Westerns book series in reading order

by John R. Erickson

by Terry C. Johnston

by Louis L’Amour

by Larry McMurtry

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.

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.

Louis L’Amour

183 books• 11 series

Westerns are what Louis L'Amour is catalogued for - 183 titles built on frontier and pioneer life. The Sackett family novels form the largest sequence, with Kilkenny, Chantry, Bowdrie and Talon beside them. L'Amour also wrote Hopalong Cassidy novels, among them The Riders of High Rock and The Rustlers of West Fork (1951). Smoke from This Altar (1939) is the earliest entry, and the Lost Treasures line carries later releases through 2019.

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.

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.

J.T. Edson, full name John Thomas Edson, was an English writer of Westerns, escapist adventure and police-procedural novels, with 137 Westerns to that name. Edson was born on 17 February 1928, lived near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire from the 1950s, stopped writing in 2005 because of ill health, and died on 17 July 2014. The catalogue lists 143 books from Slaughter's Way (1965) to Texas Teamwork (1997). Floating Outfit, Calamity Jane, Waco, Ole Devil, Rockabye County and Bunduki are among the series, and Dusty Fog and the Texas Rangers feature in the subject records.

Elmer Kelton

74 books• 9 series

Elmer Kelton (April 29, 1926 - August 22, 2009) was an American writer of Westerns, born in Andrews County, Texas. Kelton graduated from the University of Texas in 1948, edited farm and ranch news at the San Angelo Standard-Times until 1963, and was associate editor of Livestock Weekly from 1968 to 1990. Kelton's novels won seven Spur Awards and three Western Heritage Awards, and Kelton received the Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement. The catalogue holds 74 books from Hot Iron (1956) to Law of the Land (2021), including the Texas Rangers, Texas Tradition and Hewey Calloway series.

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.

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.

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.

James Reasoner writes westerns and frontier fiction, and the 193 catalogued books run from Texas Wind (1980) to Blood on the Border (2026). Civil War history, Texas and military fiction also appear among the subjects. Reasoner's series include Stagecoach Station, Abilene, Cody's Law, Wind River, Outlaw Ranger, Tales From Deadwood and the Walker, Texas Ranger tie-ins. Lee Goldberg, William Rabkin and Livia Reasoner are each co-credited on 1 book.

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.

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.

Elmore Leonard

65 books• 12 series

Elmore Leonard (October 11, 1925 to August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Leonard began with Westerns in the 1950s and moved on to crime fiction and suspense, and many of those books were filmed. The story "Three-Ten to Yuma" became the film 3:10 to Yuma (1957), which was remade in 2007. Anthony Lane, a British journalist, called Leonard one of the best crime writers in the land. Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, Glitz and LaBrava rank among Leonard's best-known works. The catalogue lists 65 titles starting with The Bounty Hunters (1953), plus series featuring Raylan Givens, Chili Palmer, Jack Foley and Carl Webster.

Ed Gorman, full name Edward Joseph Gorman Jr., was an American writer and anthologist of short fiction, born November 2, 1941, and died October 14, 2016. Gorman published across nearly every genre, with the best-known work in crime, mystery, western and horror. Non-fiction by Gorman appeared in The New York Times and Redbook, and fiction appeared in Xero, Black Lizard, Mystery Scene, Cemetery Dance and the anthology Tales of Zorro. The catalogue lists 129 books from 1985 to 2017, some published as Daniel Ransom, and series including Sam McCain, Jack Dwyer, Dev Conrad, Leo Guild, Cavalry Man and Tobin.

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).

Stephen Bly has 98 books in the catalogue, published from 1981 to 2013, and the list is likely complete. Radical Discipleship (1981) is the earliest, followed by Devotions with a Difference (1982) and God's Angry Side (1982), with Crystal's Blizzard Trek (1986) among the titles that followed and When the Cowboys Come to Town (2013) the newest. Bly series include Legend of Stuart Brannon, Code of the West, Crystal Blake Adventures, Adventures of Nathan T. Riggins, Fortunes of the Black Hills, Austin-Stoner Files, Hidden West, Old California and Heroines of the Golden West. Subjects include westerns, Christian life, women pioneers and the American West.

Westerns make up J.A. Johnstone's catalogue: 20 books published between 2009 and 2020, with gunfights, revenge, bounty hunters and kidnapping among the recorded subjects. Loner is the series the books belong to, opening with The Devil's Badland and The Loner in 2009 and running through Rattlesnake Valley (2010), The Big Gundown (2010) and The Blood of Renegades (2011). Knockdown (2020) is the newest entry, and the list is marked likely complete. William W. Johnstone is credited alongside J.A. Johnstone on one title.

Terry C. Johnston wrote westerns about the American frontier: pioneer life, the wars of the West, and the Plains nations including the Dakota and Crow. His 31 novels appeared between 1982 and 2001, at a median of 469 pages, with the 1990s the densest decade. Titus Bass is his best known recurring character and gives one series its name; The Plainsmen, Son Of The Plains and Jonas Hook are the others. Carry the Wind (1982) opens the catalogue and Turn the Stars Upside Down (2001) closes it. Johnston lived from 1947 to 2001, and more than ten million of his books are in print.

Bill Pronzini, born April 13, 1943, is an American detective fiction writer and the creator of the Nameless Detective, a San Francisco private investigator who appeared in over 40 books from the early 1970s into the 2000s. Pronzini has also compiled more than 100 anthologies of mystery, western and science fiction stories. The catalogue lists 115 books, from The Stalker (1971) and The Snatch (1971) to The Hanging Man & Other Western Stories (2024). Other series include Carpenter and Quincannon and Academy Mystery.

Craig Johnson has 32 books in the catalogue, from The Cold Dish (2004) to The Brothers McKay (2026). Walt Longmire is the recurring character, and the subject headings list sheriffs, Wyoming, westerns and police procedural mystery. Early titles include Death Without Company (2006), Kindness Goes Unpunished (2007) and Another Man's Moccasins (2008). The Johnson list also carries Walt Longmire short stories and novellas plus standalone novels.

Robert B. Parker

87 books• 9 series

Robert B. Parker (September 17, 1932 – January 18, 2010) was an American writer working mainly in mystery and detective fiction. The Spenser novels, about a private detective, are Parker's most famous works and inspired the ABC series Spenser: For Hire and a run of TV movies. The Godwulf Manuscript (1973), God Save the Child (1974) and Mortal Stakes (1975) are among the early titles. Jesse Stone and Sunny Randall are further characters, and Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch form another series. Parker's books draw on detailed knowledge of the Boston metropolitan area, and Robert Crais, Harlan Coben and Dennis Lehane are among those who credit the Spenser novels with renewing the detective genre.

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.

Cowboys, ranchers and ranch life run through Linda Lael Miller's 134 catalogued books, in historical, contemporary and western romance alike. Miller's families and places include the McKettricks, the Montana Creeds, Stone Creek, Springwater Seasons, Painted Pony Creek and the Brides of Bliss County, with a Tremayne vampire sequence off to one side. Desire and Destiny (1983) is the earliest title and The Silver Hills Boarding House the newest.