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Zane Grey's 'Lassiter' Books
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![color book jacket for "Riders of The Purple Sage" [1912]](images/ZGriderspurplesageHB-med.jpg "color book jacket for \"Riders of The Purple Sage\" [1912]") |
Jim Lassiter is the main character in "Riders of The Purple Sage" [1912] and the sequel "The Rainbow Trail" [1915]. He also starred in a series of pulp Westerns in the 1960s & 1970s and another series in the late 1980s, which are recently being reissued in paperback.
original novels
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| Some years after Zane Grey's death in 1939, his first son Romer Zane Grey [1910-1976] worked with various writers to produce many books based on characters created by his father (and published under Romer's name}, notably Arizona Ames, Buck Duane, Nevada Jim Lacey & Laramie Nelson; during this time the first series of Lassiter books were published. After Romer Grey's death, second son Dr. Loren Zane Grey [1915-2007] worked with other writers to produce a second series of Lassiter books (published under Loren's name). |
"Snake mean and rawhide tough, Jim Lassiter had the morals of a murderer and a gunhand like
greased lightning. He took what he wanted – whether it was a bank, a woman, or another man's life."
browse all Romer Zane Grey books
browse all Loren Zane Grey books
browse all Jack Slade / Lassiter books
NOTE: The feature film "Lassiter" [1984] starring Tom Selleck
is not a Western, and has nothing to do with Zane Grey.
Original Lassiter Novels
"Riders of The Purple Sage" [1912]
| In Southern Utah in 1871 – Before he dies, Jane Withersteen's father decides that she should marry a powerful elder of the Mormon church; but since Tull is a polygamist, she refuses. The churchmen want control of her ranch, and so arrest one of her cowhands, Bern Venters, as pressure to marry; but Venters is rescued by vagabond gunfighter Jim Lassiter. Jane's herd is then rustled; the cowhands kill several of the rustlers, and Venters wounds the Masked Rider, who turns out to be a girl named Bess. He rescues her, and they fall in love while hiding out in Surprise Valley. Jane & Lassiter struggle with their attraction for each other, until Lassiter kills Bishop Dyer in her defense, then rescues Fay Larkin, a girl adopted by other Mormons. The three fugitives meet with Venters & Bess; Jane gives Venters title to her horses, and Venters & Bess head for Illinois; The three find refuge in Surprise Valley just as their pursuers catch up with them. Knowing their decision is final, they trigger an avalanche that seals them off from the world forever. |
"Riders of The Purple Sage" [Fox Sept 1918 silent feature]
video/DVD not available full credits from IMDb |
"Riders of The Purple Sage" [Fox 1925 silent feature]
 | Directed by Lynn Reynolds; based on the Zane Grey novel; starring Tom Mix, Mabel Ballin, Harold Goodwin, Beatrice Burnham, Warner Oland, Anne Shirley, Wilfred Lucas & Charles Le Moyne Sinister Cinema b&w DVD [undated] out of prodn/scarce full credits from IMDb |
"Riders of The Purple Sage" [Fox Oct 1931 sound feature]
Directed by Hamilton MacFadden; starring George O'Brien, Marguerite Churchill, Noah Beery, Yvonne Pelletier,
James Todd, Stanley Fields, Lester Dorr, Shirley Nail & Frank McGlynn Jr. full credits from IMDb
"Riders of The Purple Sage" [Fox Oct 1941 feature film]
Directed by James Tinling; starring George Montgomery & Mary Howard, Robert Barrat, Lynne Roberts,
Kane Richmond, Patsy Patterson, Richard Lane, Oscar O'Shea, James Gillette, Frank McGrath & LeRoy Mason
Bridgestone b&w VHS [5/98] out of prodn/used
full credits from IMDb
"Riders of The Purple Sage" [T.N.T. 1996 TV movie]
 | Directed by Charles Haid, co-produced by & starring Ed Harris & Amy Madigan; also starring Henry Thomas, Robin Tunney, Norbert Weisser, G.D. Spradlin, Lynn Wanlass, Bob L. Harris, Jerry Wills & Rusty Musselman
Turner TV movie color DVD [11/2012] for $17.55 Turner TV movie color VHS [10/2000] for $15.55 full credits from IMDb |
"The Rainbow Trail: A Romance" [1915]
the sequel to "Riders of The Purple Sage"
John Shefford fights the Mormon elders of Cottonwood and their bandit henchmen
so that he can bring Fay Larkin out of Surprise Valley and marry her.
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Amereon hardcover [6/76] for $27.95
Pocket pb [11/95] out of print/used Tor/Forge pb [6/94] out of print/used Blackstone UNABR audio [4/97] for $56.95 Newport ABRIDGED audio [10/93] for $9.95 |
"The Rainbow Trail" [Fox Oct 1918 silent feature]
video/DVD not available full credits from IMDb |
"The Rainbow Trail" [Fox 1925 silent feature]
Adapted & directed by Lynn Reynolds; based on the Zane Grey novel; starring Tom Mix, Doc Roberts, Carol
Holloway, Anne Cornwall, Thomas Delmar & Tony the Horse; video/DVD not available
full credits from IMDb
"The Rainbow Trail" [Fox Jan 1932]
Directed by David Howard; starring George O'Brien, Cecilia Parker, Minna Gombell, Roscoe Ates, J.M. Kerrigan,
James Kirkwood, William L. Thorne, Ruth Donnelly, Niles Welch, Alice Ward & Edward Hearn full credits from IMDb
"The Desert Crucible" [2003]
 | the unabridged version of "Rainbow Trail" "The real sequel to Riders of The Purple Sage" – with the anti-Mormon material left in Leisure Books mass pb [9/2004] for $6.99 |
The First Lassiter Series [1968-1985]
all written by Jack Slade {ghost writers W. Todhunter Ballard [1903-80] and Peter McCurtin [1929-97]}
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"Lassiter #1" [1968] by Jack Slade "Lassiter is brutal. Lassiter is everything you would expect a hero not to be. Lassiter is a new breed of Westerner." Dorchester Publng mass pb [6/82] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter #2 : Bandido!" [1968] "When Lassiter sets out to kill a human snake, he doesn't care if he uses a gun, a knife or a rope." Leisure Books mass pb [6/83] out of print/used Belmont Tower mass pb [1968] out of print/scarce "Lassiter #3: Rimfire" [1968]
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 | "Lassiter #4 {or #11}: The Man From Cheyenne" [1968] "Lassiter rode north to rest up for a while. But it didn't work out that way. Trouble follows Lassiter wherever he goes." Belmont Tower #11 mass pb [1968] out of print/used Belmont Tower #4 mass pb [1968] out of print/used "Lassiter #5 : A Hell of A Way To Die" [1969]
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 | "Lassiter #6 : High Lonesome" [1969] "Lassiter didn't mind looking for a man he didn't know. Lassiter figured they'd get acquainted when he killed him." Belmont Tower mass pb [1973] out of print/used Belmont Tower mass pb [1969] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter #7: Gunfight At Ringo Junction" [1970] "A Montana posse chased Lassiter over the border into Canada. The trouble that he found there was bigger than the trouble he left behind." Unibook mass pb [1970] out of print/used "Lassiter #8: The Man From Yuma" [1972]
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Lassiter rides into the middle of a Mexican revolution and finds that the man he is after is now the leader of
the ragtag revolutionary army standing up against the vicious and greedy politicians & generals of the government.
Belmont Tower mass pb [1972] out of print/used
 | "Lassiter #10 : The Badlanders" [1973]
Belmont Tower mass pb [1973] out of print/used "Lassiter #11: The Man From Del Rio" [1973]
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 | "Lassiter #12 : Funeral Bend" [1973] Lassiter becomes the Marshall of El Dorado, the wildest gold camp in Arizona, cleans it up, and then robs it! Belmont Tower mass pb [1973] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter #13 : Gutshooter" [1973] "The loot buried in the desert was drawing killers like flies to a cesspool. Lassiter meant to be there first." Belmont Tower mass pb [1973] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter #14 : The Man From Tombstone" [1974] "Lassiter had to keep the black prize fighter alive long enough to rob the gate." Belmont Tower mass pb [1974] out of print/used Belmont Tower mass pb [1974] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter #15 : Hell At Yuma" [1974] "No job was too tough or too dangerous for Lassiter if the price was right." Belmont Tower mass pb [1974] out of print/used "Lassiter #16 : Ride Into Hell" [1974]
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 | "Lassiterb #17: Durango Kill" [1975] "His weaknesses were money and women ... Just to be sure, they tempted him with both." Belmont Tower mass pb [1975] out of print/used Belmont Tower mass pb [1975] out of print/used "Lassiter #18: The Man From Papago Wells" [1976]
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 | "Lassiter #19: Apache Junction" [1976] Belmont Tower mass pb [1976] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter #20: Hangman" [1977] "Lassiter inhereits a cattle ranch – and a lot of trouble." Belmont Tower mass pb [1977] out of print/used "Lassiter #21: Lust For Gold" [1977]
placeholder for Lassiter #22 |
"Lassiter #23: Cattle Baron" [1977]
Dorchester / Leisure Books mass pb [6/81] out of print/used
Belmont Tower mass pb [1977] out of print/used
 | "Lassiter: The Man From Lordsburg" [1970] by Peter McCurtin as Jack Slade
"When Lassiter wants something he takes it. When people get in his way he kills them. It's a simple way of doing things, but Lassiter likes it. It works for him." Crooked Texas cattleman Jack Chandler is driving a huge herd of beef thru Kansas and carrying a poke crammed full of gold, and Lassiter means to take Chandler's assets from him. http://www.amazon.com/Man-Lordsburg-Lassiter-Western-Book-ebook/dp/B00TUB3GLA/ Belmont / Tower mass pb [6/78] out of print/used Belmont / Tower mass pb [1973?] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter: Sidewinder" [1973 & 1978] "Lassiter started out to crush a human snake, but finds himself digging his own grave." Belmont / Tower mass pb [1973?] out of print/used Dorchester / Leisure Books mass pb [6/78] out of print/used "Zane Grey's Lassiter: Wolverine" [1978]
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"Lassiter: Big Foot's Range" [1979]
Belmont / Tower mass pb [1979] out of print/used
"Lassiter: Five Graves For Lassiter" [1979]
Belmont / Tower mass pb [8/79] out of print/used
 | "Zane Grey's Lassiter #28 : Redgate Gold" [1981]
Leisure Books mass pb [2/2010] for $6.99 Dorchester/Tower mass pb [6/81] for $1.95 [sic] |
 | "Zane Grey's Lassiter: Brother Gun" [1985]
Miguel Aleman saved Lassiter's life; to repay the favor, Lassiter swore to protect Miguels troublesome son Juanito. When Juanito kills a horse trader in a drunken brawl, he faces the gallows – unless Lassiter can save his blood brother. Leisure Books mass pb [7/2009] for $5.99 Leisure Books mass pb [7/85] out of print/used |
Double-Barrel Lassiter Series
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"Gunfight At Ringo Junction" / "The Man From Tombstone" [1971]
Leisure Books mass pb [9/88] out of print/used Leisure Books mass pb [1971] out of print/used "Guerilla" / "The Man From Lordsburg" [1972] Leisure Books mass pb [6/88] out of print/used Leisure Books mass pb [1972] out of print/used "Brother Gun" / "Redgate Gold" [1991] Leisure Books mass pb [3/91] out of print/used |
The Second Lassiter Series [1985-90]
published under Loren Zane Grey's name
the first seven were written 'for hire' by Dean Owen [1906-86]
 | "Lassiter" [#1=1985] "an action-packed yarn that serves up a hearty helping of frontier justice" Kindle Edition from AmazonEncore [12/2013] for $3.99 Leisure Books mass pb [12/2004] out of print/40+ used Pocket mass pb [1985] out of print/40+ used |
 | "Ambush For Lassiter" [#2=1985] Sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for a murder they did not commit, Lassiter and Borling make a daring break for freedom only to be betrayed, and when Lassiter finally makes it out, he is determined on revenge. Leisure Books mass pb [5/2005] for $5.99 Pocket mass pb [4/85] out of print/many used |
 | "Lassiter Gold" [#3=1986] A dying man asks Lassiter to deliver a heavy chest to his son in the town of Sunrise, where Lassiter discovers that the son was killed under suspicious circumstances and that the chest contains $60,000 in shiny gold double eagles. Leisure Books mass pb [1/2007] for $5.39 Pocket mass pb [1986] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter Tough" [#4=1986] "Deep in Texas brush country, Lassiter is out to rope some cattle and a band of ruthless cutthroats who killed his friend." Leisure Books mass pb [7/2007] for $5.99 Pocket mass pb [7/86] out of print/used |
 | "The Lassiter Luck" [#5] "When Lassiter promises to protect his dead friend's son, he never thinks the young rancher will run into such a passel of trouble ... an all-out range war led by a pack of hired sharpshooters trying to steal the kid's land – and their lives. They figure that one man can't last long, but they haven't reckoned on THE LASSITER LUCK." Leisure Books mass pb [4/2008] for $6.99 Pocket mass pb [10/86] out of print/used |
 | "A Grave For Lassiter" [#6=1987] "Shot and left for dead, Lassiter will let nothing get in the way of exacting revenge on the man who murdered his best friend." Leisure Books mass pb [11/2005] for $6.99 Pocket mass pb [2/87] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter's Ride" [#7] "In exchange for protecting the Mitchell family and taking on a gang that has just tried to kill them, Lassiter will earn a share of their gold-mining profits. But it's not just the Sloan gang that wants Mitchell dead – and they'll take Lassiter out, too, if they have to." Leisure Books mass pb [9/2008] for $5.99 Pocket mass pb [7/88] out of print/used |
 | "Lassiter On The Texas Trail" [#8=1988]
Pocket mass pb [11/88] out of print/used "Lassiter and The Great Horse Race" [#9=1989]
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 | "Lassiter and The Golden Dragon" [#10=1989]
"For Lassiter, San Francisco's bright lights spell trouble – he's caught in the middle between two murderous Chinese gangs, forced to outwit and outfight them both while defending a beautiful girl and a glittering golden treasure." Pocket mass pb [11/89] out of print/used |
"Lassiter's Showdown" [#11=1990]
Lassiter rides into the badlands of northern Montana Territory on the trail of a missing wife. But Ellie Jackson is on a mission to find
her long-lost sister, and when horse thieves get in her way, the pistol-packing spitfire buys Lassiter a whole wagonload of trouble.
Pocket mass pb [5/90] out of print/used
"Lassiter In The Comanche Stronghold" [#12=1990]
"Lassiter [is] caught in the middle of a bitter struggle between the Kwahadi Comanches, who are fighting for their land
and way of life, and an ambitious, arrogant Army commander and his troops."
Pocket mass pb [11/90] out of print/used
here on Zane Grey's 'Lassiter' Books Page at 'Readers of The Purple Sage'
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