Cole & Hitch Books In Order

Publication Order of Virgil Cole & Everett Hitch Books

The Cole & Hitch series is a series of western novels written by the popular American author named Robert B. Parker. The later books in the series were written by Robert Knott following the death of author Parker. The series features Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch in the lead roles. Virgil Cole is described by author Parker as a new marshall of the ranching and mining town called Appaloosa, while Everett Hitch is introduced as his deputy. The initial few books of the series served as the departure for author Parker, who used to write detective fiction novels quite frequently until the Wyatt Earp novel titled Gunman’s Rhapsody published in the year 2001. This western series is comprised of a total of 7 books, which were released between the years 2005 and 2014. The debut novel of this series is titled as Appaloosa, which was later adapted into a Hollywood film of the same name in the year 2008. Author Robert Parker began writing the series in the year 2005 and also published its first book in the same year. The final book that author Parker wrote in the Cole & Hitch series is known as the ‘Blue-Eyes Devil’. This was the 4th novel of the series. After this novel, the remaining three were written by the another author named Robert Knott. Because of his important contribution to the series in the later parts, it is believed that the series lives on Knott as its author. Both Everett Hitch and Virgil Cole are described as lawmen by author Parker, who roam throughout the Old West. They are popularly known as the town-taming gunslingers of the Old West. The people living in the town refer to them as private eyes by deed and not by name. Author Parker has described them as becoming popular lawmen for hire during the late 19th century. They are often compared to the likes of Chandler and Hammett.

The personality of Virgil Cole is similar to that of a pragmatic and taciturn man, who is violent, hard boiled only when required. He is pretty much Stoic in nature. On the other hand, Everett Hitch is described as a less tight-lipped lawman in comparison with Virgil Cole and is the sole narrator of the stories in this western series book. Both the men’s working styles is compared to that of Hawk and Spenser, but they do not have the glib banter. Many critics believe that the presence of the dry dustiness of slowness in the books of this series is what makes them unique to read. The hard boiled fans of author Parker and of western novels in particular enjoy reading the books to a great extent, despite the fact that they a number of trappings. There are many spaces in the books that allow the readers to take a halt and breathe. On the whole, the series is filled with the numerous elements of the usual obsessions of author Parker, including loyalty, honor, love, friendship, morality, autonomy, and romantic love. Throughout the series, Virgil and Hitch continue doing gun work and cleaning up the lawless or tred communities. They try to follow the laws a far as possible and on many occasions tend to write a few of them on their own. Out of the two lawmen, Virgil acts as the both and Hitch serves as his assistant. Virgil does not fear anything or anybody. He remained uneducated but is very efficient in whatever he does, especially with the guns. In several parts of the series, it can be seen that Virgil tries to read with a slow pace in order to make himself proficient in it. He keeps himself busy in spare times in his struggle to build up his vocabulary.

The first book of the Cole & Hitch series is titled as ‘Appaloosa’. It was released in by the Putnam Adult publication in the year 2005. Author Parker has described a town called Appaloosa, located in the Old West and has introduced Everett and Virgil as lawmen arriving in this town to deal with the increasing crime. At the start of the book, it is shown that as both the men reach Appaloosa, they realize that the small and dusty town is suffering because of a renegade rancher named Randall Bragg. He does not seem to have any regard for the law and likes to take the horses, women, and supplies for his own benefit. On one occasion, Randall was involved in the killing of the city marshal and a deputy as tried to stop him from doing illegal things. Hitch and Cole think that in order to dead with this man, they will have to use all their expertise. They realize that Randall is difficult to deal with as he raises the stakes everytime they use a trick against him. He seems to be playing with the emotions and not by the rules. This deadly aspect of Randall’s personality makes him a wily adversary.

Another popular book written in the series by author Parker is titled as ‘Blue-Eyes Devil’. It was released in the year 2010. Once again the story is set in Old West, featuring the lawmen Cole and Hitch. The starting sequence of this book shows that a man named Amos Callico becomes the new chief of the town. He is described by the author as a fat, tall man, wearing a derby hat with a star and a big Colt on his uniform. Amos appears to be a man with ambitions as he eyeing governorship as well as the presidency. For this purpose, he wants the duo on his side. However, he seems to be upset over the fact that they cannot be bought. When he begins to force the local merchants to pay him protection money, the ones who don’t waste their hard earned money reach out to Cole & Hitch for help. Amos knows it very well that these men will can prove to be a big problem for his extortion business. Soon, he comes to know that they gunned down the cruel son of a landowner who was connected to him politically, he begins to see his dreams crumble in front of his eyes. As he prepares himself to face the two men, they too seem ready to clean up his illegal business activities. The novel proved to be a great success, just like all the other ones in the series. This helped author Parker to add more stars to his name in the western genre of novels. Towards the end of his writing career, he was praised by many for his dedicated efforts in writing down this excellent novel series. It was easy to understand writing style that helped author Knott to easily continue writing the series after his death.

4 Responses to “Cole & Hitch”

1. Annie Frey: 5 months ago

   I love this series and how Virgil and Hitch
   operate so well together…they are a “good guys”
   pair !

   Reply
2. Dane A Becker: 4 years ago

   Where any books from this series besides Appaloosa made into a movie?

   Reply
   • Graeme: 4 years ago

     Not yet just Appaloosa

     Reply
   • RODNEY WHITE: 2 years ago

     Not much love interest in the stories. Hollywood needs a woman’s (good or bad) touch. Apoaloosa had that

     Reply