9 h 5 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 5 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A freight train shakes through the mountains, and one man’s name makes a former gang leader burn with rage.
In Max Brand’s Gunman’s Reckoning, Lefty Joe rides through Jericho Pass beside a brakeman who knows how to draw him out. Lefty once commands a gang that includes Suds, Kennebec Lou, and the Clipper. Now he has only fifty cents for his passage and a bitter story to tell. The name at the heart of it is Donnegan.
The trouble begins with blackjack in the Meriton Jungle. Suds cheats an old traveler, unaware that the man is Donnegan’s friend. When word spreads that Donnegan is looking for Suds, swagger gives way to fear. Lefty’s account draws you into a rough world where a friend’s mistreatment can bring danger, and a fearsome reputation can unsettle an entire gang.
What you’ll discover
- A name that threatens Meet Donnegan through the anger and dread he stirs before he arrives.
- Pride under pressure Hear Lefty boast about his former power while the brakeman probes his wounded pride.
- A crooked card game Watch a cheated traveler’s loss become trouble that Suds cannot simply leave behind.
- Loyalty with sharp edges Explore the dangerous obligations that arise when someone wrongs a feared man’s friend.
- Trouble on the rails Feel the freight cars jolt as a bitter conversation builds toward a violent encounter.
Who will love it
Readers who love Westerns with quick draws, bluffs and gold camps, and anyone who enjoys a clever hero, a scheming villain and a love story told through risky deeds.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A knife in the dark on a freight train
- Donnegan hunts a red-haired man with a birthmark
- A ruined ranch and the colonel's trap
- The Corner and a plan built on rags
- A sprig of mint and a bullet in the sand
- The clock, the draw and the shot
- The colonel's second bargain and a girl's anger
- Stealing a wounded man by night
- Two red-haired men and a word from the past
- What the book is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- DonneganA small, red-haired tramp and deadly fighter who hides his feelings behind jokes and wants to make a girl he loves happy at any cost.
- Lou MaconThe colonel's golden-haired daughter, who has always obeyed her father and wants Jack Landis to come back to her.
- Colonel MaconA huge, soft-voiced invalid who rules from his chair by cunning and fear and wants the gold mines of The Corner.
- Jack LandisThe colonel's tall, handsome ward, who owns rich claims, is proud of his looks and is torn between Lou and Nelly.
- Nelly LebrunA dark-eyed, clever beauty who loves excitement and has to choose between three powerful men.
- Lord NickA tall, red-haired outlaw chief who bends the law, commands a gang and cannot bear to be seen backing down.
- George Washington GreenA huge Black man, once a gambler's servant, who becomes Donnegan's fiercely loyal helper.
- Joe RixA fat, smooth-talking man in Nick's gang who wants the mines and thinks he can buy or trick anyone.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 9 h 5 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 13 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Abrechnung eines Revolvermanns
by Max Brand · 1923
A red-haired tramp walks into a gold camp in rags and sets out to make himself the most talked-about man in town.
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In short
Gunman's Reckoning is a Western by Max Brand, who wrote it for the pulp magazines of the early twentieth century. It follows a red-haired tramp named Donnegan, a small man with a quick hand and a sharp mind, who leaps from a freight train and lands in the middle of a scheme he never planned to join.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A knife in the dark on a freight train
The story opens in Jericho Pass, where a long train of empty freight cars rattles through the night. A tramp called Lefty Joe sits with a brakeman and boasts that he once led a whole gang. He names Kennebec Lou, the Clipper and Suds as his men. Then he tells how a man named Donnegan broke the gang apart, one fight at a time.
Lefty says Donnegan beat Levine, a knife fighter, and then Kennebec Lou, who is two hundred pounds of muscle. Suds ran off in fear before Donnegan even arrived. With the two strongest men gone, Lefty could not hold the rest together. He hates Donnegan with all his heart.
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What is Gunman's Reckoning about?
It follows Donnegan, a small red-haired tramp who is drawn into a scheme over gold mines in a rough mining camp called The Corner. He tries to win a girl's happiness while facing a scheming colonel and an outlaw chief.
Who is Lord Nick in Gunman's Reckoning?
Lord Nick is a tall, red-haired outlaw leader who runs a gang of gunmen and takes a share of Jack Landis's mining gold. He is clever at staying on the right side of the law and proud of his name.
Who wrote Gunman's Reckoning and when?
Max Brand, the pen name of Frederick Faust, wrote it. Faust died in 1944. It is a pulp-style Western from the early twentieth century, full of quick scenes, gun play and bold characters.
The author
Max Brand
1892–1944 · American Western novelist
Max Brand was a pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust, an American writer born in Seattle in 1892. He wrote novels and short stories, including westerns such as The Seventh Man and Gunman’s Reckoning, both published in 1921. He died in Italy in 1944 while working as a war correspondent.
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