The Outlaw Left For Dead: Rot Gut Pulp: Lasso & Lariat, #1

By Curt Sembello

A railroad moving to the struggling hamlet of Clear Butte promises jobs, but change is difficult and the townspeople are angry.

 

Sheriff Nettie Foster is helping with negotiations when the mayor dies in gunfire. His murderer is jj Blackwater - a man Foster brought to justice and left for dead years before.

 

Blackwater now works for Ewers Bliss Wardell, a ruthless gold tycoon who takes over as mayor with promises to return the town to its former glory. He intends to send the railroad away, re-open a dangerous mill, fire Foster and make Blackwater sheriff.

 

Can Nettie Foster delay Wardell's plans, save the town, and return Blackwater to justice?

 

The Outlaw Left for Dead is the first entry in Rot Gut Pulp's Lasso and Lariat™ Western series. Based on absurd pulp magazine stories of the '30s and '40s, it continues Rot Gut Pulp's commitment to 45-minute neo-pulp short reads. It's perfect for the beach or camp, mindless study breaks, short flights and long commutes.

 

Rot Gut Pulp: Long Live Short Fiction.™

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rot Gut Pulp
• Release date: Oct 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9798215151303

Book preview

Editor’s Note:

Pulps of the Old West did as much to define the American myth as John Wayne and Gary Cooper movies. Western Stories magazine ran weekly for over 1200 issues between 1919 and 1949 and carried Max Brand, Jackson Gregory, William MacLeod Raine, and Ernest Haycox to over two million readers at its peak.

Of course, perceptions of the West were different in the early 20th Century. Readers still thought of Andrew Jackson as a brilliant mind, and didn’t much think of the moral implications of westward expansion. Those pining for an old Cowboys-and-Indians story aren’t going to find it here at Rot Gut Pulp – but I think Curt has some fun with the genre.

The Outlaw Left for Dead is based on a true story passed down through folk songs and campfire tales. Rot Gut Pulp is presenting it unadulterated and uncensored. Some readers may disagree with the very notion of a Western and the connotations the genre carries, so I’ll say it now as Curt would: if you’re primed to explode, put this down. Read something different, like CT Liotta and Riv Aurora’s gay pirate adventure Treason on the Barbary Coast! It’s also available for $0.99 from Rot Gut Pulp.

This is my first turn at the helm as chief editor of a pulp. The writer happens to be the editor-in-chief of Rot Gut Pulp and also my boss, so I have to gush. It remains that the daily abuse he inflicts upon me is matched only by the nightly abuse he inflicts upon his liver. If you enjoy this story, leave a review and buy the next one we print.

Sincerely,

Corliss Wilborne, Editor, Rot Gut Pulp Publications

Rot Gut Pulp. It’s not meant to be good. It’s meant to be read. ™

THE OUTLAW LEFT FOR DEAD

Based on a true story.

T he price of three bullets? Three cents. The old shopkeeper eyed the woman standing on his sawdust-covered floor. He counted rounds from a paper box. One. Two. Three.

The woman, under a Stetson, wiped her nose on her sleeve. She turned her pockets out and slid three pennies across the top of a glass display case.

Forgive me for noticin’, Miss, said the shopkeeper, "but y’aint from Oat Creek, and now your pockets is empty.