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Halfmoon Ranch
Cowboys herding cattle, protecting their feeding rights by the gun, cross-border smuggling in Mexico, a local newspaper taking on a gunfighter - there's no shortage of action in this western trio by Lauran Paine.
7 pages, Audio CD
First published June 1, 2014
73 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
About the author
Lauran Paine
315 books25 followersaka John Armour, Reg Batchelor, Kenneth Bedford, Frank Bosworth, Mark Carrel, Claude Cassady, Richard Clarke, Richard Dana, J F Drexler, Troy Howard, Jared Ingersol, John Kilgore, Hunter Liggett, J K Lucas, John Morgan (many more).
Lauran Bosworth Paine (born February 25, 1916 in Duluth, Minnesota – 2003 in California) was an American writer of Western fiction. Paine wrote over 900 books, including hundreds of Westerns as well as romance, science fiction, and mystery novels. He also wrote a number of non-fiction books on the Old West, military history, witchcraft, and other subjects.
His apprenticeship as a Western writer came about through the years he spent in the livestock trade, rodeos, and even motion pictures where he served as an extra because of his expert horsemanship.
Lauran Bosworth Paine (born February 25, 1916 in Duluth, Minnesota – 2003 in California) was an American writer of Western fiction. Paine wrote over 900 books, including hundreds of Westerns as well as romance, science fiction, and mystery novels. He also wrote a number of non-fiction books on the Old West, military history, witchcraft, and other subjects.
His apprenticeship as a Western writer came about through the years he spent in the livestock trade, rodeos, and even motion pictures where he served as an extra because of his expert horsemanship.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 13, 2025
In "Halfmoon Ranch" a gunslinger named Mike Ayers has inherited the eponymous spread and is moving in to manage the 600 head of cattle there. The local sheriff, a middle-aged man named Lew Burton, is now trying to calm the worried folks in town like the local news man and bartender, and is also keeping a wary eye on Cyrus Eagleton, a ranch owner with a spread next to the Halfmoon who likely won't like having a new neighbor sharing the open range there.
This paperback also includes two Paine short stories:
In "Ocean of Grass" (1956) we follow a cowboy named Slim Liskey as he notices some of his outfit's grass has been cropped short by cattle that aren't supposed to be there. He and his hard-nosed brother disagree on how to handle the problem.
"The Dark Avenger" (1955) is about a lawman named Jim Travis who is looking into a potential gold-smuggling ring operating out of the Southwest, transporting goods across a ranch called the War Bonnet, which doesn't give him permission to investigate.
Verdict: "Halfmoon Ranch" is a fun, easy, and short weekend western with some clear good guys, clear bad guys, some we're not sure about, and a smart finish. The two short stories fill the page count with good reads.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
This paperback also includes two Paine short stories:
In "Ocean of Grass" (1956) we follow a cowboy named Slim Liskey as he notices some of his outfit's grass has been cropped short by cattle that aren't supposed to be there. He and his hard-nosed brother disagree on how to handle the problem.
"The Dark Avenger" (1955) is about a lawman named Jim Travis who is looking into a potential gold-smuggling ring operating out of the Southwest, transporting goods across a ranch called the War Bonnet, which doesn't give him permission to investigate.
Verdict: "Halfmoon Ranch" is a fun, easy, and short weekend western with some clear good guys, clear bad guys, some we're not sure about, and a smart finish. The two short stories fill the page count with good reads.
Jeff's Rating: 3 / 5 (Good)
movie rating if made into a movie: PG
May 7, 2023
Yep
Another good one to read you have to figure the ending as it my dad leaves well read an find out
Another good one to read you have to figure the ending as it my dad leaves well read an find out
November 20, 2023
It's hard to believe the (so-called) prose in this volume was written by the same person who penned Open Range. Can only hope it was extremely early work.
April 1, 2019
An LP. Western Adventure/Sheriff/Known Gunman/Trouble
LP. has. penned a western adventure about a small town Sheriff who has everything under control. That is. That is before a known gunman inherits a ranch and to make matters worse he shows up. The Sheriff tries to keep the peace and the gunman tried to avoid had men, but to no avail. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
LP. has. penned a western adventure about a small town Sheriff who has everything under control. That is. That is before a known gunman inherits a ranch and to make matters worse he shows up. The Sheriff tries to keep the peace and the gunman tried to avoid had men, but to no avail. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
June 22, 2023
This book was divided into three stories, I enjoyed the last, longest one the best.
This book was written in the 1950's and one of his descriptions really stayed with me, he mentioned 'a purple enamel sky', can you imagine the really vivid colours?
This book was written in the 1950's and one of his descriptions really stayed with me, he mentioned 'a purple enamel sky', can you imagine the really vivid colours?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews