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The One-Way Trail
When Harry French left home he was just another kid looking to make his way. But when he comes back four years later, things are different. He's different. Or at least the town thinks so. Now nobody looks him in the eye. He isn't just Harry anymore, he's the Shifter, a gunfighter who brings trouble with him wherever he goes. And as hard as Harry tries, he finds that a reputation is a lot harder to put down than a gun.
- GenresWesterns
236 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1996
About the author
Max Brand
1,863 books140 followersFrederick Schiller Faust (see also Frederick Faust), aka Frank Austin, George Owen Baxter, Walter C. Butler, George Challis, Evin Evan, Evan Evans, Frederick Faust, John Frederick, Frederick Frost, David Manning, Peter Henry Morland, Lee Bolt, Peter Dawson, Martin Dexter, Dennis Lawson, M.B., Hugh Owen, Nicholas Silver
Max Brand, one of America's most popular and prolific novelists and author of such enduring works as Destry Rides Again and the Doctor Kildare stories, died on the Italian front in 1944.
Max Brand, one of America's most popular and prolific novelists and author of such enduring works as Destry Rides Again and the Doctor Kildare stories, died on the Italian front in 1944.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 1, 2017
This Max Brand book I found at the library in Arizona is made up of three short stories. In reading order they are Forgotten Treasure, Outcast Breed, and The One-Way Trail.
Brand wrote zillions of books using this and other pen names. Not all were Westerns, either: he was responsible for creating medical heartthrob Dr. Kildare! I've never been able to find any of those books, but I'll keep looking. Meanwhile, there are plenty of Westerns to choose from. I never read much of this author's work in the long-ago past, I was more of a Zane Grey fan. But the few I've read over the years were authentic feeling and enjoyable, and this was no exception.
In Forgotten Treasure, Barney Quince is the last of his bloodline, all the other family members have been killed in a decades-long feud. He shows up at a ranch one day with a nasty head injury and total amnesia. Whose ranch is it? What will happen to him when the owners realize who he is? And what will happen if Quince regains his memory? This story was originally published in 1927.
Second in line was Outcast Breed, first published in 1934. John Cameron was not a 'pureblood' white man. His grandmother was from the Blackfoot tribe. But he had lived an isolated life with his mining partner, so he did not realize how cruel the world would be to such a man. Until his found his partner murdered and went in search of the killer. What will happen when he finds the man who killed the only friend Cameron had?
Finally the title story, The One-Way Trail, which first appeared in 1922. Harry French leaves his home town, coming back years later with a very bad reputation. Was it deserved? Was he really the cold-blooded killer the town thought him to be? For various reasons Harry leaves town again, this time taking what is called the one-way trail through the mountains. This trail is so difficult, so narrow, so dangerous, that after more than a few deaths the people in the area agreed that it was to be used only from south to north to keep from having two riders going in opposite directions meeting.
I loved this part about Harry's horse 'Glorious', a Roman-nosed ex-rodeo outlaw who fights his rider first thing every morning but then settles down to be an awesome mount. Here is what he does in the scariest sections of that awful trail:
"Glorious literally smelled his way to safety around every corner and then took the turn with his head lowered and his long, snaky neck stretched out. He made such a ridiculous figure that Harry French several times burst into laughter. But Glorious merely shook his head and trudged on, regardless of the mockery."
Well, of course we know what will happen, and it did: Harry met some durned fool coming the wrong way on the trail! He knew the rule but was in as much of a hurry to get south as Harry was in a hurry to get north. During their discussion while trying to resolve the issue, the stranger complains of how expensive his horse was and how he did not want to lose him. I thought this reply by Harry was glorious:
"Why, stranger, a hoss is a life, just the way you and me are lives. You can't buy a hoss. You may pay somebody a price, but you ain't payng the price to the hoss. A pile of gents sit the saddles on hosses that they don't own a hair of, because they ain't never taught the hoss to love 'em."
That is TOO true and SO cool! This story alone was worth all four stars to me.
Brand wrote zillions of books using this and other pen names. Not all were Westerns, either: he was responsible for creating medical heartthrob Dr. Kildare! I've never been able to find any of those books, but I'll keep looking. Meanwhile, there are plenty of Westerns to choose from. I never read much of this author's work in the long-ago past, I was more of a Zane Grey fan. But the few I've read over the years were authentic feeling and enjoyable, and this was no exception.
In Forgotten Treasure, Barney Quince is the last of his bloodline, all the other family members have been killed in a decades-long feud. He shows up at a ranch one day with a nasty head injury and total amnesia. Whose ranch is it? What will happen to him when the owners realize who he is? And what will happen if Quince regains his memory? This story was originally published in 1927.
Second in line was Outcast Breed, first published in 1934. John Cameron was not a 'pureblood' white man. His grandmother was from the Blackfoot tribe. But he had lived an isolated life with his mining partner, so he did not realize how cruel the world would be to such a man. Until his found his partner murdered and went in search of the killer. What will happen when he finds the man who killed the only friend Cameron had?
Finally the title story, The One-Way Trail, which first appeared in 1922. Harry French leaves his home town, coming back years later with a very bad reputation. Was it deserved? Was he really the cold-blooded killer the town thought him to be? For various reasons Harry leaves town again, this time taking what is called the one-way trail through the mountains. This trail is so difficult, so narrow, so dangerous, that after more than a few deaths the people in the area agreed that it was to be used only from south to north to keep from having two riders going in opposite directions meeting.
I loved this part about Harry's horse 'Glorious', a Roman-nosed ex-rodeo outlaw who fights his rider first thing every morning but then settles down to be an awesome mount. Here is what he does in the scariest sections of that awful trail:
"Glorious literally smelled his way to safety around every corner and then took the turn with his head lowered and his long, snaky neck stretched out. He made such a ridiculous figure that Harry French several times burst into laughter. But Glorious merely shook his head and trudged on, regardless of the mockery."
Well, of course we know what will happen, and it did: Harry met some durned fool coming the wrong way on the trail! He knew the rule but was in as much of a hurry to get south as Harry was in a hurry to get north. During their discussion while trying to resolve the issue, the stranger complains of how expensive his horse was and how he did not want to lose him. I thought this reply by Harry was glorious:
"Why, stranger, a hoss is a life, just the way you and me are lives. You can't buy a hoss. You may pay somebody a price, but you ain't payng the price to the hoss. A pile of gents sit the saddles on hosses that they don't own a hair of, because they ain't never taught the hoss to love 'em."
That is TOO true and SO cool! This story alone was worth all four stars to me.
June 12, 2019
A Max Brand Western Adventure
MB. has. penned a western adventure story where a young man who has no experience drifts away from home for years and returns as a known gun slinger. After he returns he has difficulty fitting into the life style he had left. He attempts to develop friendships but everyone fears his reputation. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHs
MB. has. penned a western adventure story where a young man who has no experience drifts away from home for years and returns as a known gun slinger. After he returns he has difficulty fitting into the life style he had left. He attempts to develop friendships but everyone fears his reputation. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHs
May 27, 2026
The one way trail
By max brand
Audio book version.
The 18-year-old who left home
Became a gunfighter,.
The young man who returns has an unsavory reputation and is driven out of town.
By max brand
Audio book version.
The 18-year-old who left home
Became a gunfighter,.
The young man who returns has an unsavory reputation and is driven out of town.
December 28, 2016
I am never fully satisfied with a Max Brand (Frederic Faust) western.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews