There's oil in these hills...
Jonathon . T. Hargraves and his associates, Mortimer 'Mort' Standish and Nick Royston are good-for-nothing 'businessmen' - crooks to everyone else.
Just as they're down to their last pot of money, luck comes in the form of Martin Grant.
Back when he was the foreman for the Hanging 9 Ranch, Martin accidently stumbled on oil.
Instead of telling the owner - an old man by the name of Brooks and his niece Nadia - he aims to sell its location for a high sum.
Unfortunately for Grant, he sells his info to the three crooks, who in turn order a hit on him before he can even cash his cheque.
However, as fate would have it, 'Holy Smoke' Jones and his gang - Tubby, Limey and Slim - discover the mortally wounded Grant.
While they preach the Gospel throughout the West, any 'collections' from services go straight to their pockets.
But the gang draws a line at murder, let alone a cold-blooded killing.
With his dying breath, Grant warns them of Hargraves and his scheme to take over the local town of Pocana - all for the oil on the Hanging 9 ranch.
Pocana may be a quiet town but it's obvious that the Sheriff and the Mayor aren't up to much good.
A paranoid man, Sheriff Mike O'Toole, is pretty sure that Holy aims for his job; but he also knows that Hargrave is probably not the Western Railway representative he claims to be.
With him around, a shaky truce is enforced that entraps both sides.
So while Holy preaches to Pocana, Hargrave comes up with a neat solution - kill the Sheriff and frame Holy.
With the sheriff and Holy out the way, he can even reveal Mayor Kingswood's dirty and illegal secrets to the town.
And as the new Mayor, he'll have even more power to take over the Hanging 9 Ranch, no matter what they say.
But Holy and his gang aren't the type to just roll over and leave the town to this oil-greedy snake.
They'll stop Hargraves from getting that oil, one way or another...
A classic of its day, The Hanging 9 is an action-packed, suspense filled Western.
'A classic story of adventure and courage in the Old West.' - Tom Kasey, best-selling author of Trade Off.
John Russell Fearn (1908-1960) is well remembered as almost single-handedly driving the post-World War II boom in British publishing with a flood of science fiction, detective stories, and westerns. His writing appeared under various pseudonyms and has been translated into many languages around the world. His other westerns include Stone of Courage, Rule of the Gun, Rattlesnake, The Wreckers and Skeleton Pass.
Genre: Western
Jonathon . T. Hargraves and his associates, Mortimer 'Mort' Standish and Nick Royston are good-for-nothing 'businessmen' - crooks to everyone else.
Just as they're down to their last pot of money, luck comes in the form of Martin Grant.
Back when he was the foreman for the Hanging 9 Ranch, Martin accidently stumbled on oil.
Instead of telling the owner - an old man by the name of Brooks and his niece Nadia - he aims to sell its location for a high sum.
Unfortunately for Grant, he sells his info to the three crooks, who in turn order a hit on him before he can even cash his cheque.
However, as fate would have it, 'Holy Smoke' Jones and his gang - Tubby, Limey and Slim - discover the mortally wounded Grant.
While they preach the Gospel throughout the West, any 'collections' from services go straight to their pockets.
But the gang draws a line at murder, let alone a cold-blooded killing.
With his dying breath, Grant warns them of Hargraves and his scheme to take over the local town of Pocana - all for the oil on the Hanging 9 ranch.
Pocana may be a quiet town but it's obvious that the Sheriff and the Mayor aren't up to much good.
A paranoid man, Sheriff Mike O'Toole, is pretty sure that Holy aims for his job; but he also knows that Hargrave is probably not the Western Railway representative he claims to be.
With him around, a shaky truce is enforced that entraps both sides.
So while Holy preaches to Pocana, Hargrave comes up with a neat solution - kill the Sheriff and frame Holy.
With the sheriff and Holy out the way, he can even reveal Mayor Kingswood's dirty and illegal secrets to the town.
And as the new Mayor, he'll have even more power to take over the Hanging 9 Ranch, no matter what they say.
But Holy and his gang aren't the type to just roll over and leave the town to this oil-greedy snake.
They'll stop Hargraves from getting that oil, one way or another...
A classic of its day, The Hanging 9 is an action-packed, suspense filled Western.
Praise for John Russell Fearn
'A classic story of adventure and courage in the Old West.' - Tom Kasey, best-selling author of Trade Off.
John Russell Fearn (1908-1960) is well remembered as almost single-handedly driving the post-World War II boom in British publishing with a flood of science fiction, detective stories, and westerns. His writing appeared under various pseudonyms and has been translated into many languages around the world. His other westerns include Stone of Courage, Rule of the Gun, Rattlesnake, The Wreckers and Skeleton Pass.
Genre: Western
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