Cotton Pickens

The Greatest Western Writer Of The 21st Century Cotton Comes To Doubtful Lawmen don't last long in the town of Doubtful, Wyoming Territory. The last one quit, another ended up in a hangman's noose, and one more was backshot by the hired guns at the Circle L Ranch. But the town of Doubtful has never seen the likes of the man who's known only as Cotton, who aims to take the badge for $125 a month, save himself a nice chunk of money over the next year, and be on his way. At least, that's his plan. Problem is, Cotton has just stuck his nose in the biggest hornet's nest in the territory. Some of the new homesteaders are stringing wire, and the three large spreads in the area don't like it much. Before Cotton can say "range war!" a passel of hardcases are filling the air with gunsmoke and hot lead. But Cotton won't be scared off. He'll see to it that law and order come to Doubtful--because Cotton isn't afraid of dying. And he's not afraid of killing.

Cotton Pickens, the unforgettable hero of William Johnstone's classic Blood Valley, returns in a tale of a lawless Montana mining district, a 16-year-old widow, and a man who always finds new ways of laying down the law. . . Six Ways To Sunday--And Seven Days To Die Cotton Pickens' parents had a cussed sense of humor, but there's nothing funny about the way the man can draw a gun. Now he's in the middle of a mining camp district slowly being crushed under the iron fist of another misnamed, hardheaded fellow, Carter Scruples. With Cotton facing off against Scruples, a beautiful young woman caught in-between, and a band of outlaws living high and mighty in a dry-docked Pullman Palace Car, the town of Swamp Creek is surely going to get blown sky high. And when time comes to put the pieces back together again--Cotton will do his picking one bullet at a time. . .

The Greatest Western Writer Of The 21st Century. Cotton Pickens is the most unlikely sheriff on the frontier. And when the town of Doubtful, Wyoming, explodes, Cotton will lay down the law. . .if the law doesn't lay him down first. No Whiskey? No Women? No Peace. . . It was a law Cotton Pickens never asked for and never wanted to enforce. But due to the vigilance of the Women's Temperance Society, and the timidity of their businessmen husbands, the town of Doubtful, Wyoming, is going dry. As of January 1st. No exceptions. No turning back. Doubtful's hell-raisers will not take this lying down, and Sheriff Pickens is fighting bootleggers and vigilantes when the next boot drops. The righteous women push through an even worse law bound to spark an outright insurrection. The world's oldest profession and Doubtful's favorite pastime--dallying with ladies of the evening--is the next vice to be outlawed. With all hell breaking loose, and the National Guard on the way, Sheriff Pickens has enemies everywhere he turns. And for a lawman under siege, survival means fast thinking, straight shooting--and breaking a law or two himself. . .

William W. Johnstone: The Greatest Western Writer Of The 21st Century Welcome to the peaceful little town of Doubtful, Wyoming, which has more than its fair share of kill-crazy gunslicks, back-shooters, and flat-out dirty desperadoes. It also has a sheriff named Cotton Pickens, who tries his best to keep law and order without getting his head blown off before breakfast. Doubtful's Got A New Deputy. . . For The Moment Cotton Pickens got where he is by virtue of a quick draw and slow wit. He knows the difference between lawbreakers you have to lock up. . .and the kind you might as well just let go. Deputy Rusty Irons, though, ain't the sharpest tool in the shed. Someone kidnapped Rusty's mail order brides. They were probably doing Irons a favor, but a deputy in love is blind. As for the carny barkers, medicine show con artists and revival-meeting fly-by-nighters who pass through Doubtful. . . Cotton just tries to keep the traveling hucksters moving. But in one terrible moment it all goes to hell. That's when Doubtful explodes in a frenzy of killing and bloodshed. That's when a lawman like Cotton earns his pay by looking evil straight in the eye. Of course, there's also the matter of keeping his new deputy alive and in one piece.