Ralph Compton Death of a Hangman (Ralph Compton Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Ralph Compton (Author), Joseph A. West (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ralph Compton Novels | Publication Date: April 6, 2010

USA Today bestselling Phenomenon

Charlie Pike is fulfilling Judge Henry Dryden's dying wish by escorting him to Texas. But an outlaw out for revenge is on their trail, determined that they will never reach their destination...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ralph Compton stood six-foot-eight without his boots. He worked as a musician, a radio announcer, a songwriter, and a newspaper columnist. His first novel, The Goodnight Trail, was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Medicine Pipe Bearer Award for best debut novel. He was also the author of the Sundown Rider series and the Border Empire series.
As a little boy growing up in a small fishing village in Scotland, Joseph West enjoyed many happy Saturday mornings at the local cinema in the company of Roy and Gene and Hoppy. His lifelong ambition was to become a cowboy, but he was sidetracked by a career in law enforcement and journalism. He now resides with his wife and daughter in Palm Beach, Florida, where he enjoys horse riding, cowboy action shooting, and studying Western history.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Signet (April 6, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451230248
• ISBN-13: 978-0451230249
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joe West was born and raised in the seaside town of Saltcoats in Scotland. At 19 he became a police officer, but soon turned his love of writing into a career as a journalist, working for the Daily Mirror in London among others. In 1972 West was recruited as a reporter for the National Enquirer, and began working in the United States. Traveling the world in search of stories, West almost froze to death on an Alaska mountain, and a spider bite nearly killed him in the Amazon rainforest. 'I swelled up like a balloon and turned a real pretty violet color,' he recalls.
Now a full-time novelist, West and his wife Emily reside in sunny Palm Beach, Florida, where he enjoys tamer pursuits like canoeing the alligator-infested swamps of the Everglades. His 22-year-old daughter Alexandria attends a local college where she studies forensic technology. She will have absolutely nothing to do with canoes and alligators.
West researches the settings of his novels by exploring the terrain in person, usually with little more than a sleeping bag and a can of coffee.
Recently he and Emily celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at the Lodge in Cloudcroft, New Mexico, a gift from the students at Rio Rancho High School who use West's first novel as a textbook. They then spent a month in the mountains and deserts of New Mexico, often pitching their tent where the air is thin at 9,000 feet above the flat.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Original and full of surprises, April 19, 2010

By 

Craig Clarke "Living After Midnight: Hard and... (New England) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Ralph Compton Death of a Hangman (Ralph Compton Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Since his debut, Me and Johnny Blue in 2000, author Joseph A. West has produced over two dozen Western novels, most recently under the Ralph Compton banner. Though West has stated that "I can't write in Ralph's style, nor do I try," he's producing some of the best work published in the interest of continuing the late Compton's legacy.

(If you're not familiar with this, a handful of new novels a year are published under the author "Ralph Compton" but with "a Ralph Compton novel by [author]" at the bottom of the cover and on the title page. This is one of the more respectful work-for-hire situations going, since most books published under "house names" don't credit the original author at all.)

When I first started reading new Compton Westerns, I encountered West's more "traditional" takes on the genre, Doomsday Rider and Vengeance Rider, and was not overly impressed. But there must have been something about those books because last summer, I gave him another try with The Man from Nowhere and was bowled over by its originality. This led to my recent purchase of the novel on shelves now, April 2010's Death of a Hangman.

When they fought together for the Confederacy, Brigadier General Henry J. Dryden saved the life of Major Charles Pike. Now Judge Dryden (known as "Hangin' Hank" for his particular brand of justice) is dying of cancer and wants to go from New Mexico Territory to his home in Texas to be buried there. He asks Pike to escort him, sort of calling in an owed favor.

The problem is that Dryden sent outlaw Clem Dredge's brother to the gallows. Dredge wants revenge, and he's offered a $500 reward for Dryden -- dead or alive. It's up to Pike to get Dryden (and his whore, Loretta) safely to Texas while being pursued by bounty hunters of every stripe: professional and otherwise.

Author Joseph A. West offers up another original Western with Death of a Hangman. It is filled with terrific characterizations and West's usual cast of flawed characters. Always interested in entertaining the reader, he doesn't give Pike any chance to rest, even confronting him with one Ephraim Satin ("half Apache, half wildcat, an' all son of a bitch") on his way to the judge.

Before they get to Texas, they'll hold an impromptu trial, Pike will find out what kind of man the judge really is, and he'll go through more hell (with less to show for it) than any God-fearing man should be allowed. But, of course, all this conflict is highly entertaining and is what makes Death of a Hangman such a solid, page-turning read full of plot twists and surprising directions from West, who seems to improve his craft with each passing book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Typos, April 29, 2011

By 

Barry - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ralph Compton Death of a Hangman (Kindle Edition)

Joseph West is my favorite author of western novels, and this story is also a good one. It appears, however, that no editing was done when typing the Kindle edition. Characters in the book were often misnamed (Loretta being called Lorraine) or characters were switched in dialog (Dryden and Dredge often interchanged). The reader has to pay close attention to keep the characters straight. Otherwise, a good read.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars keeping good stories alive, December 28, 2010

By 

FRANK SCHEETZ - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ralph Compton Death of a Hangman (Ralph Compton Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

I LOVE A GOOD STORY...KIRBY JONAS..RALPH COTTON..AND JOE WEST...C.J.BOX.. FOLKS,.. I KNOW TIMES ARE ROUGH OUT HERE..MONEY SHOULD NOT BE WASTED..THERE IS NOTHING GOOD ON TELEVISION ANYMORE.SO, IF YOU WANT TO SPEND YOUR MONEY AND YOUR TIME IN A VERY GOOD WAY..BUY ANYTHING THE AUTHORS I HAVE LISTED WRITE..YOU CAN'T GET BETTER STORIES OR HAVE A MORE ENJOYABLE EXPERIENCE THAN READING THEIR BOOKS.I WILL BUY ANYTHING THEY WRITE.THESE AUTHORS ARE TOPS.............. KEEP THEM COMING JOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!