The Blue Jay

by Max Brand

If Randal could make his ranch pay, he stood to inherit his grandfather's fortune. But a cattle-rustling band of ranch-hands were robbing him blind, and he had to do something to stop them. He sent for Kitchin, the toughest man he knew - the man he had once sent to Fulsom Penitentiary. Even though Kitchin would as soon break an hombre in two with his bare hands as shoot him, even with the offer of a fabulous reward, Kitchin wasn't sure he'd live long enough to collect. He didn't know he had an ace up his sleeve - Pepillo, the Mexican kid they called "Blue Jay."

Genres: Westerns

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Frederick Schiller Faust (see also Frederick Faust), aka Frank Austin, George Owen Baxter, Walter C. Butler, George Challis, Evin Evan, Evan Evans, Frederick Faust, John Frederick, Frederick Frost, David Manning, Peter Henry Morland, Lee Bolt, Peter Dawson, Martin Dexter, Dennis Lawson, M.B., Hugh Owen, Nicholas Silver

Max Brand, one of America's most popular and prolific novelists and author of such enduring works as Destry Rides Again and the Doctor Kildare stories, died on the Italian front in 1944.

Reviews

[Bobbi Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book when I was growing up! It was a lot of fun; the story made me laugh and root for the good guys. The twist at the end just added to the good experience.

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. It started out really good and I thought there was a pretty good lag in the middle. There's a big twist at the end that surprised me, but I didn't think it was quite set up as well as it could have been. I won't give the twist away, though

[Mike Grady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic western story (with a twist) centered on a former prisoner trying to go straight by managing an unruly ranch.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this little book, written so long ago. I found the characters endearing and the plot entertaining, with a delightful twist at the end.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Instead of reading a historical novel, read a novel actually written in the past -- a better view of race relations and relationships between men and women than you'll get filtered through modern judgmental eyes. Also: a fun, thought-provoking, two-fisted western.