When he learns of his parents' death in a train crash, Sam Dana makes his way home to the Bar D ranch—not to claim it, but to settle the estate and move on. He has no need for the hard life of a cattleman after finally striking it big as a prospector.

But what Sam finds is far from the home he remembers. The ranch has become an armed camp led by his cantankerous half-brother, Walt, who's been hiring men more skilled with a six-gun than a lasso. In Sam's absence, things have gone downhill in all ways possible. But worst of all is the rumor that Walt has been pilfering livestock and selling it as his own. Cattle thieves make a lot of enemies in the Old West, and Walt's enemies want his land, his stock, and his head.

Sam could cut and run. This problem wasn't his making. But the Bar D is still half his—and no man is going to take that away without a fight . . .

Luke Short helped transform the stories of the American West from dime-store pulp into a respected and immensely popular genre. Trouble Country is a classic western adventure rich in grit, authenticity, and intrigue.