Collider ranks Western and Western-adjacent novels, including neo-Westerns and genre blends, arguing that the genre’s literary peak broadly coincided with the mid-20th-century prominence of Western cinema. The selection begins with strong titles and progresses towards the author’s top choices.

– 10. *The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford* (1983), by Ron Hansen: a fictionalised exploration of Robert Ford’s life after killing Jesse James.
– 9. *The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger* (1982), by Stephen King: a dark fantasy and horror-inflected Western centred on a gunslinger’s journey.