a favor to his father, Duke Benedict took on the job of bodyguard to Governor Sherwood Garfield. The territory was still raw, and the cattlemen who had claimed most of the surrounding land were determined to fight Garfield’s Settler’s Act, which would effectively open it up to homesteaders looking to start a new life.

'Benedict’s partner, big Hank Brazos, was kept busy as well, organizing the territorial militia … a thankless task that carried risks all of its own.

'But that was as nothing to the dangers that faced them when a hulking gunfighter named Honder was given a thousand dollars to kill Benedict … and a further five thousand to assassinate the man Benedict had been charged to protect!'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Bold Venture ed.).

'Almost one year after they met, on that fateful day at the Battle of Pea Ridge, Benedict and Brazos are gifted with valuable information. But the information comes with a deadline! Outlaw Bo Rangle has begun moving his stolen Confederate gold from one hidden location to another.

'The clock is ticking on their best lead, but can they trust their informant? Other parties are galloping toward the riches — the local marshal with a weather-beaten posse, and Rangle’s hired muscle with their shifting loyalties. By the time Benedict and Brazos confront their enemy, they’ll be surrounded by a hellfire storm of sizzling lead.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Bold Venture ed.).

'It looked as though Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos would finally ride their separate ways. Benedict was preparing to marry the beautiful Charity Flint, and return east. First, their old friend Colonel Oliver Traven was desperate to make one last search for his son, who went missing in Llano Estacado — the Staked Plains —  three years earlier. Benedict and Brazos wanted to help the Colonel, but suspected tragedy lay ahead for everyone — including Benedict’s bride, who seemed eager to make a public hero of her fiancée.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Mack Halligan and Kid Chaney were bitter rivals. They ran rival outlaw gangs — Halligan’s was hopeless, while Kid Chaney’s was successful — and they loved the same woman. When Duke Benedict’s new horse was stolen, the gambling man made it his mission to track down Chaney and take the animal back. His big partner, Hank Brazos, figured to put Kid Chaney behind bars, so Mack Halligan could marry the girl of his dreams and return to the straight and narrow. That was a big ‘if’  since the woman loved both outlaws!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The note, found in a remote spot, summed it up:

'“Señor Benedict is now my prisoner and will be held for ransom. You will ride to Panhandle, New Mexico, and wire the Americano’s rich father in Boston. He is to wire back the sum of fifty thousand dollars care of Señor Montoya. If you fail to do this or if the rich man does not pay, Benedict will be shot. If you do as I say he will be freed unharmed.”

'Paulo Parada, a psychopathic bandit-turned-revolutionary, sent the note. From everything Hank Brazos learned, Parada was a sadist who killed men for pleasure … so Brazos had to act fast to prevent Duke Benedict, his partner, from ending up another notch on the outlaw's gun.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Trouble was brewing between the Shotgun Ranch and its rivals, the Golden Hoof — and though they wanted no part of a range war, Benedict and Brazos eventually had to choose sides.

'There was just one problem.

'As the bodies piled up, and the gunsmoke grew ever thicker, Benedict started to wonder if they’d thrown in with the right side. Brazos had no such doubts … but by then, he’d fallen head-over-heels for the Golden Hoof owner’s beautiful daughter Tracy. And Tracy could do no wrong in his eyes …

'It was then that the unthinkable happened, and Benedict and Brazos found themselves on opposing sides. In the final showdown, they’d have to go against each other, toe to toe, gun to gun …'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Galloway’s two lawmen arrested Hank Brazos on a charge of rustling. Brazos went quietly, sure that his saddle pard, Duke Benedict, would soon arrive and clear everything up. But the law had other ideas. No ifs, no buts … Brazos would remain behind bars until the circuit judge found him guilty — and sentenced him to hang! Benedict decided to ride solo and arrest the real culprits himself — but to succeed he had to rely on Brazos’ irascible hound, Bullpup!'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Bold Venture ed.).

'Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos were closing in on Bo Rangle, the man they’d sworn to kill; the same man whose gang of cutthroats had massacred hundreds throughout the late Civil War. And Bo Rangle knew it. He planned to dig up the Confederate gold he’d stolen at the Battle of Pea Ridge and high-tail it to Mexico. If anyone got in his way … But still Benedict and Brazos kept after their quarry. They survived ambushes, shootouts, and the Lizard River. Once they dealt with Rangle, though, they’d have to settle with each other!'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Bold Venture ed.).

'The south lost the War Between the States, but landowner Stanton Claiborne emerged a financial winner. He moved his family into the heart of Union country at war’s end. The resident Northerners were living a hand-to-mouth existence, and didn’t take appreciate a rich Southerner lording it over them. The stage was set for a war, and Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos rode straight into it. Unseen forces were determined to make Clairborne’s family suffer for their own gain. Before peace was declared again, men would die …'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Bold Venture ed.).

'If ever a man was born to hang, it was Dusty Lane. But Lane never figured he would hang for a crime he didn’t commit … in this case, a cold-blooded double murder.

'Luckily for Dusty, his old friend Hank Brazos got to hear about his plight and decided to do something about it—with the reluctant help of his gun-swift partner Duke Benedict.

'They rode for the town of Spearhead with no set plan in mind, but quickly started to put all the pieces together … a witness who wasn’t as reliable as he seemed … a sheriff who would sooner look the other way … an undertaker with big ambitions … and a whisper-voiced killer named Raven, who was happy to kill anyone who got in his way—and even those who didn’t.

'Someone was out to break the Arkansas Cattlemen’s Association by any means … and by hang rope or bullet, it didn’t matter to them who had to die in the process.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (Bold Venture Press ed.).

'Brazos and Benedict had fallen out … again. But this time it looked as if their long partnership really had been damaged for good. Now Benedict was the marshal of a town called Archangel, where tensions were running high following a series of audacious cattle-thefts. And Brazos … well, he’d been hired by the ranchers to find out just who the thieves were—and dispense some good, old-fashioned Colt .45 justice when he found them. Which put the two former friends on opposite sides of the fence.

'To make matters worse, Benedict had woman trouble, as well as a challenge from a gunfighter called Shane. As for Brazos, well, the rustling seemed to be coming from a spread run by a dangerous former Civil War general whose sanity was slowly but surely fading by the day.

'It was a power keg of a situation, and if they were to survive it, Benedict and Brazos would have to work together, one more time.

'That’s if they didn’t end up killing each other first!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Old Justin Wardlaw was dying, but before he cashed in he wanted to see his four sons together again one last time. Cleve and David had never strayed far. Cleve ran a saloon in town, David ran his father’s mining operation. But what of Race and Corey? Following an argument, Race had left home and eventually become a gun-for-hire. Corey, the dreamer, had taken off to read poetry and see the country first-hand.

'If and when the missing sons showed up, they would automatically be taken back into Justin’s will. And if that happened, Cleve and David—who between then expected to inherit Justin’s entire fortune—would lose out big-time.

'Which meant that Race and Corey had to die …

'Somehow Benedict and Brazos got caught up in the vicious plot to kill off the competition. Along the way Benedict sold Brazos’ beloved dog Bullpup, fell victim to a blackmailer and then found himself fighting right alongside a man he thought he hated!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A war was raging between the Anvil Ranch and its rival, the Fifty-four. Men were being cut down from ambush, cattle rustled, and each side blamed the other. Joe Tucker, boss of the Fifty-four, hired Flint and Ram Brand, two of the toughest gunfighters money could buy.

'Burk Kincaid did likewise and hired Benedict and Brazos. But the urbane gambler and his partner weren’t interested in fighting a war—they wanted only to keep the peace. But the ranchers shared a dark secret at the heart of their feud. A climactic gunfight on Sheridan’s Main Street only marked the beginning of the end …'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Back East, Duke Benedict’s wealthy family believed he was a prominent lawyer who moved among the wild west’s rich and the famous. So when his father proposed to pay him a visit in the rough-and-ready town of Rawhide, Duke had to think fast. It would kill his old man to discover that Duke was in reality a footloose gambler, womanizer and slick-as-lightning gunfighter. And so the pretense began.

'Duke Benedict took over the practice of his lawyer friend Otto Lanning, and his partner, Hank Brazos, took Lanning up into the hills to enjoy a little hunting. Too bad all hell chose exactly that moment to break loose.

'A mysterious preacher came to town with a whispering albino gunman in tow, their plan to set the good folks of Rawhide against each other until the town tore itself apart. Only then would the preacher have his revenge for something that had happened in the recent past.

'With Duke’s hands tied as he pretended to be little more than an attorney, and Brazos off in the high country playing nursemaid to his friend, it looked as if Rawhide was wide open … for destruction!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'While running from a charge of stagecoach robbery, Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos encountered a wagon train heading across the desert. The caravan consisted of forty women, bound for the mining town Tarbuck to meet the men they’d agreed by mail to marry. Elsewhere, a kill-crazy outlaw escaped prison with one goal in mind — find and kill Libby Blue, the woman he blamed for his arrest and incarceration. Benedict had taken an interest in Libby, and wouldn’t allow any harm to befall her — even at the cost of his own life!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'To fill their empty pockets, Benedict and Brazos turned bounty hunters, and began hunting Billy Quinn, a kill-crazy maniac. All signs pointed toward Babylon, a dead-end town, but there was more to Babylon than met the eye. The law was administered by Bourne Murdock, and some said he enforced it a mite too heavily. Had Bourne framed Tom Sudden, five years earlier, so he could romance Sudden’s girl and marry her? Sudden’s sentence had run its course, and he was returning to Babylon for a final showdown — accompanied by four of the toughest gunmen money could buy!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Tom Fallon of the Southwest Militia needed a man he could trust to get into an outlaw stronghold called Drum and rescue the beautiful wife of the state governor, so he called for an old friend, Duke Benedict. But Benedict showed up with a friend of his own, big Hank Brazos … so Fallon found himself with two good men.

'That alone wasn’t enough to guarantee success, though. First they had to get into Drum, and for this they needed the help of a sinister gunman called Holly, who wore a silver mask to hide the ruin of a face that had been chewed-up by a bullet many years before … and they weren’t at all sure they could trust Holly.

'Then there was the matter of a wild gun known as Caleb Flint, Killer.

'With the life of the woman at stake, they had no choice but to go ahead and see what they could do. So they loaded up their guns and set out in full expectation of the war to come.

'And war was exactly what they got.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Two strangers rode into town on the trail of a gun-fast killer named Stark. When they left, however, they’d stolen $15,000 in gold dust from the Ophir Mine. They’d also given their names as Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos. That’s how Benedict and Brazos came to be wanted — dead or alive.

'Determined to prove their innocence and bring the real outlaws to book, they rode into a town with more than its fair share of intrigue. Nothing in Larrabee was as it seemed. Before the mystery was solved, there would be heartbreak for some, and cold lead for others …'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Someone established a lumber camp in the middle of Fortitude Valley’s cattle country. To make matters worse, the lumbermen drafted in to work the axes and saws were paroled convicts! They could win their freedom, If they made a go of the chance they’d been given, but the Fortitude Valley Cattlemen’s Association had other ideas. Hank Brazos and Duke Benedict were hired to keep the peace between the opposing factions, but they landed themselves in the middle of an all-out war wherein the weapons ranged from red-hot lead to unstable dynamite!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Without much warning, Hank Brazos got mighty mysterious took and off on his own. Why did Brazos go all the back home to Wildhorse County, start throwing his weight around and bad-mouthing "damn Yankees" at every opportunity? Benedict, the urbane gambler, followed him to uncover the secret secret. It was all part of an elaborate cross and double-cross that would eventually see both men fighting for their lives against a fanatical group calling themselves the Second Army of the Confederate States!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Benedict and Brazos had seen it all before—a supposedly genuine treasure map pointing to a priceless, solid gold statuette down in Old Mexico. According to legend, the Golden Virgin of Santo Sabinas had been hidden away in a spooky, disused monastery deep in the Sierra Espantosa, a vast range of almost impenetrable mountains that were said to be … haunted!

'It was all hogwash, of course. But there was something about the map that looked genuine. And for a half-share in whatever treasure they managed to find, Benedict and Brazos decided to team up with two hard-luck brothers and a small boy who quickly began to idolize gun-swift Benedict.

'There was just one problem.

'Other greedier, crueler men also had their eyes on the Golden Virgin, as did a merciless colonel of Federales. And one way or another, he was going to have it … even if it meant torturing Brazos half to death … and then threatening to execute the child!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'To earn a long overdue vacation, Duke Benedict intended to build up a stake from his poker winnings in Nogales, while Hank Brazos ran a string of horses into Mexico. Then Brazos was arrested and sentenced to hang on a trumped-up murder charge.

'To save him from a necktie social, Benedict threw in with a bounty hunter in Mexico on business of his own — business concerning Diablo, a man who intended to free Toltepec Province from the yoke of “slavery” with a renegade army. When Benedict and Brazos threw in with that army, the fuse was lit, and Toltepec Province was ready to explode!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'He was a dead man walking, staggering into the hotel lobby with a knife sticking out of one ear. When he hit the floor the blade penetrated his brain and finished him off. Several men had reason to hate Harvey Yardigan, but a witness came forward to accuse Duke Benedict.

'Benedict and his partner, Hank Brazos, had been sent to the town of Mirage on secret business, to clean up the hotbed of rustling and murder. Folks had started calling it “The Killing Ground,” and someone already wise to Benedict and Brazos was determined to make certain they failed in their mission!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'War was declared in the desert ghost town called Hardluck.

'Duke Benedict killed Jory Archer in a gunfight six months earlier. Now Jory’s brother, Teal, wanted to even the score. Teal brought a bunch of the toughest cutthroats ever to rob a stage or blow a bank safe. But no one banked on the Outlaw Queen Clementine Jones. When Teal ran out on Clementine, her affection for him became hate, and a burning desire for revenge.

'The odds against Benedict were sky-high, but big Hank Brazos was backing him up. Together they were a veritable two-man army. Before it was over, Boot Hill was going to get awful crowded!'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'They called her Little Miss Pretty. Her real name was Dixie Talon, and she was the newborn daughter of railroad magnate Conrad Talon. Which meant that the tiny baby was worth big money to the gang that kidnapped and held her to ransom.

'The gang was led by Scarlett Considine and Jesse Mansfield, the so-called Sweetheart Killers, and they had not a single ounce of compassion for the vulnerable infant in their care. But once Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos took a look into Dixie’s little shoe-button eyes, they decided that the Sweetheart Killers and their cut-throat followers were going to pay for their crime. The trouble was, when it came to a showdown, could Benedict or Brazos kill a woman, especially a woman like Scarlett?

'That was when Fate stepped in and blew the whole deal to shreds.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Down on their luck, Duke Benedict and Hank Brazos were forced to take jobs herding cattle up the Chisholm Trail to Abilene. It was no hardship for Brazos—he’d more or less been born in the saddle and was cowboy all the way through.

'On the other hand, Benedict appreciated the finer things in life. On impulse, he quit the drive and headed for Abilene by himself, hoping to find a high-stakes poker game and a willing woman or two. Instead he found a town under siege by the hell-raising Texas cowboys who wanted to let off steam at trail’s end, and they didn’t care who got injured along the way.

'Many men had worn the marshal’s star in Abilene … and many had failed to bring law and order to the town. Now it was Duke Benedict’s turn. Plenty of blood would be spilled before the wild men of Texas learned that when Benedict wore a star, he meant business.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.