Carlton Stowers Books

A search for a simpler, more rewarding lifestyle brings Trent Jones and his wife Olga to the ghost town of Terlingua, Texas so that Trent can accept the unusual job of teacher/principal/janitor of a one-room schoolhouse. So what if the princely sum of half his current salary would make it impossible for them to afford a telephone, or that they would have to haul drinking water from five miles away. It was a challenge whose rewards far outweighed any inconvenience. The colorful residents, the school children, the beauty of the vast and awsome Trans-Pecos all play their part in making this an unforgettable experience and inspirational triumph. Terlingua Teacher gives us a unique definition of what make a person a "success" and offers an insider's look at our hard-working educators and the sacrifices they often make. In its third printing since original publication in 1978. A afterword has been added to bring the reader up to date on the Jonses and the Terlingua School.

In this breathless new installment in bestselling author Ralph Compton's the Gunfighter series, an ex-con fights to free his hometown from the clutches of a greedy land baron. When twenty-five-year-old Lewis Taylor is released from the Texas State Prison, he receives little attention as he walks into the midday sunlight, free after serving five years for a crime he didn’t commit. His only interest is in getting back to his hometown of Gila Bend, Texas, a quiet farming community about which he has only warm, idyllic memories. During his long years in prison, he survived by thinking fondly of the home he'd known since boyhood—and of one special girl, Darla Winslow. What he finds instead is a town dramatically changed. Once a happy and carefree place to live, it is now populated by people who are angry and afraid. One man, Captain Archer Ringewald, has taken control of the town, and now he's turning the townspeople, even Darla, against Taylor. Can one ex-con single-handedly save an entire town?

A farmer is pulled into the world of outlaws when his estranged brother turns up dead in this new Ralph Compton Western. Brothers Clay and Cal Breckenridge, sons of a hardscrabble East Texas farmer, never did see eye to eye. Clay, the eldest, returned home after the Civil War to help his father run the family farm; Cal deserted his military post and disappeared into a new life with a new name. Everyone knew who was the good son and who was the bad. Clay had almost forgotten his wayward brother until the morning a limping horse approaches the farm with young Cal Breckenridge’s body slumped in the saddle, shot in the back. Vowing to avenge Cal’s death, Clay sets off on a perilous journey across the West to find the man responsible and bring him to justice—and take down an outlaw enterprise in the process.

In this compelling new installment of bestselling author Ralph Compton's Sundown Riders series, a man seeks revenge for the death of his wife and sons while caring for his traumatized daughter. Carl Novak returned to the Texas hill country after fighting in the Civil War, but unlike most of his neighbors, Carl didn't fight for the Confederacy. He was a Union soldier. Carl tries to resume his life as a farmer with his wife and three children. One day, when returning from an overnight trip to buy a calf, he finds his home burned to the ground and, even worse, his wife and sons murdered. His young daughter escaped the slaughter by hiding in the fields. She is so traumatized that she refuses to speak. Carl has one clue: a group of strangers has just left town. One man had a tattoo of a scorpion on his hand and one man was missing two fingers. Carl is determined to track them and exact his revenge.