VENGEANCE TRAIL

VENGEANCE TRAIL
By Bill Brooks
Leisure Books, January 2009

Johnny Montana has racked up a lot of enemies in his days as a gambler, road agent and killer. And it seems the law has finally caught up with him. Shooting a U.S. senator was the last straw. But it’s a long way across Indian Territory to get Johnny to “Hanging” Judge Parker. And plenty of others are looking to exact their own vengeance. The Biggs boys have given up their successful hog farm to hunt down the man who shot their father between the eyes. Eli Stagg, a hard, cruel tracker, has been hired by the senator’s family to make sure their own version of justice is done. And the Comanche will kill just about anyone on their land.

With all hell about to break loose across the roughest territory in the state, Texas Ranger Henry Dollar is the only one who can prevent an utter bloodbath – if he can stay alive long enough himself.

Although the blurb seems to indicate that Henry Dollar is the central character in this book he isn’t. Neither is anyone else. The story switches regularly between those mentioned above, and more, as it builds in intensity. This allows the author to flesh out his characters, explaining their reasons for hunting Montana, sharing the emotions that drive them. As death and injury befall them, I soon began to wonder if any of them would be alive at the end.

Brooks’ descriptions of time and place are well written and the action scenes are hard hitting. His characters are memorable, both good and bad. Although the story has a pretty straight-forward plot Brooks tells it in a compelling way that makes the book difficult to put down until the end is reached. 

Having read other books by Brooks that all had a dark tone throughout I was surprised to find this one didn’t. This means it should appeal to a wider readership – those who don’t like too much graphic violence, explicit sex, or depressing themes in their reading. 

I found Vengeance Trail to be an enjoyable read and I’m now wondering where my other yet to read books by Bill Brooks are as I was left wanting to read more of his work soon.

OUTLAW DESTINY

 

OUTLAW DESTINY
a.k.a THE LAST DAYS OF WOLF GARNETT
By Clifton Adams
Tandem, 1975
Spur Award Winner for Best Western Novel, 1970

To most Texans, Wolf Garnett was a notorious outlaw, a man to be feared. To Frank Gault, he was a relentless obsession, a man to be killed. Gault had spent more than a year tracking him down to avenge the brutal, senseless murder of his young wife.

And now Wolf Garnett was dead. At least, everyone said so. But Gault wasn’t satisfied. How could he have seen Garnett in Indian territory four days earlier if he’d been dead for two weeks? Was the rotting corpse buried in New Boston Cemetery really that of Garnett?

Whether for revenge, justice, or satisfaction, Frank Gault was driven to find out how Wolf Garnett died – or get killed for trying.

In Frank Gault, Clifton Adams created a character that had nothing else to live for but tracking down Wolf Garnett. Even when all the evidence points to Garnett being dead, Gault has to continue with his fixation on being satisfied that what everyone tells him is true as he has no purpose for carrying on, for living. Garnett is a driven man, a man who won’t let anyone or anything stop him finding out the truth.

Adams’ tells a gritty tale that is infused with darkness. His characters are tough men who only seem to care about their own needs. There’s a woman too. Beautiful. A woman who just about every man is in love with. Does she know what has really happened to her brother Wolf Garnett? 

As the story progresses, Gault’s queries lead to more questions not answers. More characters are introduced, all reluctant to speak of what they know. People die and Gault is still at a loss and the mystery behind Wolf Garnett deepens.

Adams’ superb storytelling easily pulled me into this book. His harsh, bleak prose gripped me instantly and its hook never let go. There’s a noir tone throughout and the story seems to be heading for an unhappy ending for all his characters. Is Gault riding a trail of self-destruction? 

This book won a Spur Award for best Western Novel and it is easy to see why. It’s powerful characterizations and twisting plot will stay in my memory for a long time and make this a book I’d recommend to any western reader. This was Adams’ second Spur Award as he had already won one the previous year for his novel Tragg’s Choice which I have yet to read. I’ve now moved Tragg’s Choice towards the top of my to read pile. 

This book was originally published in America as The Last Days of Wolf Garnett in 1970. In 1972 it was published in the U.K. by Robert Hale under the title Outlaw Destiny and Tandem ran with that title too. 

THE JURY ON SMOKY HILL

THE JURY ON SMOKY HILL

By Jack Curtis

Cover art by Lino Saffioti

Pocket Books, February 1992

Sheriff Dave Cromwell was chosen to stop the gun-happy, liquor-fuelled Texas cowboys who were tearing up Ellsworth, Kansas. But when the good and proper townspeople reached the end of their patience, they decided to take the law into their own hands.

Dave had four prisoners in his jail when the men with white sacks over their heads came bursting in. A few hours later the four captives were hanging from the railroad trestle just outside of town. Knowing each of the twelve “jurors,” Dave turned in his badge. But the killings would not leave him alone.

One by one, the members of Ellsworth’s hanging party began dying. Dave Cromwell thought the executioners were getting pretty much what they deserved. The trouble was, now no one was safe in Ellsworth. Not until the cycle of vengeance was stopped… 

It's been a long, long time since I last read a book by Jack Curtis, an author who wrote for a variety of television series including Big Valley, Gunsmoke, Have Gun Will Travel, The Rifleman, and Zane Grey Theater. Why it’s taken so long to get around to reading him again I can’t say, especially when I really enjoyed the previous book I read by him, Texas Rules. Curtis put out both stand-alone titles and a five-book series about a man called Sam Benbow. Jack Curtis is a pseudonym used by author David Harsent.

The Jury on Smoky Hill is a fast-moving story that blends western and murder/mystery seamlessly. There is very little gunplay but there are plenty of killings. Most of the deaths take place off-screen but by doing this the author doesn’t give any clue as to who is murdering the hanging party. Those so-called jurors begin to point the finger of accusation at Cromwell who is trying to get a ranch up and running after handing in his badge. A gunfighter brought in as Ellsworth new lawman seems quite happy to take orders from the men behind the hangings. The main strengths of this tale come from the author’s ability to create a suspenseful storyline, tension in his characters and anticipation within his readers as we await the next death. Who will it be? Will the vengeance seeking killer succeed in taking out all the hanging party?

Even though the author doesn’t name his killer until the final scenes are ready to be played out, most readers shouldn’t have any difficulty working out who it is. This doesn’t ruin anything though, as you’ll still want to discover if this person kills all his targets or gets stopped before doing so.

The end of the book didn’t quite turn out as I expected as the author had a neat little twist waiting, one that finished the story in the best way possible for me. 

Hopefully, it won’t take anywhere near as long before I pick up another Jack Curtis book as it did between this and my previous Curtis book. 

HELL PASS

 

HELL PASS
By Lance Howard
Cover art by Sebastià Boada
Linford Edition, 2008
First published by Robert Hale, April 2007 as A Black Horse Western

The circus comes to the town of Angel Pass, but does it bring simple pleasure for the hard-working cowboys and wide-eyed children of the community – or something more sinister?

Fresh from a mission to discover the fate of his lovely partner’s long-lost brother and faced with a series of bizarre kidnappings and jewel robberies, ex-manhunter Hannigan endeavours to find out. But will the secrets of the past prove more disturbing than the revelations of the present?

This is the fifth book of seven that Lance Howard wrote about Jim Hannigan. You don’t need to have read any of the others to get full-enjoyment out of this one as it reads like a stand-alone novel. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t any mention of Hannigan’s previous adventures. 

Lance Howard fills this book with fascinating characters – how could you not when having the plot revolve around a circus that sees dwarves, snake dancers, strong men, fortune tellers and more play important roles in the story. A circus into which Hannigan’s partner, Angela del Pelado, will go undercover to try and find trace of the stolen children.

The story contains a flash-back to Angela’s life as a small child going fishing with her brother, Alejandro. It is he who goes missing later. After Angela and Hannigan try to find him, Angela gives up on the hope of ever seeing him again. But we, as readers, know what happened to him and one of the gripping storylines this book contains is wanting to know how Angela will react when she finally comes face to face with him.

Another story-thread that hooked me was the mystery of the missing children. Where were they? Why were they being stolen? 

Although Hannigan is billed as the main character it is Angela who seems to have the larger role in this fast-moving tale. Her need to find her brother. Her desire to be more than a partner in righting wrongs with Hannigan, she wants to be his lover. These, and more, are main features of the plot, as is the horror she will surely have to face by the end of the book.

Howard’s writing is smooth-flowing and easy to read. His plot moves forward at an ever-increasing pace. There’s plenty of action that includes gunplay and assassination attempts. There’s emotional turmoil that makes you share his characters feelings. There are different storylines that are on a collision course, and when everything comes together Howard brings it all to a satisfying conclusion. 

Lance Howard is a pseudonym used by Howard Hopkins, an author whose work I’ve always enjoyed. Hell Pass proved to be another very entertaining read which left me wondering why I’ve left it so long since I last read a book by him.

THESE MEN CHOSE HELL

FORT MISERY

THESE MEN CHOSE HELL

By William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone

Pinnacle, July 2025

Welcome to Fort Misery – where the lowliest dregs of the U.S. Army defend the driest patch of lawless desert against the most sadistic killers in the Wild, Wild West. Sometimes it takes a bad man with a gun to stop another bad man with a gun . . . 

They’re not what you’d call “the good guys.” They’re a mangy pack of despicable deserters, thieves, mutineers, and worse. But as condemned soldiers in an overstretched army, they were given a choice: death by hanging or serving out their time in a hell on earth.

These men chose hell.

Located at the farthest edge of the Yuma Desert, Fort Grierson is a magnet for trouble. Vicious attacks by marauding Apaches and gunslinging outlaws are practically a daily occurrence – and the men holding down the fort are hardly any better. Hence the nickname Fort Misery. When a group of professors show up at the fort in search of lost treasure, a series of gruesome murders begins. The men of Fort Misery will have to find the culprit before they all meet a terrible end . . .

This second book in the Fort Misery series has been a long time coming. Book one came out in February 2023 and I enjoyed reading it.

Captain Kellerman has a number of problems to deal with this time around, not least keeping his soldiers in line, one of whom believes he is Jesus, and dealing with the daily issues of running a fort. His new challenges include the threat of Apache attack. A group of archologists who are digging up his parade ground with President Grant’s permission. Have they unleashed evil spirits? Certainly, the weather has taken a turn for the worse and people are dying since their arrival. Then there’s the gunslingers camped out in the desert. What are they after? Can Kellerman trust them when he enlists their help to fight off the Apache? There’s also the beautiful girl who’s arrived with the professors who seems to be as attracted to him as much as he is to her. And then the murders begin. All the story threads ensure there is never a dull moment in this book.

The author switches regularly between various characters, although he mainly sticks with the officers within the army. The violence is vicious at times, especially the descriptions of the murders. The author also surprised me with one of the characters he killed off and at how soon he did so. Tensions are described well, particularly whilst waiting for the Apache to launch their assaults on the fort. There is also a fair amount of humour thrown in, mostly in conversation, that lightens the tone of the tale now-and-again. 

For a good portion of the book, the author keeps the identity of the mysterious killer a secret but even when known I found myself waiting with bated breath for the next murder – how would it be done and who would be the victim? 

Everything builds to a dramatic finale that brought a close to all the storylines satisfactory, and in some case not as I thought they would. Like in the first book, the final paragraphs of this story seem to be setting up more problems for the soldiers of Fort Misery to deal with, and I for one am looking forward to reading about them whenever the third book appears. 

American readers can get a copy here 

British readers can get a copy here

LONGARM AND SEÑORITA REVENGE

 

LONGARM AND SEÑORITA REVENGE

Book 415 of 436 + 29 Giant Editions

By Tabor Evans

Cover illustration by Milo Sinovcic

Jove, June 2013

The name makes cavalrymen cower, hard cases head for the hills, and bandidos cry, “Vámones!” They call her Señorita Revenge. Savage and merciless, she and her band of kill-crazy Kiowa have been cutting down soldiers like blades of grass in the Texas Big Bend country north of the Rio Grande.

If any man can declaw this homicidal hellcat, it’s Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long.

But when Longarm arrives at the cavalry outpost, he finds a half-mad major, his batty, blond daughter, a horribly scarred captain, and a mouth-watering but mysterious maiden – each of whom is hiding a secret. As Longarm puts the pieces together, he draws ever closer to ending this beautiful buckskin-clad butcher’s reign of vengeance… 

Harsh landscapes and tougher characters – brutal characters in many cases. Seductive, stunningly beautiful women who can be as savage as any man should the need arise, and it does, often. Vicious action scenes. Plot twists that took me by surprise. A breath-taking stagecoach ride. This book has them all, and more. Longarm sure has to keep his wits about him or he’ll end up as one of the deceased. 

The story moves along at terrific speed. Chapters ending on cliff-hangers ensuring I’d keep turning the pages. Great characters, especially Señorita Revenge. Mystery behind her true identity – I had my ideas but I wasn’t quite right. Hard-hitting fairly graphic violence and a couple of descriptive sex scenes – the latter to be expected as the Longarm books are billed as adult westerns, but don’t let them put you off reading this book or you’ll be missing out on a great tale.

I’m being purposefully vague on the plot, and naming characters and their relationships to each other as I don’t want to spoil any part of this book for anyone who has yet to read it. 

The author behind the pseudonym of Tabor Evans this time around is Peter Brandvold and his take on Longarm has always been grittier than most of the other authors who wrote for this series. Think spaghetti rather than Hollywood western. 

After finishing Longarm and Señorita Revenge I was left eagerly wanting to hunt through my collection to dig out another of Peter Brandvold’s entries into this series and start reading it straightaway. Recommended. 

American readers can get a copy here

British readers can get a copy here

BULL'S EYE STAGE COACH

BULL’S EYE STAGE COACH

By Billy Hall

Robert Hale, March 2013

Marshal Dwight Stern and his posse are overseeing the loading of a shipment of gold onto a heavily armoured stage coach when they are ambushed in a surprise attack.

With Stern’s fiancée held in the grip of one of the attackers and a double-barrelled shotgun pointing at her head, there’s no time to play nice. With his hand on his gun and a prayer for the gunman to make a mistake and move the gun from Belinda’s head, all he needs is a split second….

The story starts some time before the incident the blurb outlines. We witness Stern laying the law down in his town and also share his concerns about a number of strangers who are arriving and looking for jobs, especially when one of the tries to befriend Belinda. Then there’s another stranger who implies he’s on Stern’s side, but in what, and can he be trusted?

It isn’t long before the robbery takes place and the outlaws get away with the gold and take Belinda with them. Stern races to save her but will he get to her before she’s ravished and killed? 

Billy Hall was the name Billy Hallsted used for his Black Horse Westerns. He had 39 published before he passed in May 2015. I read quite a few of his books and have always enjoyed them. Bull’s Eye Stage Coach proved to be another entertaining read.

Hallsted paced the story beautifully, moving from one tense scene to another making for some suspenseful reading. There’s plenty of gunplay in this tale too. The stranger who says he’s there to help Stern allowed the author to add some mysterious intrigue into the plot. All this combines to make this a difficult book to put down before I discovered how it all played out.

Luckily for me, I have a few more BHWs by Billy Hall in my collection that I’ve yet to read. On the strength of this one, I’m sure it won’t be too long before I pick up another.

American readers can get a copy here.

British readers can get a copy here.