There might not be a more fitting union of author and protagonist than Louis L’Amour, America’s favorite frontier storyteller, and Hopalong Cassidy, the iconic cowboy introduced more than a century ago. Originally written under the pseudonym Tex Burns, The Rustlers of West Fork, The Trail to Seven Pines, The Riders of High Rock, and Trouble Shooter were L’Amour’s first published novels, but they showcase the spirit of adventure and wonderful knack for character that would become his signature. Now these four classics are together for the first time in this thrilling eBook bundle. THE RUSTLERS OF WEST FORK When Hopalong Cassidy arrives at the Circle J to deliver a fortune in bank notes to rancher Dick Jordan, he discovers that a foolhardy band of outlaws has taken Dick prisoner, along with his daughter, Pam. Even if Hopalong can free them, he will have to lead the hostages across rough and untamed Apache country, stalked by the outlaws who have vowed to take him out. But Hopalong is no stranger to trouble, and before his guns—or his temper—cool, he’s determined to bring this gang to justice . . . dead or alive. THE TRAIL TO SEVEN PINES Outside the lawless town of Seven Pines, Hopalong comes across two men—one dead, one badly wounded. He returns with help, but the survivor has been shot through the temple. Who would do such a thing? To find out, Hopalong hires on at the Rocking R Ranch, where more than a thousand cattle have been run off by crooks who also have their eyes on the monthly stagecoach shipments of gold. To save the Rocking R, Cassidy needs men he can trust—because he’s the target of a ruthless gunslinger in a fight for frontier justice. THE RIDERS OF HIGH ROCK In the cattle country just east of the California line, Hopalong discovers an old friend, Red Connors, holed up in a mountain cave with a bullet in his side and a story to tell. The local ranchers had been losing their stock to a savage killer named Jack Bolt, and when Red caught the rustlers in the act, they hunted him down, shot him, and left him for dead. Now Bolt’s coming after the one man who stands in his way: Hopalong Cassidy. But he’s about to learn the hard way that if you shoot down a man like Cassidy, you’d better make sure he never gets up again. TROUBLE SHOOTER A desperate call for help sends Hopalong to the aid of a fellow cowpoke. But by the time he arrives, Pete Melford has been murdered. In search of Pete’s killer, Hopalong signs on at the sprawling Box T ranch and confronts a mystery as dangerous as it is haunting. The owner of the Box T has built his empire with shrewd determination, but behind his success lies a bloody trail leading to the strange and forbidding Babylon Mesa, a fortune in gold, and a showdown with a desperado who isn’t afraid to cheat death.

In this first of four classic frontier novels, Louis L'Amour adds his own special brand to the life and adventures of one of America's favorite fictional cowboys, Hopalong Cassidy. In The Rustlers of West Fork, the quick-thinking, fast-shooting cowpuncher heads west to deliver a fortune in bank notes to his old friend, Dick Jordan. When he arrives at the Circle J, he discovers that the rancher and his daughter, Pam, are being held prisoner by a desperate band of outlaws led by the ruthless Avery Sparr and his partner Arnold Soper. Even if Hopalong Cassidy can free Jordan and Pam, he will have to lead them across rough and untamed Apache country, stalked by the outlaws who have vowed to gun him down. But Hopalong is no stranger to trouble, and before his guns or his temper cool, he's determines to round up Sparr and his gang and bring the outlaws to justice ... dead or alive! This classic tale of pursuit and survival is vintage L'Amour and adds new life and luster to the legend of Hopalong Cassidy.

Hopalong Cassidy has received a message from the dead. Answering an urgent appeal for help from fellow cowpuncher Pete Melford, he rides in only to discover that his old friend has been murdered and the ranch Pete left to his niece, Cindy Blair, has vanished without a trace. Hopalong may have arrived too late to save Pete, but his sense of loyalty and honor demands that he find that cold-blooded killers and return to Cindy what is rightfully hers. Colonel Justin Tredway, criminal kingpin of the town of Kachina, is the owner of the sprawling Box T ranch, and he has built his empire with a shrewd and ruthless determination. In search of Pete’s killers and Cindy’s ranch, Hopalong signs on at the Box T, promising to help get Tredway’s wild cattle out of the rattler-infested brush. But in the land of mesquite and black chaparral, Cassidy confronts a mystery as hellish as it is haunting—a bloody trail that leads to the strange and forbidding Babylon plateau, to $60,000 in stolen gold, and to a showdown with an outlaw who has already cheated death once . . . and is determined to do it again.

Hopalong Cassidy rode into cattle country just east of the California line looking for his old friend Red Connors. He found Red holed up in a mountain cave with a bullet in his side and a story to tell. The ranchers around Tascotal had been losing their stock, and when Red caught the rustlers in the act, they hunted him down, shot him, and left him for dead. Jack Bolt, a savage, ruthless killer, has brought in a tough band of hard cases to run his operation. And now he’s sent them out to take care of the one man who stands in his way: Hopalong Cassidy. But Bolt’s about to learn the hard way that if you shoot down a man like Cassidy, you better make sure he never gets up again.

The epic saga that inspired HBO’s Game of Thrones made George R. R. Martin an international phenomenon, but there’s much more to this versatile, prolific, and original author. In addition to the book that kicks off A Song of Ice of Fire, this eBook bundle includes Dreamsongs: Volume I, which showcases Martin’s early writings; Fevre Dream, the acclaimed author’s reinvention of the vampire novel; and The Armageddon Rag, a thrilling story of psychedelic—and apocalyptic—rock. Spanning genres of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and suspense, Martin’s virtuosic talents will surprise and delight even his most devoted fans. A GAME OF THRONES “The only fantasy series I’d put on a level with J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings . . . It’s a fantasy series for hip, smart people, even those who don’t read fantasy.”—Chicago Tribune In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. As sinister forces mass beyond the kingdom’s protective Wall, the king’s powers are failing—his most trusted adviser is dead and his enemies are emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king’s new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself. DREAMSONGS: VOLUME I “The ideal way to discover . . . a master of science fiction, fantasy and horror. . . . Martin is a writer like no other.”—The Guardian (U.K.) Gathered here are the very best of Martin’s early works, including his Hugo, Nebula, and Bram Stoker award–winning stories, cool fan pieces, and the original novella The Ice Dragon, from which his New York Times bestselling children’s book of the same title originated. With extensive author commentary, Dreamsongs: Volume I is a rare treat, offering fascinating insights into Martin’s journey from young writer to award-winning master. FEVRE DREAM “An adventure into the heart of darkness that transcends even the most inventive vampire novels.”—Los Angeles Herald Examiner Abner Marsh, a struggling riverboat captain, suspects that something’s amiss when he is approached by a wealthy aristocrat with a lucrative offer. The hauntingly pale, steely-eyed Joshua York doesn’t care that the icy winter of 1857 has wiped out all but one of Marsh’s dilapidated fleet. Not until the maiden voyage of Fevre Dream does Marsh realize that he has joined a mission both more sinister, and perhaps more noble, than his most fantastic nightmare—and humankind’s most impossible dream. THE ARMAGEDDON RAG “The best novel concerning the American pop music culture of the sixties I’ve ever read.”—Stephen King Onetime underground journalist Sandy Blair has come a long way from his radical roots in the sixties—until he’s drawn back by the bizarre and brutal murder of a rock promoter who made millions with a band called the Nazgûl. As Sandy investigates the crime, he finds himself drawn back into his own past. For a new messiah has resurrected the Nazgûl along with a requiem of demonism, mind control, and death, whose apocalyptic tune only Sandy may be able to change.

Clarence E. Mulford spent his creative years, writing a vast saga of interlocking novels and stories, most of them dealing with the Bar-20 ranch and the men who called it home, chief among them a certain Hopalong Cassidy. Eventually Mulford's works became the nominal source of 66 Hollywood films, made between 1935 and 1948, and a 52-episode TV series (1952-54), all starring William Boyd as a character with the same name but very different from Mulford's. Hopalong Cassidy: On the Page, On the Screen covers each of Mulford's books and each of the Cassidy theatrical films in full detail. A comprehensive index enables readers interested in almost anyone or anything linked to the books or films-including eventual stars like Robert Mitchum, George Reeves, Jan Clayton and Barbara Britton-to find the relevant material instantly. It began in the waking dreams of a young civil servant in Brooklyn who spent evenings, weekends and vacations putting into words an old West he had imagined but never seen. Story by story, novel by novel he created a vast canvas centering around a Texas ranch he called the Bar-20 and the men who made it the focus of their loyalty, chief among them a red-headed liquor-swilling young puncher with a noticeable limp, Hopalong Cassidy. Clarence E. Mulford (1883-1956) was one of the most remarkable Western writers America has produced. His fictional universe is an immense saga, written over a third of a century, in which Cassidy and the other main characters go adventuring, fall in love, marry and have children, grow old and eventually take part in the adventures of the next generation. Mulford's life and world are explored in detail in the first several chapters of this book. In 1935, the now prosperous author signed the contracts that brought his world and characters to America's movie theaters-or at least so he hoped. But, except for a handful of character and place names, the 66 Hopalong Cassidy movies, made between 1935 and 1948, starring William Boyd as Cassidy, turned out to have almost nothing in common with Mulford's fiction. Those films captivated audiences on their first release. The finest of them were hailed by Western lovers as classics of the genre and, restored for satellite and DVD, continue to excite viewers today. This book covers all 66 Cassidy movies in depth. The final chapter recounts what happened in the late 1940s and early 1950s when Hoppymania swept the country as the films migrated to the infant medium of television, generating new celebrity and a huge fortune for William Boyd and quite a bit of money for Mulford too. With a comprehensive checklist of Mulford's writings and a complete filmography providing cast and credits for every Cassidy movie and every episode of the later TV series, Hopalong Cassidy: On the Page, On the Screen is the definitive book on a fascinating subject.

Brodie Moncur is a piano tuner, as brilliant in his own way as John Kilbarron, the pianist Brodie accompanies on all of his tours. It is a luxurious life, and a level of success Brodie could hardly have dreamed of growing up in a remote Scottish village, in a household ruled by a tyrannical father. But Brodie would gladly give it all up for the love of the Russian soprano Lika Blum: beautiful, worldly, seductive-- and consort to Kilbarron. Brodie's passion for Lika only grows as their lives become increasingly more intertwined, more secretive, and, finally, more dangerous. What Brodie doesn't know about Lika, and about her connection to Kilbarron and his sinister brother, Malachi, eventually tests Brodie's ability, and will, to survive. -- adapted from publisher info.