The Red Well

A thief has a change of heart after a robbery goes wrong and decides to return the money . . . at all costs!

In “Bad News for Bad Men,” Jimmy Jones is a ne’er-do-well with a trigger finger who has spent half his life raising hell. In hopes of turning his life around, Jimmy arrives to the town of Jasper, where his uncle has gotten him a job at the town newspaper. No longer a gunfighter, Jimmy is now an editor. But his uncle welcomes Jimmy with a warning: “The only news in Jasper is bad news.”

When Bill Genniver and his partner, Jerry Garlan, decide to hold up a stagecoach for some quick cash, the two outlaws quickly find themselves at odds. Garlan shoots down a horse to stop the stage, but Genniver takes it one step further when he shoots a passenger to get to the cash. With the cold-blooded money in their hands, Garlan’s conscience gets the better of him. He regrets not only killing the horse, but the whole robbery too, and decides that somehow he has to do the right thing and return the money in “The Lion’s Share.”

The title story introduces Jerry Finnegan, a rancher and a family man. But when Slade the outlaw and his band of misfits threaten to kill Finnegan and his family to steal the ranch, Finnegan calls out to Charlie Kimball for help. Kimball knows his friend is in trouble, and believes the real reason Slade wants the ranch is a special well on the property that just happens to turn the water blood red.

Skyhorse Publishing is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction that takes place in the old West. Westerns—books about outlaws, sheriffs, chiefs and warriors, cowboys and Indians—are a genre in which we publish regularly. Our list includes international bestselling authors like Zane Gray and Louis L’Amour, and many more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.