Sweep of Fury

SWEEP OF FURY
As by Dempsey Clay
A Black Horse Western from Hale, October 2009

Killer Jimmy Tucker wanted to die.

‘Do it now, Gant,’ he begged the stone-faced lawman. ‘Don’t let ‘em swing me off their gallows. Just shoot me now!’

He was pleading with the wrong man. The Marshals’ Manual was Gant’s bible.

‘The law says you’re to hang, Tucker,’ he pronounced, ‘and I’ll see that you do it.’

‘You ain’t human, Gant!’

Gant nodded. Maybe Tucker was half-right but he’d still swing. The next badman to receive mercy from Marshal Gant would be the first.

Marshal Gant makes for an excellent hero, a proud man who backs down from no one, a man who lives to the letter of the law. A man who is aiming to retire after seeing Tucker hang. But there’s history there too, ghosts from the past that need setting to rest. And then there’s the possibility that Gant’s law could be wrong…

Paul Wheelahan, writing as Dempsey Clay, has produced a terrific study in human character in Gant. The Marshal isn’t an easy man to like yet you’ll soon be swept up in the story, wanting to know how Gant will face the challenges to his beliefs – not all of them can be tackled with brute force.

The book moves forward at a cracking pace, filled with action and tough dialogue. Although the end offers no surprises it’s an exciting read getting there.

Sweep of Fury was officially released on October 30th, and I’d suggest grabbing a copy before it sells out – something Black Horse Westerns do more often that not these days.

The Spanish Bit Saga #16

THE SPANISH BIT SAGA #16:

FORT DE CHASTAIGNE

by Don Coldsmith

Bantam, December 1991

Wise old medicine man, White Fox, and his impressionable son, Red Horse, have agreed to guide Captain LeFever of Fort de Chastaigne to Santa Fe, in his quest to establish trade relations between the French and the Spanish. But their destination proves to be an elusive one; Baptiste DuBois, the vicious leader of a band of voyageurs, joins the expedition and cruelly assaults a Mandan woman, trapping LeFever and the People of the plains in the middle of an unwanted blood feud. For young Red Horse, the voyage downriver becomes a journey to manhood as he confronts treachery, passion, and greed that inflame the heart and imperil the survival of his people.

Don Coldsmith, once more, writes a fascinating book about his fictional band of the People and their struggles to come to terms with the ways of other people, here the French. Most of this is seen through the eyes of Red Horse, particularly after he’s witness to murder. Red Horse, too, must try to understand the complexities of women, which lead to some heart rendering discoveries.

One of my favourite parts of this book was when the People first lay eyes on a black man. Why would somebody paint his whole body they wonder?

Like many of the Spanish Bit books this is mainly a tale of discovery, both of people and land. Coldsmith’s writing style has you sharing that wonder, the fear and the horror of sudden violence.

To say more would give away too much of the plot, and again I will say that if you have an interest in the Indian way of life – or are just looking for a good read – then this book is worth hunting out.

Cord

CORD
as by Owen Rountree
Ballantine, April 1982

Cord is tough – an outlaw, a bank robber, fast, and deadly with guns.

This time Cord and his female partner in crime, Chi, are on the run – in two different directions. One of Cord’s old-time lawbreaking buddies needs a favour – and for Cord it’s a chance to settle an old score in a town that’s being overrun by the wrong kind of outlaws…

This is the first in a nine book series.

Owen Rountree presents the reader with an action packed, and brutal, read; both in descriptions of violence - which are, at times, quite graphic - and in some of the language used, swearwords of the strongest kind, more often than not uttered by the books heroine, Chi.

Chi and Cord seem to have a love/hate relationship, both work well together yet both are willing to go-it-alone, and in the process will double-cross each other. Chi seems to act the most rashly, jumping in mouth or guns blazing before thinking.

Rountree also includes a great character in Brocius, a dwarf that keeps appearing where least expected, and seems to know more than he lets on – or does he?

The story is very fast moving, and Rountree’s writing style is very readable. The book introduces Cord and Chi well and has me wanting to read their next adventure very soon.

Owen Rountree is a pseudonym shared by William Kittredge and Steven Krauzer.

The Trailsman #336

THE TRAILSMAN #336:
UTAH OUTLAWS
as by Jon Sharpe
Signet, October 2009

After Fargo takes a job protecting a stagecoach, he ends up facedown in the dirt. When he comes to, a man is dead, the money is stolen, and an entire town blames Fargo. But a beautiful backwoods nurse knows Fargo was drugged, and Fargo suspects that someone set him up for a fall. Now he has to find out who’s trying to heap shame on his good name – and pay back the favor with hot lead.

Jon Sharpe fills this book with an excellent set of characters, many of whom Fargo doesn’t know whether he can trust – after all most of the town want to hang him for something he wasn’t responsible for. There are evil outlaws, a man suffering through guilt, a lawman who can’t prove his suspicions, those of both sexes driven by greed, the innocent caught up in events out of their control, and, the expected, handful of sensual women. Many of these people are out to double-cross each other too. Just a few of these well-drawn characters would be enough to hold a readers attention, but this amount means they take a firm grip and won’t let go until you find out how everything is resolved.

Jon Sharpe writes this book in an easy to read style, constantly switching from one character to another, gradually unveiling who is behind what, bringing a number of them together for a suspenseful final showdown. There’s not as much gunplay as in some Trailsman books but the devious lives of the many characters more than makes up for this. Even when the author reveals the bad guys, and their plans, you’re never quite sure how the story will finish.

I’m sure this book will please all Trailsman fans, and those who just dip into the series from time to time.

The Staked Plains

THE STAKED PLAINS
as by Billy Moore
A Black Horse Western from Hale, October 2009

When buffalo-hide hunter, Quentin McLeod, rescues Carlotta Mainord from Comanche raiders, their struggle is still far from over. They must face further hostility from the Indians, flash floods and white brigands, only to find themselves in even greater danger when they arrive in the apparent safety of New Mexico.

Carlotta Mainord is attacked and left helpless in a coma and McLeod is blamed and accused of being a Comanchero. Can he convince the hanging jury of his innocence and will he escape the lynch mob in time?

The story begins in the middle of McLeod’s rescue of Carlotta and provides some excellent action sequences, as does the subsequent flight for freedom. During this Billy Moore spends time fleshing out his two main characters’ back story and develops the growing attraction between them – Carlotta at first mistrusting McLeod’s motives: after all he was a Galvanized Yankee!

Once McLeod finds himself held prisoner by the US Army, the story changes pace a little and becomes a war of words in a fascinating and suspenseful trial. Billy Moore introduces two real characters here that help with McLeod’s defence, these being Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving.

Billy Moore has also come up with a wonderfully evil bad guy, Ian Richards, who seems one step ahead of everyone, even though he’s seen to be slowing slipping into the grip of craziness.

The book finishes with a frantic escape bid that ends in a dramatic, and memorable, scene.

I don’t know anything about Billy Moore – even if this is the authors real name or a pseudonym – and it looks like The Staked Plains is his first Black Horse Western. On the strength of this book I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for more.

For those interested in cover art this book features a painting by Tony Masero (he who painted the majority of the covers for George G. Gilman’s westerns in the UK).

The Staked Plains has its official release on October 30th, and I’d suggest getting your order in soon, before it sells out.

The Battle for Skillern Tract

THE BATTLE FOR SKILLERN TRACT
as by Matt Laidlaw
A Black Horse Western from Hale, October 2009

When desperate ex-Confederate officer Zac Hunter rides into Nacogdoches, he has his mind set on bank robbery. What he finds when he walks into the bank is a robbery already in progress and town marshal Dan McCrae dying from gunshot wounds.

Hunter is accused of murder by councillor Morgan Jarrow, then abruptly offered the job of town marshal. He is forced to serve notice on businessmen drilling for oil on the Skillern tract, crosses swords with lawyer Tyne Coburn and the two gunslingers Yantze and Levin, and must decide if Deputy Quint’s strange confession is the truth.

As the various factions in Nacogdoches struggle for supremacy, Hunter is drawn into a vicious cycle of treachery and murder. The showdown would come in a blazing gunfight on the Skillern tract.

Matt Laidlaw really heaps problem upon problem for his hero, Zac Hunter. Questions about motives, who is really who they say they are, and who he can trust, all grabbed my attention and made this a very difficult book to put down.

The story takes place over a three-day period, and Matt Laidlaw weaves his fictional characters, and how it could have happened, with true events. Oil was discovered on the Skillern tract on the day it is in the story: the author adding some notes at the end explaining this and which people in the book are real.

Matt Laidlaw is a pseudonym for writer John Paxton Sheriff, and this author really knows how to build on his storyline, creating a book filled with mistrusts, deceit, greed and plenty of action. The final showdown making for some very exciting reading as all sides converge on the drilling site.

Even though I have other books by John Paxton Sheriff in my collection I never got around to reading any. After reading this one I’m sure going to be rectifying this soon.

The Battle for Skillern Tract will be officially released on October 30th, but it should be available from Internet booksellers now.

Death Ground

DEATH GROUND
By Ed Gorman
Leisure, November 2009

The bank’s been robbed, two men are dead, and there’s a $1,000 reward on the head of a mountain man called Kriker. Leo Guild is just as eager as anyone to collect the bounty. But he also knows—from personal experience—the law has been wrong before. He wants to hear Kriker’s side of the story before making any rash judgments. So he sets off through the icy wilderness to track his quarry. The deeper Guild goes in the mountains, the more he realizes that in this case the law and the truth are not at all on the same side. If he wants justice, he’ll have to find it for himself…whatever the price.

To my knowledge this is the second of Ed Gorman’s Leo Guild books, and the second to be reprinted by Leisure. The story is superbly written and has a very dark tone to it. Guild carries his own ghosts, there are a couple of characters hiding their own pasts, and an outbreak of cholera hangs over them all.

Ed Gorman spends quite a bit of time fleshing out his characters back stories, writing some lengthy passages about their past life and how they came to be where they are, particularly in the case of Kriker and the little girl he calls his own. Then there is the Bruckner brothers, one you’ll soon detest and the other, perhaps, feel sorry for.

Guild’s quest to discover the truth of who killed who, and why, makes for some fascinating and well thought-out reading. Once Guild has these answers he finds himself in a race against time to free a kidnapped, and very sick, little girl.

The story is filled with hard-hitting scenes as it moves towards its tragic and emotionally charged ending.

Death Ground has made me realise I’ve overlooked some great reading by never having read any of the Guild books before, so I can only hope that Leisure continue to reprint the remaining books so that those of us who missed out the first time can join the ranks of those who enjoyed them first time around.

Ed Gorman is definitely a writer who should be on all western fans must read list.

Death Ground should be in the stores any day, although it is available from Internet sellers now.