The Border Empire

Border Empire #1

by Ralph Compton

A man sets out to Mexico to avenge his father's death in this western from USA Today bestselling author Ralph Compton.

Nathan Stone, the man they called The Gunfighter, lay dead in the dust of an El Paso street. The Sandlin gang kicked up that dust as they rode back laughing into Mexico, where the U.S. law couldn't touch them and local law didn't want to.

Behind him Nathan Stone left his horse, his Winchester, his custom-made Colts, and his name. The son who had grown up without him took them all. His name is Wes Stone. He used to be a lawman, but when he picks up his father's guns, he takes down the star from his chest.

Wes knows the impossible odds of going against the outlaw army and its empire of evil. But he knows something else too. He's his father's son, and he's going to teach his father's killers exactly what that means...

More Than Six Million Ralph Compton Books In Print! 

Genres: Westerns, Fiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Ralph 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...

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Border Empire is an interesting, though somewhat slow, read. Ralph Compton is not (as The Huntsville Times endorses), in my opinion, "a writer in the tradition of Louis L'Amour". Perhaps, because of the endorsement, I expected too much.....

[Farhana Faruq · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first Ralph Compton book and I absolutely loved it!! Will definitely be reading more by him. Awesome ending.

Wes is headed to Mexico to avenge his fathers death. One man against a gang infiltrated throughout Mexico including the government.

This is book 1 in the Border Empire series.

[Rich · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with Glen, "Ralph Compton is not (as The Huntsville Times endorses), in my opinion, "a writer in the tradition of Louis L'Amour". Perhaps, because of the endorsement, I expected too much.....". That is, unless their tradition is 'writing Westerns'. Because that was really the only similarity I could really come up with.

I thought that the story as a whole and many specific 'scenes' were pretty dang unlikely and quite a few were just unbelievable. I considered stopping a lot of times while reading but wanted to give Mr. Compton a fair chance to redeem his story... he didn't. All the way to the ending which I thought was rushed through.

There are too many really good westerns out there to try Mr. Compton more that a couple of times again and then only short attempts will be in order. He better hook me early.

This experience also makes me question the validity of a Goodreads review of a Western this one showed 3.99 on 77 when I picked up the book.

[Joseph B · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I fully admit westerns are not my cup of tea; I did blaze through The Border Empire and thought it a decent experience. It's a typical revenge story. Wes Stone has vowed vengeance against a sprawling gang for murdering his father. Along the way he meets an unlikely ally, a half Indian outlaw. Together they wreak havoc on the Sandlin gang. It unfolds about how you'd expect and some sequences require a strong suspension of disbelief. They had a female character I found solid in the beginning, but they are quickly "fridged." Compton's writing is serviceable. I didn't find it great, but it isn't bad either. Overall it was a 3 out of 5 experience for me.

[Tyler E Hughes · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was a rough read. Every young woman in this book was raped. Gratuitous sexual violence. Even the gunfights in this book were useless. No tension in the plot.

Violence for the sake of violence. Inch deep characters. Every outlaw was written in the same fashion. They introduced characters that died in the next page. The ‘big bad villain’ was impotent. I would have expected the leader of a criminal empire to be more charismatic (and good at being bad). The twist of their character made me audibly groan. A border empire for all of Mexico? It fell apart when like 20 henchmen died.

I thought the writing was really poor. Won’t be back.

[Nolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good story, although towards the end got a little slow and boring.

Laughed at the part where two women the main characters care for can wear the same size clothes and boots. Amazing they are the same size.

[Derrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story started off the same as most westerns, but then it took a small change. It was an interesting journey and I'll be curious how the trilogy plays out.

[Barbara Maddox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very satisfying Western revenge novel with several unexpected twists. Definitely a book that wants to be read in one sitting.

[Sue · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story was good but I had to GAG on the bad, piss poor Spanish on every single page. By the time I reached the end, I was disgusted. Down to ONE star because of all the bad Spanish.

Flavor? No, this is disrespect for foreign culture and I say shame on Signet Historical Novels for putting this out there. And then, on page 40 they even discuss how perfect their Spanish is. Bah, humbug. The girl couldn't speak English or Spanish.

Page 313: "Buenos dias, señor," said Tamara in perfect Spanish.

Perfect? Don't brag about it. It's not perfect: supposed to be "Buenos días, señor", said . . .

This insults the reader's intelligence. I won't tolerate it quietly. They should APOLOGIZE for the poor Spanish, not brag about it; makes someone look stupid.

[Little Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not normally a western fan but a few writers seem to jump out and grab me. Ralph Compton writes a quick paced and very historically accurate book. Nice read with great characters. Very recommended

[Harold · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Western

[Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in 2015. I have just read it again 10 years later. It is still one of the best westerns that I have read.

[Jerry]

Great western mystery

Surprise ending. Reminds me of something my daddy
Said. Nothing sweeter than good woman nor worse than a mean woman.

[D. Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

He's not L'Amour or Grey but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This is my first one and I'll try others.