Cross Over Nine: 188

John Witherby came home for one thing: his miserly granduncle's fortune. Instead he finds a corpse, a riddle scratched on a tape measure-"Start from Powhassett... Cross over nine"-and a town that wants him dead. Hunted by the merciless Doctor and his gang, Witherby must follow a trail of half-buried secrets, broken loyalties, and a mysterious map of symbols that points to two million dollars... and to murder.Into this savage game steps Cherry Larue, the dark-eyed singer who could be trinket or talisman, ally or betrayer. Between the Doctor's cold calculation and a rural community hungry for revenge, Witherby's iron strength and raw honor are all that stand between survival and oblivion. From moonlit raids and backwoods chases to a final, explosive reckoning, Cross Over Nine is a lean, pulpy thriller of greed, grit, and grim justice.Perfect for readers of classic pulp fiction and hard-bitten mysteries, Max Brand's Cross Over Nine delivers full-throttle suspense, murder, and a treasure hunt that won't let you go until the last secret is unearthed.