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Donovan's Gun
Burt Hethridge had ruled the Triangle H and the people of Pitkin with an iron fist. When the old man died, the whole town exploded in a wild, blood-letting spree. The violence mounted till it seemed like nothing would be left of Pitkin but dead men and prairie dust. Jim Donovan was a lawyer, not a lawman—but he knew that in a town gone mad, the last sane man becomes the law! Donovan’s Gun, Luke Short’s hard-hitting novel of two desperate gangs—and the man who stood between them.
- GenresWesterns
174 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1968
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24 people want to read
About the author
Luke Short
128 books36 followersLuke Short (real name Frederick Dilley Glidden) was a popular Western writer.
Born in Kewanee, Illinois Glidden attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for two and a half years and then transferred to the University of Missouri at Columbia to study journalism.
Following graduation in 1930 he worked for a number of newspapers before becoming a trapper in Canada then later moved to New Mexico to be an archeologist's assistant.
After reading Western pulp magazines and trying to escape unemployment he started writing Western fiction. He sold his first short story and novel in 1935 under the pen name of Luke Short (which was also the name of a famous gunslinger in the Old West, though it's unclear if he was aware of that when he assumed the pen name.)
After publishing over a dozen novels in the 1930s, he started writing for films in the 40s. In 1948 alone four Luke Short novels appeared as movies. Some of his memorable film credits includes Ramrod (1947) and Blood on the Moon (1948). He continued to write novels, despite increasing trouble with his eyes, until his death in 1975. His ashes are buried in Aspen, Colorado, his home at the time of his death.
Born in Kewanee, Illinois Glidden attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for two and a half years and then transferred to the University of Missouri at Columbia to study journalism.
Following graduation in 1930 he worked for a number of newspapers before becoming a trapper in Canada then later moved to New Mexico to be an archeologist's assistant.
After reading Western pulp magazines and trying to escape unemployment he started writing Western fiction. He sold his first short story and novel in 1935 under the pen name of Luke Short (which was also the name of a famous gunslinger in the Old West, though it's unclear if he was aware of that when he assumed the pen name.)
After publishing over a dozen novels in the 1930s, he started writing for films in the 40s. In 1948 alone four Luke Short novels appeared as movies. Some of his memorable film credits includes Ramrod (1947) and Blood on the Moon (1948). He continued to write novels, despite increasing trouble with his eyes, until his death in 1975. His ashes are buried in Aspen, Colorado, his home at the time of his death.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 30, 2025
My first western and it was great. It was short and to the point. I really liked it and look forward to reading more. There’s a sense of simplicity to this book that I liked, streamlined yet unpredictable in a way that I am unfamiliar with those times. I really liked it.
September 18, 2020
I have never read any of the Luke Short westerns before, so I was somewhat surprised. As westerns go, this one was pretty good. I mean.....the good guy did get the girl.....as I knew he would. However, the "good guy" wasn't really that good. He had a unique way of interpreting the law. Of course.....he was a.......lawyer. Read it. If you like westerns, you'll like this one. If you can find it.
December 20, 2021
Good story
A week,drawn western with, excellent characterisation and settings. Realistic action scenes, strong plot and a touch of romance. Very enjoyable.
A week,drawn western with, excellent characterisation and settings. Realistic action scenes, strong plot and a touch of romance. Very enjoyable.
March 9, 2019
Taut western range war tale. Jim Donovan is a lawyer charged with settling the estate of the biggest rancher around and the man who was responsible for giving Jim his start. The heirs, siblings Cole and Sarah Hethridge, are spoiled kids who don’t deserve what they’ve been given. Their foreman has greedy plans of his own. Throw into this mix a gunslinger, a bunch of nesters, a deceitful woman, and a lady newspaper editor, and it’s a rollicking good story.
It gets knocked down a star for two reasons. The storyline between Jim and Kate is way too contrived at the beginning and has no reason for suddenly completely changing pace. Secondly, Jim is kind of a bumbling hero. He does a lot of things wrong that end up killing a lot of people. It just comes off a bit out of tune since he’s written as the smartest, best man in town. I can’t decide if the author was trying to write him as the instigator of some of the plot points or as if he was simply reacting to the plot. I’m guessing he meant for him to seem like he was reacting, but mistakenly wrote it as instigating. It’s still a great story, and it’s one I wish would’ve been made into a film back in the 50s, like some of Short’s other stories. It’s got just the right feel to have been a great western.
It gets knocked down a star for two reasons. The storyline between Jim and Kate is way too contrived at the beginning and has no reason for suddenly completely changing pace. Secondly, Jim is kind of a bumbling hero. He does a lot of things wrong that end up killing a lot of people. It just comes off a bit out of tune since he’s written as the smartest, best man in town. I can’t decide if the author was trying to write him as the instigator of some of the plot points or as if he was simply reacting to the plot. I’m guessing he meant for him to seem like he was reacting, but mistakenly wrote it as instigating. It’s still a great story, and it’s one I wish would’ve been made into a film back in the 50s, like some of Short’s other stories. It’s got just the right feel to have been a great western.
February 10, 2019
Another Great Western
But This story has a surprise ending. A lot of ups and downs in this yarn but very enjoyable. You still cannot put this until the very end
But This story has a surprise ending. A lot of ups and downs in this yarn but very enjoyable. You still cannot put this until the very end
October 8, 2018
A Luke Short Western About A Range War Between Ranchers and Nesters
LS has penned a western about a young man who worked for an old ranch owner that paid for him to go to Law School. He wash the executor of a large ranch and constantly keeping the son out of danger. The range war exploded with numerous deaths in both sides. The Sheriff designs and the lawyer becomes the Sheriff trying to stop a further escalation but to no avail. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
LS has penned a western about a young man who worked for an old ranch owner that paid for him to go to Law School. He wash the executor of a large ranch and constantly keeping the son out of danger. The range war exploded with numerous deaths in both sides. The Sheriff designs and the lawyer becomes the Sheriff trying to stop a further escalation but to no avail. This is an excellent read for the genre.....DEHS
November 17, 2011
Good western as attorney-cattleman-deputy tries to avert a range war while all the time a courtin' the pretty lady newspaper editor. Good action and, although it is a little cliched, I recommend it to fans of the western genre.
March 24, 2012
A good read. Well written. Enjoyable. :o)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews