Louis L'Amour

Originally published in 1976 on the 15th of December, this novel from Louis L'Amour was another journey into the big country of America that often inspired so much of his work. This time taking a look at the exploits of a drifter named Matt Bardoul, a reliable yet dangerous man who you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of. Single-minded, he is a resourceful individual with a strong-willed nature, that is until he comes up against the beautiful Jacquine Coyle, who's just as outspoken as him.

The best place to start is the Louis L' Amour Short Stories/Novellas series, the earliest of Louis L'Amour's multi-book series: it opens with A Trail To the West (1947) and runs to 3 books across 1947–1992, ending with The Trail to Peach Meadow Canyon (1992). Louis L'Amour's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Louis L'Amour has 209 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1939 and 2022. 152 of them belong to 11 named series — the largest being the Louis L’Amour Standalone Novels series with 68 books — and 57 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Louis L'Amour's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Louis L' Amour Short Stories/Novellas (1947–1992, 3 books), Hopalong Cassidy (1951–1952, 4 books) and Louis L’Amour Standalone Novels (1953–2019, 68 books), plus 8 more.

This guide splits Louis L'Amour's 209 books into 11 named series and 57 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Louis L’Amour Standalone Novels (68 books, 1953–2019); Louis L'Amour's Lost Treasures (29 books, 1953–2018); The Sacketts (19 books, 1960–1997); Louis L’Amour Non-Fiction (7 books, 1984–2019); The Golden West (7 books, 2000–2006), plus 6 further series.