The Tucson Conspiracy

They gambled bloodily with the lives of innocent men and women... They used mayhem and murder to fulfil their ambitions. The prize in their deadly gamble was the Territory of Arizona. Law and order rested in the hands of Joe Blade, lovely Charity Clayton and veteran scout George McMasters. The Tucson Ring had penetrated all walks of life in the Territory. Only two men and a woman stood between them and power. Peter Christopher Watts was born in London, England in 1919 and died on Nov. 30, 1983. He was educated in art schools in England, then served with the British Amy in Burma from 1940 to 1946.Peter Watts, the author of more than 150 novels, is better known by his pen names of "Matt Chisholm" and "Cy James". He published his first western novel under the Matt Chisholm name in 1958 (Halfbreed). He began writing the "McAllister" series in 1963 with The Hard Men, and that series ran to 35 novels. He followed that up with the "Storm" series. And used the Cy James name for his "Spur" series.Under his own name, Peter Watts wrote Out of Yesterday, The Long Night Through, and Scream and Shout. He wrote both fiction and nonfiction books, including the very useful nonfiction reference work, A Dictionary of the Old West (Knopf, 1977). Joe Blade is tough, tender and temperamental. Slow to anger, fast with a gun an slouch with women. A man tempered by the West, dangerous living and a perpetual gamble with death.