Publisher's Synopsis
The story of Lucia d'Arquista's confrontation with her own soul, "The Black Rider," originally published in 1925, is set in Spanish California at the time when the eastern colonies of this country were still ruled by Great Britain. The feud between Red Macdonald and the Gregory clan disrupts the quiet town of Sudeth in "The Dream of Macdonald" (1923). As this short novel progresses, Macdonald's dream increasingly takes possession of his very being. In a few deft pages, Brand takes up the challenge of the most demanding form of fiction in "Partners," a 1938 short short story that sketches a murderous relationship between two men. "The Power of Prayer," which first appeared in the 1922 Christmas issue of Western Story Magazine, concerns Gerald Kern, a real gentleman who is also a gunman. His tale is not unlike that of the true and imperishable gentleman of darkness from the Book of Job.
