The town was called Gentle Creek...but by the time Blake Durant was finished with it, its waters ran red with blood.

A land-hungry cattle baron called Jay Lucien ruled the town with a fist of iron. Anyone who didn’t bow to his will was dealt with by gunfighter Rudy Dillen and his army of hardcases.

Blake was just passing through when he witnessed the cold-blooded beating of a kid who had the nerve to ask Lucien to settle a debt. When he took the boy — or what was left of him — back home, he figured he’d done all he could. But there was no way he could ride on. His sense of justice just wouldn’t allow it. Someone had to bring Jay Lucien down. The men of Gentle Creek didn’t stand a chance against him. But Blake was tough, he was determined, and he was lightning-fast with a gun.

So he declared war on the bad men.

All-out war.

Sheldon B. Cole was one of many pseudonyms used by prolific Australian writer Desmond Robert Dunn (6 November 1929 - 5 May 2003). In addition to four crime novels published under his own name, Des was a tireless western writer whose career spanned more than 50 years and well in excess of 400 oaters. These quick-moving, vivid and always compelling stories appeared under such pen-names as Shad Denver, Gunn Halliday, Adam Brady, Brett Iverson, Matt Cregan, Walt Renwick, and Morgan Culp. He is also said to have written a number of the ever-popular Larry Kent P.I. novels, but at this late date author attribution is almost impossible. He married and divorced twice, and had three children. He died at the age of 73 in Brisbane, Queensland.