Red Ryan

A blazing new series takes you back to the lawless frontier where every stagecoach was a moving target. Where every passenger needed protection. And where every hired gun who rides along better be fast on the draw-or be dead on arrival . . . If anyone knows the road to purgatory, it's Red Ryan. As a stagecoach guard, he's faced holdups, ambushes, and all-out attacks from every kill-crazy outlaw, Indian, and prairie rat. But even he's a bit reluctant to take on his next job: riding shotgun with his driver Buttons Muldoon on a stage bound from Fort Concho, Texas, to Fort Bliss. Word has it, the Apaches are on the warpath. They're being led by the vicious war chief Ilesh, which means "Lord of the Earth." And this lord means business, as in slaughtering every Texan from here to El Paso. Red wants to postpone the stage. But an army major's beautiful but stubborn wife insists they leave-or she'll go it alone. So Red has no choice . . . Thus begins a nightmare journey into 400 miles of harsh, unforgiving terrain, blood-drunk killers, and one scheming devil who plans to paint the town of El Paso red-starting with Red's blood . . .

FIRST RULE OF JOHNSTONE COUNTRY: TRUST NO ONE No one knows the dangers of driving a stagecoach better than Red Ryan. Especially when the passenger's a dead man, the payoff's a gold mine, and the last stop is death . . . SECOND RULE: WATCH YOUR BACK Red Ryan should've known this job would be trouble. The first stop is a ghost town-in a thunder storm-and the cargo is a coffin. But things start to look a little brighter when Red and his stage guard Buttons Muldoon deliver the corpse to a ranch run by the beautiful Luna Talbot-and her gorgeous crew of former saloon girls. Luna asks the boys to help them find the Lucky Cuss Gold Mine, using a map tucked inside the dead man's pocket. Buttons can't refuse a pretty lady-or the lure of gold. But Red has a feeling they're playing with fire. Especially when the map leads them straight into crossfire of a ferocious range war, a 400-pound load of pure evil known as Papa Mace Rathmore-and his backwoods clan of sadistic, kill-crazy hillbillies . . .

Red Ryan is one of the fastest guns in the West. But this time, he's in for the longest, hardest ride of his life. Where danger lurks around every turn-and all roads lead to hell . . . 700 MILES OF MAYHEM Gold. Silver. Cold hard cash. Stagecoach guard Red Ryan and his driver Buttons Muldoon have ridden shotgun on some pretty valuable cargo in their day. But they're about to learn-the hard way-that the most dangerous cargo of all is human. They've been hired to escort a cowardly traitor facing an army court martial in New Orleans. Every hired killer in Texas wants him dead, including gun-handy Hannah Huckabee, a woman with a mysterious past and an agenda of her own. But she's just one of the dangers they'll face along the way. There are cutthroat gangs bent on slaughtering anything on two legs. And 700 miles of the deadliest terrain Red Ryan has ever had to shoot his way out of . . .

Stagecoach guard Red Ryan has managed to survive every dirty, danger-filled trail in Texas. But this time, the journey is hell on four wheels. And the next stop could be his last ... BIG TROUBLE IN A SMALL TOWN It starts with an unusual request: "On this trip there will be no cussing, no drinking, no gambling, and no loose women." No problem. Or so Red Ryan thinks-until he meets the passengers. They include four holy and silent monks, one beautiful lady tutor, and a drunken, washed-up gunfighter. Even worse, they're crossing the wild Texas hill country where bloodthirsty Apaches are on the loose and a mad-dog killer is on the prowl. But that can't compare to what's waiting for them at Fredericksburg. In this quiet little town, every man, woman, and monk will reveal their true colors. Green for greed. Yellow for cowardice. Black for pure unadulterated evil. Which leaves Red-gunning for his life ...

Riding shotgun, Red Ryan leads a doomed stagecoach of the damned on the longest, deadliest journey of his life... FIVE PASSENGERS. 400 MILES. 1,000 WAYS TO DIE. According to local legend, the stagecoach known as the Gray Ghost is either haunted, cursed, or just plain unlucky. Each of its last three drivers and three more riding shotgun came to a violent, bloody end. And now it's Red Ryan's turn to guard five foolhardy passengers on the stage's next-and possibly last-trip. The travelers are a small troupe of performers with dark histories of their own: a song-and-dance man with a drinking problem, a juggler with a secret, a knife thrower with a past, and a beautiful fan dancer who's on the run from a one-eyed, vengeance-seeking outlaw... Red's not the superstitious type. But with Apaches on the warpath with bloodlust-and a one-eyed cutthroat killer on his trail-this 400 mile journey is like something straight out of his worst nightmare. And all the roads lead straight to hell...