Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cold-Blooded | 2015 | J.A. Johnstone | Buy |
| 2 | Hell’s Half Acre | 2015 | J.A. Johnstone | Buy |
| 3 | The Butcher of Baxter Pass | 2015 | J.A. Johnstone | Buy |
Hell’s Half Acre takes its name from the infamous district in Fort Worth, Texas, that was one of the wildest spots in the post-Civil War West. The real Hell’s Half Acre was a stretch of saloons, gambling dens, and brothels where cowboys blew their trail-drive pay and outlaws hid in plain sight. J.A. Johnstone uses that setting to anchor a three-book series published in 2015.
Cold-Blooded opens the series, followed by the title book Hell’s Half Acre and The Butcher of Baxter Pass. The Fort Worth setting gives these books a grittier, more urban feel than the typical open-range Western. There are lawmen trying to keep order in a place that does not want order, criminals who think they own the streets, and plenty of violence. For readers who like their Westerns set in rowdy frontier towns rather than on the open trail, this is a strong pick.