This biography of the creator of Conan the Barbarian is “deep dive work,” in which “this ‘mysterious’ Texas scribe gets his most complete story arc told” (Houston Press). Robert E Howard’s most famous creation, Conan the Barbarian, is an icon of popular culture. In hundreds of tales detailing the exploits of Conan, King Kull, and others, Howard helped to invent the sword and sorcery genre. Todd B. Vick delves into newly available archives and probes Howard’s relationships, particularly with schoolteacher Novalyne Price, to bring a fresh, objective perspective to Howard's life. Like his many characters, Howard was an enigma and an outsider. He spent his formative years visiting the four corners of Texas, experiences that left a mark on his stories. He was intensely devoted to his mother, whom he nursed in her final days, and whose impending death contributed to his suicide in 1936 when he was just thirty years old. Renegades & Rogues is an unequivocal journalistic account that situates Howard within the broader context of pulp literature. More than a realistic fantasist, he wrote westerns and horror stories as well, and engaged in avid correspondence with H. P. Lovecraft and other pulp writers of his day. Vick investigates Howard’s twelve-year writing career, analyzes the influences that underlay his celebrated characters, and assesses the afterlife of Conan, the figure in whom Howard’s fervent imagination achieved its most durable expression. “A tour de force.” ―Modern Age “A compelling read.” —S. T. Joshi, author of I Am Providence: The Life and Times of H. P. Lovecraft

From the prolific pen of best-selling author J.M. Snyder comes this paperback collection of three historical gay erotic romances. Visit the Old West, Colonial Java, and the Alaskan Territory in this collection of three historical gay erotic romances with hot-blooded renegades, rebels, and rogues. In "Wanted," rustler Jesse McCray falls for Ethan Phillips, an idealistic tenderfoot passing through Defiance. But Jesse's outlaw reputation threatens their budding relationship. "All Shook Up" is set in Colonial Java in the year 1883. Dutch plantation owner Eduard van De Lier finds his world threatened when a former lover shows up to blackmail him. Little do they know they're on shaky ground -- literally -- when the nearby island of Krakatoa erupts. And in "Bounty of the Heart," hunters Emmett and Jack head to Alaska after a Korean gangster who burned them both in the past. Emmett longs for something more between himself and Jack ... something he just might be able to find in an old partner of Jack's who makes an untimely appearance.

In the Russia of the tsars, people who criticized or questioned the autocratic prerogatives of the sovereign were brutally suppressed and sometimes actively persecuted. So imbedded was this official hostility to anyone hoping to change or even influence government policy, that even the most high-minded reformers came to understand that the only way they could succeed was to overthrow the regime. The author describes the activities of the most important dissidents and agitators from the reign of Ivan the Terrible to Nicholas II and the Communist Revolution in 1917. Many of these fascinating individuals were serious activists endeavoring to improve society; others were opportunistic scoundrels and adventurers. The author explores the causes that provoked them and the consequences they faced, and explains how time and time again the tsars were goaded into mistakes and over-reaction.

Jack Valentine is a hard livin?, hard fightin? U.S. Marshall known for always tracking down his man. His latest trek to find three train robbers leads him through Medicine Bow, where his plans are derailed by a horrible tragedy and by his attraction to one of its survivors. Amid fast-paced action and a classic romance, Jack must stare down the face of evil and fight for his life against the forces that could tear apart everything that he holds dear.

Following the Civil War, former Union soldier Joe Keller finds work on a ranch, falls in love, and is looking forward to a happy and prosperous life. But while riding through the Indian Territory, he is arrested for murder, a crime he did not commit. With no proof of his innocence, Joe Keller knows he will be hanged. Pursued by lawmen and bounty hunters, Keller must find a way to prove his innocence before he is captured, or killed. The story of Joe Keller does not dwell on the crimes he commits as an outlaw. Instead, the story tells of Joe Keller's anguish caused by years of separation from the woman he loves, and his determination to prove his innocence. It also tells of the people he meets in his travels through the frontier.