Troubleshooter by Alan David, a pseudonym for prolific British multi-genre author Donald S. Rowland (
ISFDB,
SFE), is the 1st novel in his Chet Manning trilogy of western historical action adventure novels starring the eponymous gunslinging troubleshooter for the South & West railroad company, this installment setting up the rivalry between two railroad companies with ambitions of being the first to lay tracks to a certain area, and Manning's attempts to defend his own company from an opposite number determined to put them out of business, starting with targeting S&W's chief troubleshooter, free for a limited time courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press' Pioneering imprint.
This was originally published in 1979 by Magread under the title
Iron Rails using the pseudonym Bart Shane.
Currently free @
Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and pretty much everywhere else worldwide that Amazon sells, since this is being done via their KDP Select exclusive or else program)
Description
Tensions are high in the American West.
The race is on to see which company can be the first to reach the Apache Pass with their iron rail tracks.
S & W and Pacific West are neck and neck.
But this is a dangerous game.
High stakes mean ambushes and gun fights are all part of the competition.
Chet Manning, S & W’s chief troubleshooter, is willing to die for the success of the railroad and there isn’t an outlaw or gunslinger in the territory who doesn’t fear his lethal approach.
However, even the best can be defeated and Ben Yaro threatens to do just that in his determination to put S & W completely out of business.
With a traitor in their midst, numerous attempts on his life and a known weakness for women, Manning desperately tries to save the railroad.
Can he out-smart Yaro and gain control of the railroad?
Or will he lose his reputation - and maybe his life - in the battle?
Troubleshooter is an thrilling, authentic Western that will keep readers gripped from the first page to the last.