Ralph Compton

Ralph Compton was born in the early 1930's and died in nineteen ninety-eight. He stood 6 feet, 8 inches tall. He grew up in Alabama. Before having a full-fledged writing career, Compton had a number of jobs that involved using his writing skills, including musician, radio host, songwriter, and newspaper writer.

The best place to start is the Trail of the Gunfighter series, the earliest of Ralph Compton's multi-book series: it opens with The Dawn of Fury (1995) and runs to 3 books across 1995–1996, ending with Autumn of the Gun (1996). Ralph Compton's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.

Ralph Compton has 158 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1992 and 2022. 157 of them belong to 9 named series — the largest being the Ralph Compton Western series with 55 books — and 1 is a standalone title, collection or anthology.

Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Ralph Compton's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Trail of the Gunfighter (1995–1996, 3 books), Sundown Riders (1996–2022, 28 books) and Border Empire (1997–1998, 3 books), plus 4 more.

This guide splits Ralph Compton's 158 books into 9 named series and 1 title that stands alone or appear only in collections: Ralph Compton Western (55 books, 2001–2021); Sundown Riders (28 books, 1996–2022); Danny Duggin (4 books, 1999–2003); Border Empire (3 books, 1997–1998); Buck Fletcher (3 books, 2003–2004), plus 4 further series.