The Gunfighter Books in Order
Part ofRalph Compton Books in OrderThis page lists The Gunfighter books by Ralph Compton, with reading order, short summaries, series background, and where to start.
Last updated: June 7, 2026
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The Gunfighter books in publication order
18 books
Blood of the Hunters
by Ralph Compton
2020
John Stockbridge, once a peaceful doctor, now wanders as Dr. Vengeance after losing his family. In the Rockies, he protects a woman and her children from ruthless highwaymen.
Broken Rider
by Ralph Compton
2020
A damaged rider with a violent past enters a fight he cannot ignore. In the Gunfighter tradition, survival depends on whether a broken man can still stand when lead flies.
Death Valley Drifter
by Ralph Compton
2020
A gunman wakes in Death Valley with no memory, no answers, and men hunting him. A widow and her son help him survive, but his forgotten past brings danger to their door.
Return to Gila Bend
by Ralph Compton
2020
Lewis Taylor leaves prison after serving time for a crime he did not commit and returns to Gila Bend. Home has changed, and a greedy land baron now rules by fear.
Reunion in Hell
by Ralph Compton
2020
Farmer Clay Breckenridge is pulled into outlaw country when his estranged brother Cal arrives home dead in the saddle. Clay rides west for vengeance and uncovers a wider criminal enterprise.
Ride for Justice
by Ralph Compton
2020
A hard rider takes the trail when ordinary law is not enough. With enemies ahead and a debt of justice behind him, every mile brings him closer to a deadly showdown.
Ride the Hammer Down
by Ralph Compton
2020
Marshal John Beck keeps order in Mother Lode, Arizona, until Bram Hogan's gang nearly kills him and leaves him in the desert. Beck survives, then rides back for justice.
Blood on the Prairie
by Ralph Compton
2021
On the open prairie, a hard trail turns violent when greed and revenge ride in. A lone fighter must stand against men who spill blood as casually as dust.
Dalton's Justice
by Ralph Compton
2021
Marshal Ben Dalton rides to Fort Worth to prove an old friend innocent of murder. The case leads him into a dangerous tangle of lies, hired guns, and frontier power.
Die Trying
by Ralph Compton
2021
A desperate fight for justice pushes one man past the point of turning back. Outnumbered and hunted, he has only one choice left: win, or die trying.
Face of a Snake
by Bernard Schaffer
2021
After years in prison, former outlaw Ashford Sinclair wants to live quietly as a trapper. When his son is murdered and his grandson threatened, he must join forces with his bitterest enemy.
Frontier Medicine
by Ralph Compton
2021
Young doctor Gabriel Kincaid heads west to help an overworked frontier physician and start fresh. A saloon incident earns him the nickname Dr. Death, and his hidden past starts catching up fast.
Guns of the Greenhorn
by Ralph Compton
2021
A newcomer to the West learns that owning a gun is not the same as surviving with one. When trouble finds him, he must grow up fast or be buried young.
Hell Snake
by Bernard Schaffer
2021
A man with a snake-bitten past rides into a violent fight where old sins refuse to stay buried. Family, vengeance, and frontier justice coil together as the bullets start flying.
Shot to Hell
by Ralph Compton
2021
Leif, the trick-shot star of a Wild West show, makes a living turning gunplay into spectacle. Then real killers test him with live stakes, and applause gives way to survival.
The Devil's Snare
by Ralph Compton
2021
A frontier trap tightens around a man who thought he could outride his enemies. With outlaws closing in and trust running thin, escape may take nerve, bullets, and a little luck.
The Wrong Side of the Law
by Ralph Compton
2021
A man who knows the law finds himself pushed onto its dangerous edge. To stop worse men from taking control, he may have to risk his name, his freedom, and his life.
The Guns of Wrath
by Ralph Compton
2022
A hard frontier lawman is pulled into a case where old grudges, murder, and gun smoke all point toward a reckoning. Justice will take more than a badge when wrath rides armed.
The Gunfighter books in chronological order

Reunion in Hell
by Ralph Compton
2020The Gunfighter, Book 1
Blood of the Hunters
by Ralph Compton
2020The Gunfighter, Book 2
Broken Rider
by Ralph Compton
2020The Gunfighter, Book 3
Return to Gila Bend
by Ralph Compton
2020The Gunfighter, Book 4
Death Valley Drifter
by Ralph Compton
2020The Gunfighter, Book 5
Ride for Justice
by Ralph Compton
2020The Gunfighter, Book 6
Ride the Hammer Down
by Ralph Compton
2020The Gunfighter, Book 7
Frontier Medicine
by Ralph Compton
2021The Gunfighter, Book 8
Face of a Snake
by Bernard Schaffer
2021Gunfighter, Book 1
Dalton's Justice
by Ralph Compton
2021The Gunfighter, Book 10
Shot to Hell
by Ralph Compton
2021The Gunfighter, Book 11
Hell Snake
by Bernard Schaffer
2021Gunfighter, Book 2
The Wrong Side of the Law
by Ralph Compton
2021The Gunfighter, Book 13
Guns of the Greenhorn
by Ralph Compton
2021The Gunfighter, Book 14
The Devil's Snare
by Ralph Compton
2021The Gunfighter, Book 15
Blood on the Prairie
by Ralph Compton
2021The Gunfighter, Book 16
Die Trying
by Ralph Compton
2021The Gunfighter, Book 17
The Guns of Wrath
by Ralph Compton
2022The Gunfighter, Book 18
Series background & context
The Gunfighter series is a broad Ralph Compton line built around the classic Western figure who lives by skill, nerve, and a hard sense of justice. Unlike the earlier Nathan Stone trilogy, this series is not only one man's long revenge trail. It moves from one dangerous setup to another, with different lawmen, drifters, doctors, ex-cons, and old outlaws taking the lead.
That gives the series room to roam.
Some books lean toward revenge, like Reunion in Hell, where Clay Breckenridge is pulled from farm life after his estranged brother turns up dead. Others use a redemption setup, as in Return to Gila Bend, where Lewis Taylor leaves prison after serving time for a crime he did not commit and finds his hometown under the control of a greedy power broker.
The line also likes heroes with unusual pasts. In Frontier Medicine, Dr. Gabriel Kincaid heads west to help an older doctor, only to discover that a reputation with a gun can be as dangerous as any disease. Blood of the Hunters follows John Stockbridge, a former man of medicine remade by loss into a shotgun-carrying avenger known as Dr. Vengeance. Face of a Snake even turns old outlaw rivalries into a family problem when former enemies must protect the next generation.
These are not cozy Westerns. The danger usually comes fast, and the moral lines are drawn in dust, blood, and money.
Still, the series is not just a string of shootouts. Its best setups give each fight a reason. A town is being squeezed. A family has been murdered. A man has been framed. A doctor is trying to outrun his past. A sheriff thinks he is chasing robbers, then learns a larger gang is hunting him instead.
Because the books are mostly standalone, readers can start almost anywhere. A good route is to pick the kind of Western you want first. Try Reunion in Hell for family revenge, Return to Gila Bend for an ex-con trying to reclaim home, Ride the Hammer Down for a marshal coming back from near death, or Frontier Medicine for a doctor whose past refuses to stay buried.
The thread that connects them is simple: when the law is weak, slow, or bought, somebody has to stand in the open and take the first shot.
Edited by
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