RO Lane Books in Order
Explore all RO Lane westerns in order, with quick book summaries, series background, and friendly guidance on the best place to start reading his stories.
Last updated: December 19, 2025
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Publication Order
46 books
Wilbur
by RO Lane
2022
Wilbur is a big-hearted misfit whose strength makes him useful with cattle and dangerous in a fight. When he takes in someone weaker than himself, he finds a purpose that matters more than wages and learns how costly it can be to protect what’s yours.
Waylon Nance
by RO Lane
2022
Waylon Nance grows up hard in a back-country hollow, learning early that the law doesn’t always protect the poor. As a man he becomes the one neighbors call when bullies ride in, but every new fight raises the stakes for the people he loves.
Coltrane and Calvin
by RO Lane
2022
Coltrane and Calvin are unlikely partners—a seasoned trail hand and a younger drifter—who fall in together after a bloody encounter. Their first adventure tests their loyalty as they face rustlers, range fires, and a ruthless land baron who wants them gone.
The Woodcutter
by RO Lane
2021
A quiet woodcutter who prefers trees to towns finds his solitude shattered when a wounded stranger staggers into his camp. Protecting the man drags him into a deadly feud, forcing him to trade his axe for a rifle and rediscover his buried courage.
Plummer's Gold
by RO Lane
2021
Inspired by old tales of Sheriff Plummer’s hidden hoard, this novel follows a small crew of miners and ranchers hunting for stolen gold. The deeper they dig, the more they uncover about greed, betrayal, and what that treasure has already cost the territory.
Okefenokee Rifles
by RO Lane
2021
Okefenokee Rifles traces a volunteer company drawn from the harsh swamplands as war erupts. Lane follows the men from enlistment through brutal campaigns and back to their altered home, balancing battle scenes with the families waiting in the conflict’s shadow.
Johnny Hayes
by RO Lane
2021
Drifter Johnny Hayes tries to keep his head down, but trouble keeps finding him: crooked sheriffs, bullied townsfolk, and ranch wars he never asked to join. Each step west forces him to decide whether he’s just passing through or finally ready to stand his ground.
Gamblin' Man
by RO Lane
2021
Gamblin’ Man follows a professional card player who treats life, love, and danger like hands to be played. When he spots a rigged game that will ruin a decent family, he has to bet everything he owns—including his freedom—to set it right.
Ruby Ringo
by RO Lane
2020
Young Ruby Ringo steps up as trail boss after her grandfather dies, driving a herd from South Texas toward Abilene. When outlaws wipe out her crew and steal the cattle, she and a lone cowboy fight across Indian Territory to reclaim her herd and her future.
Ruble Perkins
by RO Lane
2020
Ruble Perkins is the youngest U.S. marshal anyone can remember, handed a star before he’s fully grown. Determined to prove he deserves it, he faces hardened killers who see only a boy—until his courage and stubborn fairness force them to take him seriously.
Ronan O'Higgins
by RO Lane
2020
Ronan O’Higgins comes to the American West with an Irish accent, a quick temper, and not much else. From railroad camps to cattle country, he must decide whether to stay a hired gun or build the kind of life his parents crossed an ocean to dream about.
Navarro
by RO Lane
2020
Navarro has long ridden the shadow line between outlaw and hired hand. When he agrees to escort a wagon train through dangerous country, past choices catch up with him and he must choose once and for all which side of the law he’s willing to die on.
Nash Cline, Book 2
by RO Lane
2020
Nash Cline’s life as a Denver detective hits a crossroads when a five-year-old boy is taken by Arapaho raiders on the eve of his wedding to Ada. Joined by Felix, he rides across the West to rescue the child and tackle a string of violent new cases.
Muddy Tilghman
by RO Lane
2020
Muddy Tilghman grows up in river bottoms and backcountry swamps, more at home in mud than on main street. After a violent betrayal, he uses that hard-won knowledge of hidden trails to outmaneuver killers and protect the few people who stood by him.
Mose Cabot
by RO Lane
2020
Mose Cabot leaves Virginia as a teenager, working steamboats west until he reaches Montana Territory. There he teams up with a lost boy, Gabriel Allsop, first to work a hardrock claim and then to carve out a horse ranch in the Bitterroot Valley.
Elliott and Grandpa
by RO Lane
2020
Elliott and his grandfather share a bond built on stories, chores, and quiet rides across open country. When trouble threatens the old man’s small spread, the two generations stand together, proving that courage and kindness can be passed down like heirlooms.
Doctor Rose and the Outlaw
by RO Lane
2020
Frontier physician Rose carves out a practice in a rough town that doesn’t quite trust a lady doctor. When an injured outlaw lands in her care, she’s pulled into a tangle of posses, secrets, and an uneasy attraction that could cost them both their lives.
Thatch
by RO Lane
2019
Taken from a mercy train as a boy, Thatch Elliott is given a chance at a real home. Years later he adopts two more orphans, builds a ranch, and fights kidnappers and greedy neighbors to keep the family he’s chosen.
Texas Paladin, Death Wish
by RO Lane
2019
When a hardened border criminal guns down two young Texas Rangers, Jubal Coe straps on his Colt and heads south. Riding with a grieving father into outlaw country, he confronts a killer whose cruelty forces Jubal to face his own hunger for vengeance.
Nash Cline
by RO Lane
2019
Nash Cline lies about his age to join the army, survives brutal fighting, and comes home with a stubborn sense of justice. In Denver he teams with war buddy Felix Wasson, building a detective business that takes them into dangerous, lawless country.
Milo's War
by RO Lane
2019
In Milo’s War, a young soldier is forged in battle and then has to live with what the fighting made of him. The story follows him from brutal campaigns back to the uneasy peace afterward, where loyalty and old wounds collide on the home front.
Mariposa
by RO Lane
2019
In a boom-and-bust town called Mariposa, fortunes rise and fall overnight. A quiet newcomer is drawn into feuds over land, cattle, and water rights, and discovers that standing up for one family will change the whole valley.
Lucy Garrett
by RO Lane
2019
Lucy Garrett is a frontier woman who refuses to stay in the background while men decide her fate. Faced with violence, loss, and unwanted suitors, she stakes a claim on her own land and future, surprising everyone who underestimates her.
Lincoln Poe
by RO Lane
2019
Lincoln Poe accepts a U.S. marshal’s badge and steps into a territory seething with bushwhackers, cattle thieves, and crooked officials. Determined to do the job right, he risks friends and safety to give one violent region its first taste of real law.
Jake McClure
by RO Lane
2019
After a deadly fight lands him in the Wyoming Territorial Prison, Jake McClure serves his time and walks out with little more than his name. Taking a job with a struggling widow, he battles rustlers, pride, and his own reputation to give them both a fresh start.
Hank
by RO Lane
2019
Hank is a plainspoken cowboy with a talent for trouble and a stubborn moral streak. When a routine job reveals a scheme that will crush small ranchers, he decides to fight back against men far richer and meaner than he is.
Dora Mae Puckett
by RO Lane
2019
Dora Mae Puckett grows up poor and underestimated, yet keeps finding ways to survive on a ruthless frontier. When a chance at land and love appears, she must decide whether to risk everything on people who may or may not deserve her trust.
Yavapai Gold
by RO Lane
2018
Rumors of rich Yavapai gold set ranchers, miners, and outlaws at each other’s throats. Caught in the middle, a straight-shooting cowboy has to decide how much he’s willing to risk for a strike that could change—or destroy—everyone’s future.
Will Fain, U.S. Marshal, Book 8
by RO Lane
2018
The eighth Will Fain novel brings the marshal’s long fight for order to a peak, as old enemies resurface and a powerful new threat rises along the border. Will must call on every friend and skill he has to protect both his district and his home.
Will Fain, U.S. Marshal, Book 7
by RO Lane
2018
In Book 7, Will Fain and his deputies follow a trail of killings that links distant frontier towns, uncovering a network of bandits who profit from chaos. To shut them down, he must risk his family’s safety and the quiet life he’s tried to build.
Will Fain, U.S. Marshal, Book 6
by RO Lane
2018
Now a seasoned lawman with loyal deputies at his side, Will Fain rides farther from home to answer calls for help. He faces clever rustlers and town bosses who think they’re beyond federal reach, testing how far justice can stretch without breaking.
Will Fain, U.S. Marshal 4
by RO Lane
2018
Book four sends Will Fain after Dick “Pie-eyed” Muller, the outlaw who murdered two deputy marshals and fled into Mexico. Stripped of his badge and condemned by Mexican authorities, Will must survive a firing squad while Isum Wood and Del Cole race to save him.
Will Fain, U. S. Marshal: Book 5
by RO Lane
2018
With his reputation made, Will Fain’s fifth adventure pulls him into new trouble on the West Texas frontier. Range disputes, ambushes, and a ruthless outlaw band threaten both his badge and the hard-won peace of the Fain ranch.
The Poker Chip
by RO Lane
2018
A single poker chip, marked in blood, is all that ties a saloon killing to a larger crime. When a quiet cowhand pockets it, he’s drawn into a deadly struggle with crooked gamblers, town bosses, and the woman who may be lying to them all.
The Gambler and The Orphans
by RO Lane
2018
A drifting gambler expects only cards and short-lived friendships until a group of orphans lands in his care. Keeping them fed, safe, and together pulls him into shootouts, swindles, and one last chance to become the kind of man they believe he is.
Texas Paladin Rides Again
by RO Lane
2018
Trying to walk away from the Rangers doesn’t last long for Jubal Coe. Called back to track brutal escapees from Huntsville Prison, he rides into border towns, ambushes, and new assignments that show a paladin’s work is never really finished.
Saving Muffin
by RO Lane
2018
When a drifter stumbles across someone the town dismisses as “Muffin” and not worth the trouble, he decides he can’t ride on. His choice to save Muffin pits him against a powerful abuser and gives both of them a fragile chance at a different life.
Just a Kid
by RO Lane
2018
Cole Flynn is still considered just a kid when he hires on at a widow’s ranch and discovers a brutal gang intends to steal it out from under her. Standing up for her land forces Cole to grow up fast, gun in hand.
Ethan's Justice
by RO Lane
2018
After a brutal wrong shatters his family, Ethan sets out not simply for revenge but for justice in a land that often confuses the two. His search for the men responsible leads through corrupt towns, lonely ranches, and the gray areas of frontier law.
Dred Jones
by RO Lane
2018
Dred Jones is tired of drifting, but the trail won’t let go of him. When trouble follows him into a quiet town, he has to face old enemies, new grudges, and the question of whether a gunfighter can truly start over.
Air Force Brats
by RO Lane
2018
Air Force Brats is a love story about two people shaped by growing up in military families, always moving and never quite settling. Years later, shared memories of bases and brief friendships pull them back together and force them to decide what home really means.
Will Fain, U.S. Marshal, Book 2
by RO Lane
2017
In his second outing, Will Fain discovers a cache of Spanish treasure hidden on his land and becomes a target for every greedy killer in West Texas. With deputy Isum Wood, he chases criminals from dusty frontier towns to Fort Griffin and back to the Fain ranch.
Will Fain, U.S. Marshal Book 3
by RO Lane
2017
An escape from the Santa Angela jail sends Will Fain and deputy Isum Wood after a ruthless murderer and his brothers. Their chase exposes a counterfeiting ring, a vengeful posse, and fresh danger at the Fain ranch just as Will’s family is growing.
The Iron Door Mine
by RO Lane
2017
A frontier prospector stumbles onto the legend of a hidden iron-door mine and learns that finding it may be less dangerous than keeping it. Treasure fever draws in outlaws, speculators, and killers, forcing him to choose between riches and doing what’s right.
Texas Paladin
by RO Lane
2017
Texas Ranger Jubal Coe rides home to find his cabin burned and his family murdered. Sworn to hunt down the men responsible, he follows a bloody trail across the frontier, torn between cold revenge and the code that once made him a lawman.
Will Fain, U. S. Marshal
by RO Lane
2016
Newly appointed U.S. marshal Will Fain is sent to West Texas with a badge, a string of fine horses, and orders to tame a lawless region. From a ranch near San Angelo he takes on deserters, raiders, and rustlers in country the army can’t always reach.
Where should I start?
If you want a big, ongoing series: Will Fain, U. S. Marshal → Will Fain, U.S. Marshal, Book 2 → Will Fain, U.S. Marshal Book 3.
If you like detective‑style westerns: Nash Cline → Nash Cline, Book 2.
If you want Texas Ranger vengeance tales: Texas Paladin → Texas Paladin Rides Again → Texas Paladin, Death Wish.
If you prefer standalones about young heroes: Just a Kid → Thatch → Milo's War.
If you enjoy strong frontier romances: Lucy Garrett → Mariposa → The Gambler and The Orphans.
Author bio
RO Lane writes about the American West from his home in Tucson, Arizona, but the roots of his stories go back to the books he fell for as a teenager.
In high school he picked up Jack Schaefer's Shane and tore through it, then went hunting for every western he could find.
He went on to earn a B.A. in English and an M.A. in communications research. Before turning to fiction full time, he spent years as a writer and editor at three daily newspapers, then as the person behind speeches for senior leaders at several large corporations. The work sharpened his ear for how people really talk and how stories land with an audience.
Lane has lived in Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, and Arizona and has logged thousands of miles driving the back roads of the West. He has never made his home in Texas, but he has traveled the state often and dug into its history, using small‑town museums, old maps, and courthouse records to ground his fiction in real places and events.
Western fiction was his first reading love, and it eventually became the work he wanted to do every day.
Once he began publishing, he treated it like a job in the best sense: sitting down daily, building scenes one page at a time, and letting a steady stream of characters walk onto the page. He has said that he still writes chiefly for his own pleasure and for the readers who keep coming back.
Many readers meet him through the eight‑book Will Fain, U. S. Marshal series. Those novels follow a U.S. marshal sent to West Texas in the 1870s, trying to plant law and order while running a horse ranch and raising a family. The books mix posse chases, hidden Spanish gold, cross‑border manhunts, and courtroom testimony with quiet scenes around the ranch table, so the gunfights matter because the home they threaten feels real.
Others start with Nash Cline, where a young man who once lied about his age to enlist in the army remakes himself as a Denver detective, or with the Texas Paladin stories, which center on Texas Ranger Jubal Coe and his long fight to balance justice with personal grief. In both cases the hook is the same: capable men carrying scars, trying hard to do the right thing in a rough country.
Lane’s standalones let him approach that country from fresh angles. Just a Kid follows Cole Flynn as he risks his life to defend a widow’s ranch from a brutal gang. Thatch traces an orphan taken from a mercy train who slowly builds a family and a spread of his own. In Milo's War, a soldier’s experiences reshape who he is when he comes home. Even Air Force Brats—a contemporary love story set far from the frontier—leans on the same questions about loyalty, duty, and what it means to belong somewhere.
Across these books the through‑lines are easy to spot. Lane likes ordinary people who grow into responsibility: marshals, trail bosses, schoolteachers, young cowhands, and tough frontier women who discover what they can endure. He weaves romance into almost every story, not as an add‑on but as part of how his characters decide what kind of life they want. The tone is straightforward, the language clean, and the focus squarely on character, consequence, and the land.
His influences are the classic western writers he devoured after Shane—names like Louis L’Amour, Gordon D. Shirreffs, Matt Braun, and Elmore Leonard—and you can feel that lineage in his work, even as he leans more into family and feeling than some of his predecessors. These days he keeps a regular writing routine in Tucson, still turning out new tales of marshals, gamblers, soldiers, and orphans. For readers who miss traditional westerns but want a touch of heart with the gun smoke, his shelves offer a long trail to ride.
Edited by
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