Murphy's Ambush

Murphy #6

by Gary Paulsen, Brian Burks

When a rancher rides into town half dead, Sheriff Al Murphy finds the man's wife and daughters murdered on his ranch and sets out after the murderers--but soon discovers that he has now become the prey

112 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Gary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

Reviews

[Tim Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murphy’s Ambush, the sixth in Gary Paulsen’s excellent western series, sees Murphy settled in as sheriff in Turrett, New Mexico with a continuing cast of characters including Christine, his sweetheart, Skeet, a crusty old coot in the vein of Gabby Hayes, and Mose, an enormous, kindly black man.
This book sees Murphy single-handedly chasing a band of marauding Indians, fending off a lynching, saving a hostage and arresting two desperadoes. Naturally, Murphy endures grievous injuries in the course of the book but survives, making him one of the most frequently wounded heroes in literary history.
Looking forward to reading the final book in the series.
Highly recommended.

[Lola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Women don't read westerns, right? Well, I just read one and it wasn't too bad; there was always something happening. Only 175 pages of large print.
A local farmer rides into town with an arrow in him. Fighting for his life, someone went through the window and killed the farmer. When Sheriff Al Murphy rides out to the farmer's ranch, he finds the farmer's wife and children dead. Now the sheriff has to track down the killer(s) to find out who they are and why they killed the farming family, and then bring them to justice.

[Sheri Maxey-Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Murphy's Ambush is an excellent, fast-paced western. As an added bonus, it introduced the word malpais into my vocabulary.

[SFrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing on with the Murphy Series:
Gary Paulsen and Brian Burkes capture the West and how things
were during our country's history during that time period.
It was captivating.