Two novella-length western stories in which John D. Nesbitt develops mystery and suspense.
In “Pearl of Great Price,” a traveler named Willis Thorne arrives in a small Wyoming town, where, under the guise of a writer, he begins to gather information about a prominent citizen of the town. This citizen collects Native American artifacts, but it becomes evident that he collects more sinister objects as well. In the process of exposing this person, Thorne has to deal with him at first hand.
In “Leaving the Lariat Trail,” a young man named Charles Landon wants to go straight and break away from bad company he has been keeping. Problems take form when his former pals and their new associates begin to silence people who know too much. Charles wants to stay on his new trail, but he waits just a little too long to get away without trouble. This novella won the Western Fictioneers Peacemaker Award for short fiction in 2020.
These two novellas are available together as a western paperback, and they are also available individually as e-books.
Read John's commentary for Pearl of Great Price:
Read John's commentary for Leaving the Lariat Trail: