Trailin' was an early novel full of the gusto and terse, fresh style that would make Brand's reputation. A wild West story, Trailin' opens in Madison Square Garden, where Anthony Woodbury accepts a challenge to ride a killer horse. When the man supposed to be his father is murdered, Woodbury follows the trail of the slayer west. As he pursues the secret of his birth, he takes huge risks that only a tenderfoot would entertain. "The story undeniably grips," wrote the reviewer for Anteneum when it was first published in 1920 (Richard W. Etulain).
Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 – May 12, 1944) was an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary Westerns under the pen name Max Brand. Faust (as Max Brand) also created the popular fictional character of young medical intern Dr. James Kildare in a series of pulp fiction stories. Faust's Kildare character was subsequently featured over several decades in other media, including a series of American theatrical films by Paramount Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a radio series, two television series, and comics. Faust's other pseudonyms include George Owen Baxter, Evan Evans, George Evans, David Manning, John Frederick, Peter Morland, George Challis, Peter Ward and Frederick Frost.