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Danny Duggin #1
Death Rides a Chestnut Mare [Dramatized Adaptation]: Danny Duggin, Book 1
Where the living is hard and the killing is easy....
It's in the lawless Indian Territory that Daniel Strange meets his demise. Riding his chestnut mare to Texas to buy himself some cattle, the best gunsmith in St. Joseph, Missouri gets waylaid by a pack of murdering outlaws. His lifeless body is left dangling at the end of a rope - robbing his family of a loving husband and father.
... Death can't keep a good man down.
Now, a mysterious gunslinger is on the vengeance trail - packing Daniel Strange's trademark twin Colts, riding the same chestnut mare, and answering to the same name. With fiery green eyes and a temper to match, he won't stop until every last man who killed Daniel Strange shares the same fate. And as each bullet finds its mark, his victims will die never knowing the that Daniel Strange may be dead and buried, but his daughter is alive - and killing....
Performed by Terence Aselford, Dani Stoller, Nick DePinto, Eric Messner, Patrick Bussink, David Jourdan, Dylan Lynch, Chris Scheeren, Andy Brownstein, Gregory Gorton, Ken Jackson, Steven Carpenter, Thomas Keegan, Mort Shelby, Rose Elizabeth Supan, Scott McCormick, Richard Rohan, Tony Nam, Yasmin Tuazon, Michael John Casey, Laura Harris, James Konicek, Eva Wilhelm, Colleen Delany, Evan Casey, Joel David Santner, James Lewis, Todd Scofield, Thomas Penny, Scott Graham, Alyssa Wilmoth, Bradley Smith, Christopher Graybill, David Harris, Elizabeth Jernigan, Gary Telles, Michael Glenn, Matthew Schleigh, Nanette Savard, Nathanial Perry, Justin Wortz, John Glennon, Patrick Stratton, Matthew Webb.
It's in the lawless Indian Territory that Daniel Strange meets his demise. Riding his chestnut mare to Texas to buy himself some cattle, the best gunsmith in St. Joseph, Missouri gets waylaid by a pack of murdering outlaws. His lifeless body is left dangling at the end of a rope - robbing his family of a loving husband and father.
... Death can't keep a good man down.
Now, a mysterious gunslinger is on the vengeance trail - packing Daniel Strange's trademark twin Colts, riding the same chestnut mare, and answering to the same name. With fiery green eyes and a temper to match, he won't stop until every last man who killed Daniel Strange shares the same fate. And as each bullet finds its mark, his victims will die never knowing the that Daniel Strange may be dead and buried, but his daughter is alive - and killing....
Performed by Terence Aselford, Dani Stoller, Nick DePinto, Eric Messner, Patrick Bussink, David Jourdan, Dylan Lynch, Chris Scheeren, Andy Brownstein, Gregory Gorton, Ken Jackson, Steven Carpenter, Thomas Keegan, Mort Shelby, Rose Elizabeth Supan, Scott McCormick, Richard Rohan, Tony Nam, Yasmin Tuazon, Michael John Casey, Laura Harris, James Konicek, Eva Wilhelm, Colleen Delany, Evan Casey, Joel David Santner, James Lewis, Todd Scofield, Thomas Penny, Scott Graham, Alyssa Wilmoth, Bradley Smith, Christopher Graybill, David Harris, Elizabeth Jernigan, Gary Telles, Michael Glenn, Matthew Schleigh, Nanette Savard, Nathanial Perry, Justin Wortz, John Glennon, Patrick Stratton, Matthew Webb.
Audible Audio
First published May 1, 1999
33 people are currently reading
301 people want to read
About the author
Ralph Compton
247 books84 followersRalph Compton (April 11, 1934—September 16, 1998) was an American writer of western fiction.
A native of St. Clair County, Alabama, Compton began his writing career with a notable work, The Goodnight Trail, which was chosen as a finalist for the Western Writers of America "Medicine Pipe Bearer Award" bestowed upon the "Best Debut Novel". He was also the author of the Sundown Rider series and the Border Empire series. In the last decade of his life, he authored more than two dozen novels, some of which made it onto the USA Today bestseller list for fiction.
Ralph Compton died in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 64. Since his passing, Signet Books has continued the author's legacy, releasing new novels, written by authors such as Joseph A. West and David Robbins, under Compton's byline.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ralphc...
A native of St. Clair County, Alabama, Compton began his writing career with a notable work, The Goodnight Trail, which was chosen as a finalist for the Western Writers of America "Medicine Pipe Bearer Award" bestowed upon the "Best Debut Novel". He was also the author of the Sundown Rider series and the Border Empire series. In the last decade of his life, he authored more than two dozen novels, some of which made it onto the USA Today bestseller list for fiction.
Ralph Compton died in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 64. Since his passing, Signet Books has continued the author's legacy, releasing new novels, written by authors such as Joseph A. West and David Robbins, under Compton's byline.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ralphc...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
March 30, 2017
I simply can not keep going with this one. I ordered the book from my favorite online bookseller a couple of years ago, after having the author suggested to me. I suppose Compton's other titles (he has a ton of them!) might be more captivating, but this one gave me trouble.
The best gunsmith in Missouri decides to sell his shop, go to Texas, buy cattle, hire an outfit to drive them all back north, sell them off and be rich. But he gets killed almost immediately during his trip and when the news of his death reaches home, his daughter decides to hunt down the killers. She disguises herself by cutting her hair and binding her chest before dressing like a man and riding off on the chestnut mare.
So far, so good, right? The potential is certainly there. So what went wrong for me? Danielle herself for one thing. She never felt real, never earned my sympathy or my trust. Granted, I quit just a few pages into chapter two, but usually by that point I have connected with a main character. Danielle was just a name on the page, and a somewhat irritating, cold-blooded one at that.
I was struggling right from the start, but I kept going, trying to keep that old joke about the three-legged dog out of my head (the one where he walks into an Old West saloon and tells the bartender he is looking for the man who shot his paw) and I granted Danielle her apparent super-human ability to react quickly at the sound of her horse snorting a warning just before bullets hit the dirt, which she managed to do twice, and to kill or at least wound the shooters besides.
But you know what ruined the story for me? Danielle arrives in Texas and meets a young man who is out hunting rustlers on his ranch. He whines about the hard times in the five years since the Civil Wat has ended, and how they don't have enough cattle to drive north where the prices are better. No one knows what to do! But Danielle has the answer! She tells the boy to get five or six other ranchers to join together and drive their cows altogether. Hello, like no one would ever think of such a thing until some stranger from up North suggests it? And cows? Even a gunsmith's daughter from Missouri would have or should have said cattle.
Too many irritations too early in the story. That is a sign to shut down and get out of Dodge. So I did.
DNF
The best gunsmith in Missouri decides to sell his shop, go to Texas, buy cattle, hire an outfit to drive them all back north, sell them off and be rich. But he gets killed almost immediately during his trip and when the news of his death reaches home, his daughter decides to hunt down the killers. She disguises herself by cutting her hair and binding her chest before dressing like a man and riding off on the chestnut mare.
So far, so good, right? The potential is certainly there. So what went wrong for me? Danielle herself for one thing. She never felt real, never earned my sympathy or my trust. Granted, I quit just a few pages into chapter two, but usually by that point I have connected with a main character. Danielle was just a name on the page, and a somewhat irritating, cold-blooded one at that.
I was struggling right from the start, but I kept going, trying to keep that old joke about the three-legged dog out of my head (the one where he walks into an Old West saloon and tells the bartender he is looking for the man who shot his paw) and I granted Danielle her apparent super-human ability to react quickly at the sound of her horse snorting a warning just before bullets hit the dirt, which she managed to do twice, and to kill or at least wound the shooters besides.
But you know what ruined the story for me? Danielle arrives in Texas and meets a young man who is out hunting rustlers on his ranch. He whines about the hard times in the five years since the Civil Wat has ended, and how they don't have enough cattle to drive north where the prices are better. No one knows what to do! But Danielle has the answer! She tells the boy to get five or six other ranchers to join together and drive their cows altogether. Hello, like no one would ever think of such a thing until some stranger from up North suggests it? And cows? Even a gunsmith's daughter from Missouri would have or should have said cattle.
Too many irritations too early in the story. That is a sign to shut down and get out of Dodge. So I did.
DNF
March 31, 2020
It was the late author Bill Crider, with his 'Outrage at Blanco' novel that made me love revenge stories so much and in away revenge stories for me will always be a tribute to him.
Basically a re-read, plucked out of my library, have always liked Ralph Compton's writing, his Danny Duggin series probably is my favorite, he has a tough as nails teenage girl who disguises herself as a boy, and never misses a beat with 'Death Rides a Chesnut Mare'. What makes this work is that Compton doesn't mix up the narrative with her, it's a realistic, believable and best of all he puts the reader right their riding along with Daniel Strange on the vengeance trail.
It starts in St. Joseph, Missouri, most set in Indian Territory, Kansas, Texas and along the border with Mexico. It's after the Civil War, Texas cattle can be had for $3.00 ahead and that exactly what gunsmith Daniel Strange sets out to do. His wife doesn't want him to do it, even has bad feeling about and he's not to be dissuaded from doing it.
He sells his gunsmith shop, to come up with money to purchase a herd. To get to Texas he crosses Indian Territory, by himself, he ultimately runs into an Outlaw gang, he kills 2 of them and the other 10 end up hanging him. Deputy U.S. Marshall Buck Jordan finds his body, buries it and gets word to his family of his death. To know the rest, you gotta read, 'Death Rides a Chestnut Mare'.
Little did the late Ralph Compton know back in 1999, that he would write a perfect novel for readers, especially Western fans to escape into the pages to ride along with Daniel Strange on the vengeance trail, while self isolating themselves and free their minds of worrying about Covid 19 for a few hours.
Wish everyone the best in these trying times, stay healthy, take serious, catch up some TBR and sometimes the best reads are ones you already read.
Let me add that the series is in the process of being re-released, this one is out with a brand new cover, the publisher Penguin Group has brought back the Ralph Compton Novels and adding new titles to all of the series Compton started.
Basically a re-read, plucked out of my library, have always liked Ralph Compton's writing, his Danny Duggin series probably is my favorite, he has a tough as nails teenage girl who disguises herself as a boy, and never misses a beat with 'Death Rides a Chesnut Mare'. What makes this work is that Compton doesn't mix up the narrative with her, it's a realistic, believable and best of all he puts the reader right their riding along with Daniel Strange on the vengeance trail.
It starts in St. Joseph, Missouri, most set in Indian Territory, Kansas, Texas and along the border with Mexico. It's after the Civil War, Texas cattle can be had for $3.00 ahead and that exactly what gunsmith Daniel Strange sets out to do. His wife doesn't want him to do it, even has bad feeling about and he's not to be dissuaded from doing it.
He sells his gunsmith shop, to come up with money to purchase a herd. To get to Texas he crosses Indian Territory, by himself, he ultimately runs into an Outlaw gang, he kills 2 of them and the other 10 end up hanging him. Deputy U.S. Marshall Buck Jordan finds his body, buries it and gets word to his family of his death. To know the rest, you gotta read, 'Death Rides a Chestnut Mare'.
Little did the late Ralph Compton know back in 1999, that he would write a perfect novel for readers, especially Western fans to escape into the pages to ride along with Daniel Strange on the vengeance trail, while self isolating themselves and free their minds of worrying about Covid 19 for a few hours.
Wish everyone the best in these trying times, stay healthy, take serious, catch up some TBR and sometimes the best reads are ones you already read.
Let me add that the series is in the process of being re-released, this one is out with a brand new cover, the publisher Penguin Group has brought back the Ralph Compton Novels and adding new titles to all of the series Compton started.
January 24, 2011
I had great hopes for this one. I mean, what's cooler than a teenaged girl taking on the identity of her murdered father to seek vengeance? Not much, that's what. Unfortunately, this was a choppy, one-note book.
You'd almost think that Danielle (the vengeance-seeking main character) had the powers of teleportation with the way that she would begin a journey only to have it completed in the next sentence. It didn't make for great continuity, and was often distracting. Also, the plot was a giant, repeating cliche. Yes, yes, we know that Danielle is both honorable and the fastest gun in the West. So whenever some "varmint" (and yes, the word appears several times) crosses her path, she waits for him to draw first. Then she displays supernatural quickdraw powers, leaving him dead in the road for the buzzards. Over and over and over.
Oh, and if I had to read the insult "yellow-bellied coyote who walks on two legs like a man" one more time, I would display supernatural quickdraw powers and leave this book in the book drop so fast it would make your head spin. So...if you're fascinated by the old West (it did seem well researched), don't mind choppy writing, and revel in cowboy cliches, then hop to it, amigo. This is your book.
You'd almost think that Danielle (the vengeance-seeking main character) had the powers of teleportation with the way that she would begin a journey only to have it completed in the next sentence. It didn't make for great continuity, and was often distracting. Also, the plot was a giant, repeating cliche. Yes, yes, we know that Danielle is both honorable and the fastest gun in the West. So whenever some "varmint" (and yes, the word appears several times) crosses her path, she waits for him to draw first. Then she displays supernatural quickdraw powers, leaving him dead in the road for the buzzards. Over and over and over.
Oh, and if I had to read the insult "yellow-bellied coyote who walks on two legs like a man" one more time, I would display supernatural quickdraw powers and leave this book in the book drop so fast it would make your head spin. So...if you're fascinated by the old West (it did seem well researched), don't mind choppy writing, and revel in cowboy cliches, then hop to it, amigo. This is your book.
September 21, 2011
This book should have been awesome. The cover: awesome. The tiltle: awesome. The story line: come on, a girl revenging her fathers muders by dressing as a man, carrying her fathers trademark Colts and hunting down and killing the men who mudered her father: awesome. I don't know what happen but I was completely bored the entire time and not even sure why I finished the book in the first place. Then to make it worst, I get to the end of the book and it becomes a series. I read the whole book and didn't even get to see how it ended.
June 28, 2012
This was an easy, light read, which was refreshing. The main character is a young woman who passes herself off as a man, set on avenging her father's killers. While we get deeply into the character, I liked her and admired her adeptness and intelligence--which not only got her revenge but saved her life many times, some of which became redundant as gun shots from ambush. The author name-dropped the names of the famous, having our protag brush up against them, and he fed us interesting tidbits, such as the drumming on the fiddle. Read the book to see what I'm talking about.
As the book neared its end, I began to worry. So much of the story needed resolving; how would the author manage it? By the last page, I was stewing. You might say the book ended with "to be continued." The next book has some title like "beneath the hanging noose," or something to that effect. I hope it doesn't leaving the reader feeling dumped.
As the book neared its end, I began to worry. So much of the story needed resolving; how would the author manage it? By the last page, I was stewing. You might say the book ended with "to be continued." The next book has some title like "beneath the hanging noose," or something to that effect. I hope it doesn't leaving the reader feeling dumped.
October 11, 2017
Pretty choppy and has some serious pacing issues (like shooting two people, the first two people the main character ever kills, who bushwhack the main character gets a paragraph, but the book is still 360 pages long). Doesn't have a real ending. I don't regret reading it, because it was fun, but I wouldn't call it a good fun read.
March 31, 2010
Thought the concept was a good but thought that it seemed to drag at parts. Also don't know how realistic/believable it is.
September 28, 2024
"If you like Louis L'amour, you'll love Ralph Compton" the cover blurb reads (on a lot of his books, not just this one). Having read several of his novels and tons of Louis L'amour books, I don't think the writing is very similar. That's not to say one is better than the other, they're just...different. That's a good thing. So even if you don't like Louis L'amour, you might like Ralph Compton.
This is the first of four books about Danielle Strange, daughter of Daniel Strange, a man who sets out to buy some cattle to sell after a drive to market. He gets himself robbed and killed by some bad guys. His 17 year old daughter decides to avenge him and sets off after the gang of outlaws. But wait! It's a man's world so Danielle decides to cut her hair and wear men's clothing so people will take her seriously. That's a pretty neat (if not completely original) idea. However "naturally deep" her voice is though, if her new identity looks like the cover illustration, I doubt many folks would be fooled.
But this is fiction, so just go with the notion that people in the old west weren't terribly observant and enjoy the story. It's fortunate that Daniel Strange was a talented gunsmith and taught young Danielle how to work on and shoot guns, because hunting down your Pa's killers is tough work.
Danielle is able to outdraw and outshoot everybody she meets, even with one of the pistols her dad gave her reverse holstered for a crossdraw. (I don't know why one wouldn't just buy a holster for each leg and have both pistols drawn normally.)
It may seem I'm being critical or didn't like this book, far from it. I enjoyed it, enough that I already have the other three in the series and am about to start the second.
So, in conclusion, if you like westerns, or books that move along rapidly, just stories that are, well, fun to read, this is one of those. Not historical fiction by any means (though a couple of real people are mentioned, but don't really have a connection with the story), just a fun, quick read. Louis L'amour paperbacks fit nicely in a back pocket. Death rides a chestnut mare could too I suppose, but it's a bit thicker.
This is the first of four books about Danielle Strange, daughter of Daniel Strange, a man who sets out to buy some cattle to sell after a drive to market. He gets himself robbed and killed by some bad guys. His 17 year old daughter decides to avenge him and sets off after the gang of outlaws. But wait! It's a man's world so Danielle decides to cut her hair and wear men's clothing so people will take her seriously. That's a pretty neat (if not completely original) idea. However "naturally deep" her voice is though, if her new identity looks like the cover illustration, I doubt many folks would be fooled.
But this is fiction, so just go with the notion that people in the old west weren't terribly observant and enjoy the story. It's fortunate that Daniel Strange was a talented gunsmith and taught young Danielle how to work on and shoot guns, because hunting down your Pa's killers is tough work.
Danielle is able to outdraw and outshoot everybody she meets, even with one of the pistols her dad gave her reverse holstered for a crossdraw. (I don't know why one wouldn't just buy a holster for each leg and have both pistols drawn normally.)
It may seem I'm being critical or didn't like this book, far from it. I enjoyed it, enough that I already have the other three in the series and am about to start the second.
So, in conclusion, if you like westerns, or books that move along rapidly, just stories that are, well, fun to read, this is one of those. Not historical fiction by any means (though a couple of real people are mentioned, but don't really have a connection with the story), just a fun, quick read. Louis L'amour paperbacks fit nicely in a back pocket. Death rides a chestnut mare could too I suppose, but it's a bit thicker.
March 28, 2024
This series is one of the best Rpb Compton ever wrote
Read
June 6, 2025This was a terrible book, I did not make it 4 chapters
Read
June 22, 2014Made me an instant fam
I was given an extremely beat up copy for this book a few years ago and put off reading it since I'm not really a Western fiction fan. A few months later I got stuck without another book to read, so I decided to give it a try. I was hooked on the story almost immediately and couldn't fathom reading anything else until I finished the book. I then had to track down copies of the sequels to find out the rest of the story!
I was given an extremely beat up copy for this book a few years ago and put off reading it since I'm not really a Western fiction fan. A few months later I got stuck without another book to read, so I decided to give it a try. I was hooked on the story almost immediately and couldn't fathom reading anything else until I finished the book. I then had to track down copies of the sequels to find out the rest of the story!
August 2, 2012
I read this as a young girl and it resonated quite well with me at the time. I re-read it every now and again but its never been the same for me as the 1st read. Yea its got some cliches but it still speaks to me. Read it or not i don't care. But at one point in my life, i loved this book :)
April 30, 2008
I don't normally read westerns, but my dad passed this on to me. It was a fun little book to read. I think the story could have progressed faster. There is a sequel that, I think, finalizes the story. I had to suspend reality a little more than normal.
July 9, 2008
This is one of the best books I have ever read! The heroine is a young woman who takes the law into her own hands to even the score. I read it in one day because I could not put it down.
February 21, 2011
A fast read that sucks you in and won't let go.
May 31, 2012
The cover compared the writer to Louis L'amour..... Mr. Compton is nowhere near the league of Mr. L'amour.
L'amour is a master story teller, Compton rushes from one series of events to the next.
L'amour is a master story teller, Compton rushes from one series of events to the next.
July 23, 2012
Kind of interesting but maybe I just could not get in the mood to read that day. It was well written and had some good places that I enjoyed reading.
January 22, 2022
A very good book. I liked the plot and it was hard to put down.
February 21, 2013
I am not a western book fan yet this one was fabulous. A great book, well written and just about anyone can enjoy it.
August 28, 2013
Oh so disappointed. Great premise, good writer. Danny ends up just a device to get through the book, instead of a real character. This writer usually does better than this.
October 6, 2014
Not bad for a Western. There were a few too man characters to keep track of, but the action scenes were tastefully described.
January 20, 2016
It was an easy read. An unexpected twist on vengeance from a teenage girl. You hardly ever read this back in the western days. A refreshing concept.
July 26, 2016
Right on part with Louis L'Amour. Great story and footnotes about various historical references.
November 15, 2017
Pretty much a western series I'd read over and over again... And I'm not a huge fan of westerns.
January 22, 2021
This is one of the first western books I’ve heard in quite some time. I already have the second book so I can’t wait to start it! But like most here I did have a few issues with some of the story
1. Cattle Drive - Like most people here, they can agree that it is quite ridiculous that none of these ranchers/farmers had thought of doing a cattle drive until Daniel or “Danielle” came into the picture. I’m thinking maybe the others have thought about it but decided it wasn’t worth it and never got the push / motivated?
2. The Levans vs. Markwardts ( Sheep vs. Cow land war) This section was quite entertaining and was getting good but cut short when the Guy that Daniel “Danielle” wanted shows up and then not even two minutes later she shoots him and she is told to move on. You never get to hear what happens ever again unless it gets mentioned in the other books of the series (which I doubt). I think if the guy didn’t get paranoid about Daniel than we could of gotten more out of the story itself. I was kinda bummed out.
3. Time travel: I noticed that there is some people issuing this as well. I find it how odd she is traveling to these places so quickly in the beginning. But later on I feel that he gets a little bit more realistic on the traveling
1. Cattle Drive - Like most people here, they can agree that it is quite ridiculous that none of these ranchers/farmers had thought of doing a cattle drive until Daniel or “Danielle” came into the picture. I’m thinking maybe the others have thought about it but decided it wasn’t worth it and never got the push / motivated?
2. The Levans vs. Markwardts ( Sheep vs. Cow land war) This section was quite entertaining and was getting good but cut short when the Guy that Daniel “Danielle” wanted shows up and then not even two minutes later she shoots him and she is told to move on. You never get to hear what happens ever again unless it gets mentioned in the other books of the series (which I doubt). I think if the guy didn’t get paranoid about Daniel than we could of gotten more out of the story itself. I was kinda bummed out.
3. Time travel: I noticed that there is some people issuing this as well. I find it how odd she is traveling to these places so quickly in the beginning. But later on I feel that he gets a little bit more realistic on the traveling
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 24, 2021
The story starts out promising enough, but then it just becomes, more or less, a series of episodes with her quest to find those who killed her father as the framework. Great, if we're talking about a multi-season TV show, but not so much what I expect from a book. And after a while, the gunfights lose their distinctiveness. The suspense just sort of goes away. It's not bad, but from the premise and the sample, I'd hoped for much better. I bought the trilogy as a set, so maybe this will be better when seen as a whole, but as a self-contained story, or even as the first part of a larger tale, this is lackluster. And with such a badass protagonist, that's a real shame.
January 6, 2022
I have never heard of this character, but tried it out because I enjoy Graphic Audio. Not a huge fan of Ralph Compton and when I learned this was a woman going undercover as a man, I wasn't sure what to expect. It's well done though and because it's a female, it's clean and not so vulgar. I'll keep listening.
July 30, 2024
I loved this dramatized version! I read the book years ago and thought it would be fun to listen to the audio version. There's an entire cast and great sound effects. Danielle's father is robbed and killed in Indian Territory, and she sets out to avenge his death. She cuts her hair, binds her chest, and dresses like a boy, calling herself Daniel. Her father taught her and her brothers how to shoot, and she uses that knowledge extensively when she comes upon some mighty nasty characters along the trail. Some are guilty of her father's murder; some are not. Far fetched? Maybe. But I enjoyed watching a girl take down outlaws and murders like she was Billy the Kid on a mission.
December 10, 2024
I really liked the book honestly, I enjoyed the premise and the descriptions within the book were very enjoyable to read. My only issue with the book was the pacing, as I've seen others have problems with as well. Danielle would start a journey, then be finished with it by the next paragraph. But, overall the book was wonderful, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews