With gangsters hot on their heels, a bereaved cowboy and cynical space pirate are forced to work together for their own survival.

All Slap ever wanted was his ranch and family. The gangster Lyssel destroyed all that, leaving only charred remains. Tristan wanted nothing; he had no expectations from life and trusted no one.

The cowboy and space pirate discover they are hunted by a common enemy: Lyssel. Able only to trust each other against this gangster and his mob, the two are forced to work together. But how can two such total opposites ever make their alliance work?

Buy it in e-book.

In e-book.

Reviews

"This is space opera of the truest kind, with pirates and cowboys and evil empires and political powermongering...if you like the idea of spacey derring-do, I think you'll love this one."     - Splashdown Reviews

 

"While set in a science fiction world, the story itself is one anyone can identify with. For space opera lovers, this is a must read..."     - Copple's Creations Review

 

"...the book lives up to all the unabashedly cliff-hanging, popcorn-eating, silly-grin-inducing fun of the premise."     - John Adcox Reviews Pretty Much Anything

 

"L.S. King's...natural style, likeable characters, and non-stop action make Deuces Wild: Beginners’ Luck a winner for any reader...If you’re looking for a fun adventure with great writing, this is where it’s at."     - Christian Sci-fi and Fantasy Review

There is something intriguing about the prospect of throwing two different temperaments together and watching the sparks fly. Especially when one party is a rigorously meticulous death-dealer, and the other is a happy-go-lucky life-giver.

In Deuces Wild: Beginners' Luck, we get to see the beginning of a classic, literary friendship. Two diametrically opposed personalities work together to forge their uneasy bond, thrown together by cruelty, circumstance, and sealed by something as old-school as "honor."

Author L. S. King gives us a series which combines the best Western vibe of Butch and Sundance with the space-faring vigor of Joss Whedon's Firefly. This is a new series whose elements feel familiar, but whose treatment is entirely fresh.

Johne Cook
Editor, Ray Gun Revival magazine

Book One: Beginners' Luck - the first three chapters

Introduction: "Reluctant Allies":

part one
part two
part three

This book first appeared as a serialized novel in Ray Gun Revival. Back issues are available in the Vault, found in RGR's forum.

Many thanks to James King for his invaluable help in creating the ships and weapons Slap and Tristan have been up against throughout all of the Deuces Wild stories.

Special thanks to physicist Jonathan Crofts for his patience as he attempts to keep me from breaking too many physics rule outright.

These two men are my heroes.

Anything technically or scientifically Not Right in my stories is due to my own fallibility and misunderstanding.

I would like to add an additional thanks to Johne Cook, editor at Ray Gun Revival for coerc-for, ah, convincing me I could do a serialized novel for the zine, and to Shannon McNear, my writing buddy, who has always been there for me.

And last, but definitely not least, thanks to E.J. Mickels II for the fantastic cover art!

Deuces Wild is dedicated to the memory of my best friend; my inspiration for an enduring friendship...
http://loriendil.com/Starsky/