Robbers and outlaws book series in reading order

by Elizabeth Fackler

by Robert J. Randisi

by Frank Leslie

by Ron Roy

by Richmal Crompton

by Tabor Evans

by Jorge Borges

by Mary E. Pearson

by Avi

William Wallace Johnstone, October 28, 1938 to February 8, 2004, was an American author of westerns, horror and survivalist fiction. The Devil's Kiss opened the run in 1981, followed by The Last of the Dog Team (1981), Out of the Ashes (1983) and Anarchy in the Ashes (1984). Series filed under the name include Ashes, First Mountain Man, Smoke Jensen, Last Gunfighter, Blood Bond and Duff MacCallister, and subjects include outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, revenge and Texas. The catalogue carries 544 titles under the Johnstone name dated 1981 to 2026, well past the 2004 death date, and 400 of them carry a William W. Johnstone credit.

Max Brand

345 books• 13 series

Max Brand was the main pen name of Frederick Schiller Faust, an American writer who died in 1944 and whose westerns fill most of a 345-title catalogue. Faust also created Dr. James Kildare, a young medical intern, for pulp fiction; the character later carried into Paramount and MGM films, radio, two television series and comics. Other Faust pseudonyms include George Owen Baxter, John Frederick, Evan Evans, David Manning, Peter Dawson, George Challis and Frederick Frost. Series strands include Silvertip, Dan Barry, Thunder Moon, Ronicky Doone and Bull Hunter. Harrigan (1918) is the earliest catalogued title, with reissues dated as late as 2022.

Ralph Cotton (1945-2024) was an American writer of westerns. The debut novel, While Angels Dance: The Life and Times of Jeston Nash, appeared from St. Martin's Press in 1994, and more than 80 novels followed, three of them carrying Ralph Compton's byline after Compton died. 75 titles are catalogued here, through to Gunman's Pass (2022). Ranger Sam Burrack is the recurring lead, with the Jeston Nash, Will Summers, Sherman Dahl, Gun Culture, Long Riders and Dead Or Alive sequences alongside. Arizona Rangers, outlaws, gunfights and frontier life carry the subject tags.

Zane Grey

144 books• 13 series

Zane Grey, born Pearl Zane Grey (January 31, 1872 – October 23, 1939), was an American author of adventure novels and stories in the Western genre who presented an idealised American frontier. Riders of the Purple Sage (1912) was Grey's best-selling book. Adaptations of Grey's novels and stories number 112 films, two television episodes and the television series Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre. The catalogue opens with Betty Zane (1903), followed by The Spirit of the Border (1906), The Last of the Plainsmen (1908), The Last Trail (1909) and The Heritage of the Desert (1910). Outlaws, cattle stealing, Mormons and fishing appear among the subjects, and series include the Ohio River Trilogy, Ken Ward and Jim Traft.

Tabor Evans is a house pseudonym used by a number of authors at Jove Books for the Longarm westerns. The Longarm novels follow Custis Long, known as Longarm, a U.S. Deputy Marshal working out of Denver, Colorado in the 1880s. The catalogue lists 464 books, from Longarm (1978) to Longarm and the Model Prisoner (2015), with the 2000s the busiest decade. Longarm Giant is also listed as a series. Subjects include outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, U.S. marshals, missing persons and Wyoming.

Lauran Paine (1916-2001) was an American author of Western fiction, born Lawrence Kerfman Duby Jr. The catalogue holds 306 titles dated 1957 to 2022, opening with The Farthest Frontier and The Long Law Trail in 1957. Ranch life, cattle drives, outlaws and frontier settlement run through the subject list, with detective and suspense titles alongside. Paine also published as Mark Carrel, the name on Wagon Train (1957) and Case Of The Innocent Witness (1959). Books average 191 pages.

David Robbins is a Western writer, according to subject records that name Skye Fargo and Canyon O'Grady as fictitious characters and cite frontier and pioneer life, Colorado and Texas. Series listed under the name include Wilderness, Canyon O'Grady, White Apache, Mountain Majesty, Davy Crockett, Preacher's Law and Blood Feud, alongside Omega Sub and Battlefield Mars. Endworld is also among the linked names. Stalked (2020) is the most recent title in the listing.

Ron Roy, born 1940, is an American children's writer working mostly in mystery. Three series carry the name: A to Z Mysteries from 1997, Capital Mysteries from 2001 and Calendar Mysteries from 2009, with A to Z Animal Mysteries and an A to Z Super Edition line alongside. Roy taught fourth grade in Connecticut for ten years, sold a first book in 1978 and wrote full time after that. The catalogue holds 90 titles dated 1978 to 2024, short at a median 84 pages, and reaches Dolphin Detectives (2024).

Julia Donaldson

349 books• 14 series

Dame Julia Donaldson, born Julia Catherine Shields on 16 September 1948, is a British writer and playwright who served as Children's Laureate from 2011 to 2013. Rhyming stories for children made Donaldson's name, above all those illustrated by Axel Scheffler, such as The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom, Stick Man and Superworm. Donaldson first wrote songs for children's television; the lyrics of A Squash and a Squeeze became a picture book in 1993, and books have been the focus since. The catalogue carries 349 entries, from Tim's Bad Mood and Other Stories (1970) to The Tooth Fairy and the Crocodile (2026), including Tales from Acorn Wood, Princess Mirror-Belle and Zog.

Charles G. West writes westerns and historical frontier fiction. The catalogue holds 54 books published between 1996 and 2023, opening with The Tenant (1996) and closing with The First Day of Eternity (2023). Outlaws, revenge, ranchers, criminals and frontier and pioneer life run through the recorded subjects, along with Indians of North America. Series in the listing include Matt Slaughter, Trace McCall, Jason Coles, Little Wolf, Jordan Gray, Culver and John Hawk. Nothing has been catalogued since 2023.

Lou Prophet, Sheriff Ben Stillman and Gideon Hawk are among the named figures in the westerns of Peter Brandvold, whose subject headings also cover outlaws, sheriffs, bounty hunters, revenge and frontier life. The catalogue counts 86 books from Once a Marshal (1998) to Finn and the Spirit Wolves (2026). Blood Mountain (1999), Dakota Kill (2000), Once a Lawman (2000) and Once Hell Freezes Over (2001) are early titles. Series include Lou Prophet, Sheriff Ben Stillman, Rogue Lawman, Bloody Joe Mannion, .45-Caliber, Rusty Spurr, Bush Riders, Lonnie Gentry, Tom Navarro and Bear Haskell: U.S. Deputy Marshal.

Ray Hogan's catalogue subjects list westerns, outlaws, United States marshals, sheriffs, guerrillas, kidnapping and New Mexico. Shawn Starbuck Westerns is the series credited to Hogan, and Shawn Starbuck appears among the subjects as a fictional character. Longhorn Law (1957) is the listed first book, with Land of the Strangers and The Friendless One from the same year. Hangman's Valley (1959), Outlaw Marshal (1959) and Guns Against the Sun (1960) follow.

Westerns set in New Mexico and the American West run through Elizabeth Fackler's 18 catalogued books, published from 1984 to 2017. The Seth Strummar series is listed under the name, and recorded subjects include outlaws and Billy the Kid. Other listed books include Arson (1984), Blood Kin (1992), Backtrail (1993), Badlands (1996) and Texas Lily (1997). Lone Justice (2017) is the most recent title.

Cherokee Indians and the Indians of North America appear among Robert J. Conley's subjects, along with westerns, outlaws and sheriffs. The catalogue lists 59 books from The Rattlesnake Band & Other Poems (1984) to Plastic Indian (2018). Series include Real People, Sheriff Go-Ahead Rider, Texas Outlaw and Native American Library. The Saga of Henry Starr (1989) and Go-Ahead Rider (1990) are among the earlier titles.

Ralph Compton is the name on 72 catalogued Western novels published between 1992 and 2022. The Goodnight Trail (1992) opens the run, which continues through The Western Trail (1992), The Bandera Trail and The Chisholm Trail (1993), and closes with Stagecoach Revenge (2022). Subject tags cover Western stories, cattle drives and cattle trails, outlaws, revenge and historical fiction. Trail Drive and Sundown Riders are recurring headings, alongside Gunfighter, Border Empire, Danny Duggin and the Buck Fletcher Series. The Ralph Compton listing is dormant.

The westerns of Dusty Richards fill a catalogue of 58 books from 1992 to 2025. Noble's Way (1992) opens the list, followed by By the Cut of Your Clothes and From Hell to Breakfast (both 1994). Lawless Land and Servant of the Law date from 2000, and The Abilene Trail from 2003. Rambling Down the Range (2025) is the newest title. Series include Byrnes Family Ranch, Brandiron, Frank Brothers, O'Malleys of Texas, Texas Badge Mysteries, Battling Harrigans of the Frontier and Rodeo Riders. Ranch life, cattle drives, outlaws, sheriffs, Texas Rangers and Arizona appear in the subject tags.

Megan Whalen Turner

9 books• 1 series

Megan Whalen Turner writes fantasy for young adults. The Thief (1996) and its five sequels are her best-known work, and The Thief was named a Newbery Honor book in 1997. Her catalogue holds nine titles between 1995 and 2022: Instead of Three Wishes (1995), The Queen of Attolia (2000), The King of Attolia (2006), A Conspiracy of Kings (2010), Destruction (2011), Thick as Thieves (2017), Return of the Thief (2020) and Moira's Pen: A Queen's Thief Collection (2022). Kings and rulers, robbers and outlaws, and the supernatural recur as subjects. Turner was born in 1965.

Robert J. Randisi (August 24, 1951 – October 6, 2024) was an American author, editor and screenwriter working in detective fiction and westerns. Series credited to Randisi include Gunsmith, Shelter, Lady Gunsmith, Tracker, Angel Eyes, Rat Pack Mysteries, Miles Jacoby Mystery and Joe Keough Mystery. Catalogue subjects include Clint Adams, private investigators, police, serial murder and New York. Randisi is credited on 665 listed books, with titles such as Chain Gang Kill (1980), Circus of Death (1981) and Deadly Debt (2024).

Yakima Henry is the recurring character in the westerns published as Frank Leslie. Twenty-eight books are catalogued between 2007 and 2021, at a median of 288 pages, opening with The Lonely Breed and The Thunder Riders in 2007 and continuing through The Killing Breed, The Wild Breed and The Savage Breed. Colter Farrow and Bloody Arizona are the other named series. Outlaws, revenge, gunfights and frontier life supply the subjects, and Stripped and Branded (2021) is the last dated entry.

The Robert Greene listing in this catalogue covers 121 books published between 1952 and 2023. The earliest entries, from 1952 and 1953, include Black Infinity and Cosmic Echelon, plus titles credited under the names Rand Le Page, A.J. Merak, Victor Salle and Berl Cameron, such as Satellite B.C. and Dark Andromeda. Series in the listing include Johnny Merak, Steve Carradine, Dark Armageddon Trilogy, Arkladian Chronicles and A History of Space Exploration. Subject headings cover westerns, outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, the Confederate army, private investigators and murder. The newest title is Visions out of Time (2023).

Avi is the pen name of Edward Irving Wortis, an American author of children's and young adult books born December 23, 1937. Avi won the 2003 Newbery Medal for Crispin: The Cross of Lead and was a Newbery runner-up in 1991 and 1992. The catalogue records 87 books from Things That Sometimes Happen (1970) to The Road From Nowhere (2026), and Rat Race is set for 2027. Series include Crispin, Dimwood Forest and Beyond the Western Sea. Ghosts, animals, adventure and mysteries appear among the subjects.

Loren D. Estleman

122 books• 10 series

Loren D. Estleman, born September 15, 1952, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an American author of detective fiction and westerns. Estleman is known for crime novels featuring Amos Walker, a private investigator, and Detroit recurs in the subject headings. Page Murdock, US Deputy Marshal, Peter Macklin, Valentino and Detroit are the other series. The catalogue counts 122 books from Red Highway (1976) to Man One (2026), and Motor City Blue appeared in 1980.

Bill Brooks writes westerns. Outlaws, peace officers, Pinkerton agents and bodyguards populate the books, and the series divide into John Henry Cole, Law For Hire, Dakota Lawman, Journey of Jim Glass, and Ivory and Albert. The catalogue holds 38 titles from The Badmen (1992) to The Pistoleros (2021), at a median of 281 pages, with the 2000s the busiest decade.

Larry McMurtry

48 books• 10 series

Larry McMurtry (Larry Jeff McMurtry, June 3, 1936 to March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist and screenwriter. Most of McMurtry's fiction takes place in the Old West or in contemporary Texas, and the early novels Horseman, Pass By (1961), The Last Picture Show (1966) and Terms of Endearment (1975) trace the decline of small-town Texas life. Screen adaptations of McMurtry's work received 34 Oscar nominations and 13 wins. The catalogue lists 48 books from 1961 to Thalia (2017), including the Lonesome Dove and Berrybender Narratives series and non-fiction.