"To read a Dusty Richards novel is to journey back into the Old West with a writer who knows the territory." --Jory Sherman

The Land Made Him Hard

The Byrnes family came to Texas and carved out a place on the land. Three generations who paid in blood and treasure. Children carried off by Comanche. A brother lost to war. Lives shattered. Chet Byrnes was trying to hold the ranch together through one more winter for one

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"600 miles from a railroad head in Texas, Chet Byrnes and a handful of cowboys set out to build a new life on the Arizona frontier. Behind the Byrnes family is a tale of bloodshed and blood feuds. What lies ahead is any kind of future they can scrape together out of a merciless landscape - as long as they're willing to make it on their own. From a woman who lays claim to Chet's heart to a land ripe for grazing, the Arizona territory begins to open...

"Chet Byrnes has his hands full taking care of his family and running his ranching operation in Arizona Territory. But he still takes his responsibilities as a deputy U.S. marshal very seriously. Bandits have been crossing the border, cutting a bloody swath of mayhem--stealing horses, robbing banks, and murdering innocent folk--then high-tailing it back to safety in Mexico. The chief U.S. marshal asks Chet to lead a secret task force to stop the raids...

"For Chet Byrnes, building a ranching empire means adding new land, hiring good men, finding water and trying new breeds of cattle. But outlaws and Tuscon's idle rich want to take it all away--and Arizona just may be too lawless to stop it. So while the Byrnes family expands its reach, Chet must do his job hunting down outlaws on either side of the border. Chet's cowboys prove to be tireless fighters, going up against former Mexican military men,...

"Building a ranching empire is one thing, keeping it out of the hands of robbers, kidnappers, murderers, embezzlers, and every no good opportunist crawling through the Arizona desert is a daily grind for Chet Byrnes. He's just as likely to rescue a stolen daughter as he is to recover rustled cattle on any given day. But with a family to keep safe and enough real target practice to keep his aim deadly, nothing's going to stop Chet from bringing his...

A landmark feat of innovation is about to change the American West forever. With electric cables stretching from the Colorado River to Gallup, New Mexico, a new telegraph system will connect the settlers of the Arizona Territory to the rest of the country--a dream come true for rancher Chet Byrnes and his family. But laying four hundred miles of steel wire can be a deadly task. Chet has to face off with hired henchmen who would kill to sabotage the...

"In the brutal, unforgiving wastes of the Arizona desert, Chet Byrnes built a cattle ranching empire with his bare hands, steel will, and a fast draw. As the U.S. marshal, he risks his life to bring law to a lawless land. When a new railroad route is planned to pass through Navajo territory, Chet fights to get the Indians a contract to supply the locomotives with coal. But the corrupt politicians in Tucson and D.C. have other ideas. The coal contract...