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The Floating Outfit #50
Waco's Debt
Rancher Sam Catlin and his two sons had been shot in the back, and no once could figure out who did it or why. Sam Catlin had loads of friends. And all of them wanted to see his death avenged.
Particularly one young man. The man who owed a debt to the kindly old rancher who had raised him and had been like a father to him.
But Sam's dead now, and all the young man can do is swear to hunt down his killer.
The young man's name is Waco.
And it's time to pay his debt...
Particularly one young man. The man who owed a debt to the kindly old rancher who had raised him and had been like a father to him.
But Sam's dead now, and all the young man can do is swear to hunt down his killer.
The young man's name is Waco.
And it's time to pay his debt...
- GenresWesterns
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1968
39 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
J.T. Edson
183 books79 followersJohn Thomas Edson is an English writer of Westerns.
He was born in 1928.He was obsessed with Westerns from an early age and often "rewrote" cowboy movies that he had seen at the cinema. One thing that always intrigued him was the minutiae—how did the baddie's gun jam? What were the mechanics of cheating at cards? How did Westerners really dress and speak?
His writing was helped to develop by a schoolteacher who encouraged him. Now lives in Leicester, Leicestershire.[citation needed]
During his 20s and 30s, Edson served in His Majesty's Armed Forces for 12 years as a Dog Trainer. Cooped up in barracks for long periods, he devoured books by the great escapist writers (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert McCraig, Nelson C. Nye and Edgar Wallace). He also sat through hours of movies starring John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn and his all-time favourite, Audie Murphy.
His first appearance in print was "Hints On Self-Preservation when attacked by a War Dog" in the Osnabrück camp magazine Shufti in 1947. Acquiring a typewriter in the early 1950s and putting it to good use while posted to Hong Kong, by the time of his discharge he had written 10 Westerns, an early version of Bunduki and the first of the short detective-type stories starring Waco.
Upon leaving HM forces, JT won second prize (with Trail Boss) in the Western division of a Literary Competition run by Brown & Watson Ltd, which led to the publication of 46 novels with them, becoming a major earner for the company.
He had the need for supplementary income from time-to-time and also served as a postman, and the proprietor of a fish 'n' chip shop. Furthermore, he branched out as a writer and wrote five series of short stories (Dan Hollick, Dog Handler) for the Victor boys papers, and wrote the "box captions" for comic strips, which instilled discipline and the ability to convey maximum information with minimum words.
His writing career forged ahead when he joined Corgi Books in the late '60s, which gave JT exposure through a major publishing house, as well as the opportunity to branch out from the core Westerns into the Rockabye County, the science-fiction hero Bunduki and other series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Edson
He was born in 1928.He was obsessed with Westerns from an early age and often "rewrote" cowboy movies that he had seen at the cinema. One thing that always intrigued him was the minutiae—how did the baddie's gun jam? What were the mechanics of cheating at cards? How did Westerners really dress and speak?
His writing was helped to develop by a schoolteacher who encouraged him. Now lives in Leicester, Leicestershire.[citation needed]
During his 20s and 30s, Edson served in His Majesty's Armed Forces for 12 years as a Dog Trainer. Cooped up in barracks for long periods, he devoured books by the great escapist writers (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert McCraig, Nelson C. Nye and Edgar Wallace). He also sat through hours of movies starring John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Errol Flynn and his all-time favourite, Audie Murphy.
His first appearance in print was "Hints On Self-Preservation when attacked by a War Dog" in the Osnabrück camp magazine Shufti in 1947. Acquiring a typewriter in the early 1950s and putting it to good use while posted to Hong Kong, by the time of his discharge he had written 10 Westerns, an early version of Bunduki and the first of the short detective-type stories starring Waco.
Upon leaving HM forces, JT won second prize (with Trail Boss) in the Western division of a Literary Competition run by Brown & Watson Ltd, which led to the publication of 46 novels with them, becoming a major earner for the company.
He had the need for supplementary income from time-to-time and also served as a postman, and the proprietor of a fish 'n' chip shop. Furthermore, he branched out as a writer and wrote five series of short stories (Dan Hollick, Dog Handler) for the Victor boys papers, and wrote the "box captions" for comic strips, which instilled discipline and the ability to convey maximum information with minimum words.
His writing career forged ahead when he joined Corgi Books in the late '60s, which gave JT exposure through a major publishing house, as well as the opportunity to branch out from the core Westerns into the Rockabye County, the science-fiction hero Bunduki and other series.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Edson
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 20, 2025
These Western novel by JT Edson are the best. Full of adventure, action, plot and suspense. the best part of alwys the prominent part played by sexy tough, interesting women!
October 5, 2012
Another great western. Read book in Sept. Read several in Sept. but not sure of dates.
March 27, 2014
This is my favorite book of the floating outfit series. When the story opens the core of the floating outfit (Dusty, Mark and the Ysabel Kid) are still in New Mexico recovering from the events told in The Rio Hondo Kid. In the meantime, Waco learns that the rancher who took him in and raised him after his family was killed by Waco Indians has been murdered. Luckily for Waco, Red Blaze and Doc Leroy are on had to help him seek justice. Red gets a chance to display the cool level head that only his cousin Dusty has previously credited him with as he takes charge of preventing a range war. During the course of the story Waco takes a side trip to Chicago where he runs into old friends Ed Ballinger (Law of the Gun) and Brit (Rio Guns). This is also the first story in which Doc Leroy identifies himself as 'formerly of the Wedge' and is now considered an official member of Ole Devil Hardin's floating outfit. The plot itself is a common western theme; the villain tries to turn the cowboys and the farmers against each other but is foiled by the heroes. There is a sideline romance between a rancher's daughter and a wealthy eastern dude. Waco gets a chance to show off his powers of deductive reasoning in the manner of a western Sherlock Holmes. At this point in the series Waco has finally received his Gaylin gun-belt with a brace of peacemakers engraved from the rest of the floating outfit.
September 9, 2013
This book is part of the “Floating Outfit” series, about a particularly illustrious group of cowboys who work for the OD Connected ranch in Texas. As the title suggests, the star of this volume is Waco, one of the youngest members of the crew. Waco’s foster father and brothers are murdered, and he returns to the ranch where he grew up to track down the killers and protect his foster sister Mary Anne, who has returned from education in the East.
This is a Western of the old school, morally unambiguous. The good people are good, the bad people are despicable, and soft city folk need some real rough living if they want to amount to anything. There’s a sidebar romance with one of Mary Anne’s friends being wooed by a greenhorn that Waco takes under his wing.
It’s a quick read, with plenty of action and a side trip to Chicago, where Waco runs into some old friends. Waco was eventually spun off into his own series of books, and became a U.S, Marshal. If you like your Westerns fast-paced and reasonably clean, this is a fun book. Trigger warning, though, for some off-screen domestic abuse by the villain.
This is a Western of the old school, morally unambiguous. The good people are good, the bad people are despicable, and soft city folk need some real rough living if they want to amount to anything. There’s a sidebar romance with one of Mary Anne’s friends being wooed by a greenhorn that Waco takes under his wing.
It’s a quick read, with plenty of action and a side trip to Chicago, where Waco runs into some old friends. Waco was eventually spun off into his own series of books, and became a U.S, Marshal. If you like your Westerns fast-paced and reasonably clean, this is a fun book. Trigger warning, though, for some off-screen domestic abuse by the villain.
November 28, 2020
This was a reread. Couldn't put it down, had to finish it. Still as good as it gets.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews