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Winsome Creek: A Bar~S Western
In an attempt to leave his old life behind him, young gunman Brett Hollister is on his way to the Bar~S Ranch in New Mexico, to work for the Southerner. While traveling across Utah Territory with his oldest friend, a mare named Star, Brett befriends young Dan Everett. Everett is on his way home to help his father protect the family's farming empire, during a bitter range war with a cattle baron. When the young man is ambushed and left for dead, Brett sticks around to uncover who shot his new friend. Brett quickly realizes nothing is as it seems, and no one is telling the complete truth in this intricately-plotted, old-fashioned and atmospheric western story filled with mystery, excitement, and deadly secrets.
302 pages, Paperback
Published February 15, 2024
8 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Bobby Underwood
143 books352 followersBobby Underwood is a prolific writer who dips his pen into the world of many genres: crime and mystery, old-fashioned noir, ethereal and old-fashioned romantic fantasy, westerns, and light science fiction. His touching romantic fantasy novellas and tender short stories are stand-alone entries, while his series detective and crime novels are best read in sequence. His influences are Elizabeth Linington, John D. MacDonald, Fletcher Flora, Jack Williamson, Robert Nathan, Zane Grey, Cornell Woolrich and Tony Hillerman, to name a few. His series include:
ROMANTIC NOIR: Holly, FANDANGO, Costa del Sol, Pink Sangría, Softer Than Rain, Down Mexico Way
SETH HALLIDAY: The Turquoise Shroud, The Long Gray Goodbye, Eight Blonde Dolls, A Candy Red Christmas, Blue Spanish Sky, A Bright Silver Sea
MATT RANSOM: The Velvet Sea, A Matt Ransom Halloween, The Tender Shore, The Gentle Tide, A Matt Ransom Thanksgiving, The Lovely Harbor, The Sandy Shore, The Beautiful Island, The Sensual Sea, A Matt Ransom Christmas, The Sapphire Sea, The Dreamless Sea, Crazy Rhythm, The Black Dahlia, Just Beyond Love, and The Romantic Shore (series finale).
NOIR SHOTS: Dangerous Crossing, One Good Thing, Where the Busses Don't Run, Not Dark Yet, Angel in the Rain, Glass Alibi, Carousel, Hornet's Nest, You Were Wonderful, She Always Loved the Sea, State Route 43, World Full of Dreams, If I Should Die Before You Wake, Hurricane, The Leafy Glade, Last Semester, Nebraska, The Kelly Martin Story
NOSTALGIA CRIME: Beautiful Detour, Where Flamingos Fly, Nightside
THE WILD COUNTRY TRILOGY: The Wild Country, The Trail to Santa Rosa, Whisper Valley -- Related Short Stories: Where the Grass Grows Green, Colton County, A Wild Country Christmas
SPICY PULP STORIES: Havana, Running Hot, Lucky Penny -- Collection of all three in paperback: Too Hot to Handle
THE TEAGAN & ALLESSANDRO ADVENTURES: The Amalfi Caper
SHERIFF JACE WILKINSON: The Idaho Affairs
His Non-Series stories include: Winsome Creek, Atelier, Beyond Heaven's Reach, Chance at Heaven, Passage to Tomorrow, I Died Twice, Grover's Creek, White Lace & Promises, Euphoria, The City, and Saturday's Children. His gathered Collections include: Outward Bound: Hope & Light (Late to Prom, Joy Island, Summer Picnic, and Atelier), Escapade (FANDANGO, Costa del Sol, Juggernaut, and Pink Sangría), Lonely Street (Night Run, City of Angels, Gypsy Summer, Requiem, Christmas Eve, Night Cry), Getaway (Holly, Down Mexico Way, and Softer Than Rain), Jeopardy (You Were Wonderful, She Always Loved the Sea, and Hornet's Nest), Too Hot to Handle (Havana, Running Hot, and Lucky Penny), Silver Screen Dreams (Beautiful Detour, Where Flamingos Fly, and Nightside), Lovers' Tide (Holly, Joy Island, Galveston, and Surfer Girl), The Unlocked Window (Dark Corridor, Slow Hot Wind, No Holiday From Murder, Johnny's Girl, I Won't Forget You, The Day Kathy Died, Glass Alibi, Voodoo Road, and The Unlocked Window), Silhouettes (Dangerous Crossing, One Good Thing, Where the Busses Don't Run, and Not Dark Yet), Peril in the Rain (Glass Alibi, Angel in the Rain, and Carousel), Matt Ransom: The Early Years (The Velvet Sea, The Tender Shore, and The Gentle Tide), Matt Ransom: Harbors & Shores (The Lovely Harbor and The Sandy Shore), Matt Ransom: Winter Surprises (The Sensual Sea and A Matt Ransom Christmas), Seth Halliday: Double Shot (The Turquoise Shroud and The Long Gray Goodbye), Seth Halliday: Candy Colored Dreams (Eight Blonde Dolls and A Candy Red Christmas), Trouble in the Wind: (World Full of Dreams, If I Should Die Before You Wake, Hurricane, The Leafy Glade, Dark Corridor), Ghost Rider: The Wyn Witcomb Saga (The Wild Country, The Trail to Santa Rosa, Whisper Valley), Trouble in the Wind (World Full of Dreams, If I Should Die Before You Wake, Hurricane, The Leafy Glade, Dark Corridor), Down Every Road (State Route 43, Nebraska, Last Semester, Endless Night, Galveston)
ROMANTIC NOIR: Holly, FANDANGO, Costa del Sol, Pink Sangría, Softer Than Rain, Down Mexico Way
SETH HALLIDAY: The Turquoise Shroud, The Long Gray Goodbye, Eight Blonde Dolls, A Candy Red Christmas, Blue Spanish Sky, A Bright Silver Sea
MATT RANSOM: The Velvet Sea, A Matt Ransom Halloween, The Tender Shore, The Gentle Tide, A Matt Ransom Thanksgiving, The Lovely Harbor, The Sandy Shore, The Beautiful Island, The Sensual Sea, A Matt Ransom Christmas, The Sapphire Sea, The Dreamless Sea, Crazy Rhythm, The Black Dahlia, Just Beyond Love, and The Romantic Shore (series finale).
NOIR SHOTS: Dangerous Crossing, One Good Thing, Where the Busses Don't Run, Not Dark Yet, Angel in the Rain, Glass Alibi, Carousel, Hornet's Nest, You Were Wonderful, She Always Loved the Sea, State Route 43, World Full of Dreams, If I Should Die Before You Wake, Hurricane, The Leafy Glade, Last Semester, Nebraska, The Kelly Martin Story
NOSTALGIA CRIME: Beautiful Detour, Where Flamingos Fly, Nightside
THE WILD COUNTRY TRILOGY: The Wild Country, The Trail to Santa Rosa, Whisper Valley -- Related Short Stories: Where the Grass Grows Green, Colton County, A Wild Country Christmas
SPICY PULP STORIES: Havana, Running Hot, Lucky Penny -- Collection of all three in paperback: Too Hot to Handle
THE TEAGAN & ALLESSANDRO ADVENTURES: The Amalfi Caper
SHERIFF JACE WILKINSON: The Idaho Affairs
His Non-Series stories include: Winsome Creek, Atelier, Beyond Heaven's Reach, Chance at Heaven, Passage to Tomorrow, I Died Twice, Grover's Creek, White Lace & Promises, Euphoria, The City, and Saturday's Children. His gathered Collections include: Outward Bound: Hope & Light (Late to Prom, Joy Island, Summer Picnic, and Atelier), Escapade (FANDANGO, Costa del Sol, Juggernaut, and Pink Sangría), Lonely Street (Night Run, City of Angels, Gypsy Summer, Requiem, Christmas Eve, Night Cry), Getaway (Holly, Down Mexico Way, and Softer Than Rain), Jeopardy (You Were Wonderful, She Always Loved the Sea, and Hornet's Nest), Too Hot to Handle (Havana, Running Hot, and Lucky Penny), Silver Screen Dreams (Beautiful Detour, Where Flamingos Fly, and Nightside), Lovers' Tide (Holly, Joy Island, Galveston, and Surfer Girl), The Unlocked Window (Dark Corridor, Slow Hot Wind, No Holiday From Murder, Johnny's Girl, I Won't Forget You, The Day Kathy Died, Glass Alibi, Voodoo Road, and The Unlocked Window), Silhouettes (Dangerous Crossing, One Good Thing, Where the Busses Don't Run, and Not Dark Yet), Peril in the Rain (Glass Alibi, Angel in the Rain, and Carousel), Matt Ransom: The Early Years (The Velvet Sea, The Tender Shore, and The Gentle Tide), Matt Ransom: Harbors & Shores (The Lovely Harbor and The Sandy Shore), Matt Ransom: Winter Surprises (The Sensual Sea and A Matt Ransom Christmas), Seth Halliday: Double Shot (The Turquoise Shroud and The Long Gray Goodbye), Seth Halliday: Candy Colored Dreams (Eight Blonde Dolls and A Candy Red Christmas), Trouble in the Wind: (World Full of Dreams, If I Should Die Before You Wake, Hurricane, The Leafy Glade, Dark Corridor), Ghost Rider: The Wyn Witcomb Saga (The Wild Country, The Trail to Santa Rosa, Whisper Valley), Trouble in the Wind (World Full of Dreams, If I Should Die Before You Wake, Hurricane, The Leafy Glade, Dark Corridor), Down Every Road (State Route 43, Nebraska, Last Semester, Endless Night, Galveston)
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 21, 2025
Need more writing like this
Great combination of the old west with a little romance sprinkled in. It kept me interested the whole way through
Great combination of the old west with a little romance sprinkled in. It kept me interested the whole way through
February 20, 2024
In the realm of Western tales, where dust settles on the pages of legends, Bobby Underwood's WINSOME CREEK stands tall and resolute, a masterpiece in the lineage of Zane Grey and Luke Short. It's a journey into the heart of the Wild West, where the echoes of gunshots linger like ghosts, and the air is thick with the weight of a man's past.
Meet Brett Hollister, a thinking man's gunfighter, haunted by the acrid odor of gunpowder and the metallic tang of spilled blood. Determined to shed his violent history, he's a lone rider on a quest to outrun the shadows that cling to him like a curse. But the trails he treads are not just dusty dirt from one cowtown to another; they're the pathways etched into his soul, forever marked by the stench of death.
Hollister, a paradoxical blend of grit and grace, is more than a mere gunslinger. He carries a heart as expansive as the vast Western skies. In the rhythmic cadence of Underwood's prose, Hollister's journey unfolds like a dance, each step revealing the layers of a mystery that winds through the landscape like the sinuous bends of the Snake River.
As Hollister unravels the enigma surrounding his friend's assailant, Underwood weaves a tapestry of suspense with more twists than a mesquite branch in a desert windstorm. The narrative unfurls like a frontier ballad, resonating with the soulful twang of guitar strings beneath a starlit sky.
Romance blooms in the arid soil of Winsome Creek, reminiscent of the great Zane Grey novels. Underwood's pen paints love with strokes as vivid as a desert sunset, infusing warmth into the harsh Western landscape and Brett Hollister’s journey. Violence, ever a specter in this unforgiving land, becomes an undercurrent in Underwood's hands, a force that ripples beneath the surface with the subtlety of a current waiting to surge.
In a genre where gratuitous brutality often rears its ugly head in contemporary novels, WINSOME CREEK stands apart. Underwood's prose transforms violence into art, rendering each confrontation with a brushstroke of eloquence. This is not a tale of blood for blood's sake, but a nuanced exploration for truth, justice, and redemption.
For aficionados of both mystery and the Western frontier, WINSOME CREEK is a palatable feast, a literary summer picnic of good food and friends that linger long after the last page is turned. I wholeheartedly endorse this novel as one of the finest Westerns to grace my reading trail--a testament to Bobby Underwood's mastery of the genre. So, saddle up and ride into the sunset with Brett Hollister; the journey is as captivating as the Utah sky at dusk.
Meet Brett Hollister, a thinking man's gunfighter, haunted by the acrid odor of gunpowder and the metallic tang of spilled blood. Determined to shed his violent history, he's a lone rider on a quest to outrun the shadows that cling to him like a curse. But the trails he treads are not just dusty dirt from one cowtown to another; they're the pathways etched into his soul, forever marked by the stench of death.
Hollister, a paradoxical blend of grit and grace, is more than a mere gunslinger. He carries a heart as expansive as the vast Western skies. In the rhythmic cadence of Underwood's prose, Hollister's journey unfolds like a dance, each step revealing the layers of a mystery that winds through the landscape like the sinuous bends of the Snake River.
As Hollister unravels the enigma surrounding his friend's assailant, Underwood weaves a tapestry of suspense with more twists than a mesquite branch in a desert windstorm. The narrative unfurls like a frontier ballad, resonating with the soulful twang of guitar strings beneath a starlit sky.
Romance blooms in the arid soil of Winsome Creek, reminiscent of the great Zane Grey novels. Underwood's pen paints love with strokes as vivid as a desert sunset, infusing warmth into the harsh Western landscape and Brett Hollister’s journey. Violence, ever a specter in this unforgiving land, becomes an undercurrent in Underwood's hands, a force that ripples beneath the surface with the subtlety of a current waiting to surge.
In a genre where gratuitous brutality often rears its ugly head in contemporary novels, WINSOME CREEK stands apart. Underwood's prose transforms violence into art, rendering each confrontation with a brushstroke of eloquence. This is not a tale of blood for blood's sake, but a nuanced exploration for truth, justice, and redemption.
For aficionados of both mystery and the Western frontier, WINSOME CREEK is a palatable feast, a literary summer picnic of good food and friends that linger long after the last page is turned. I wholeheartedly endorse this novel as one of the finest Westerns to grace my reading trail--a testament to Bobby Underwood's mastery of the genre. So, saddle up and ride into the sunset with Brett Hollister; the journey is as captivating as the Utah sky at dusk.
October 13, 2024
This was a particularly interesting and exciting read. I would put Bobby Underwood in the same category as three of the greatest writers of Westerns, that being Johnstone, L’Amour and Z. Grey. It was good to just read, enjoy and forget about all the other crap going on in our (mine anyway) world today.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews