THE TRAILSMAN #398:
ARIZONA AMBUSHERS
By Jon Sharpe
Signet, December 2014
Skye Fargo comes across a massacred army unit in the Arizona wild, and everyone immediately assumes it was the Apaches. But when he investigates, he finds something even more frightening – a savage pack of feminine felons out for blood and money. But he isn’t about to let any of these wild women get away – not without the Trailsman putting them flat on their backs….
Jon Sharpe sure has come up with a terrific group of adversaries for the Trailsman, and they aren’t the only great characters to be found in this story for there’s another woman who is out for revenge, and there’s a half-blood who seems to want to help Fargo but may have another agenda. And shadowing them all is a small band of Apaches set to strike at any moment.
There are many tense moments to be found in this extremely fast paced tale. Action explodes across the pages regularly and there is a neat twist that took me completely by surprise. Combine this with believable dialogue that is often laced with humour and you have a book that demands to be read.
Once more this tale finds David Robbins writing behind the pseudonym of Jon Sharpe and again it’s his gift of storytelling that makes this book such a joy to read, and for me, and many, many other fans of Skye Fargo it really is a shame that this could well be last time we’ll read a new Trailsman adventure for the series has been cancelled. There is a vague glimmer of hope that Fargo could ride again as a reliable source has said the publishers have stated the series has been put on hiatus.
In case this does turn out to be the last Trailsman book I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the authors who have written behind the pseudonym of Jon Sharpe and made this a must read series for me.
14 comments:
I wonder if you could say a little more about this cancellation--for example, does it apply to other series like The Gunsmith and Longarm? Thanks.
Hi Joe,
All of the 'big four' series are coming to an end.
Slocum's last is this months book, #430: Slocum's Silver Burden.
Longarm ends in March with book #436: Longarm and the Model Prisoner.
The Gunsmith will stop being published by Jove in March with book #399: Death in the Family.
You'll notice I said The Gunsmith won't be published by Jove anymore, but it will continue as ebooks put out by Piccadilly Publishing and it is hoped paper books will be sold by another publisher.
The reason The Gunsmith can continue is that the series is owned by the author and the other three by the publishing houses.
From what I can gather there will be a lot less other westerns too, only time will reveal which will vanish.
Steve,
Thanks for your kind comments.
It's a reflection on current cultural trends that 'traditional' Westerns are being 'downgraded', in a sense, by the publishing houses. And great that others are taking up the slack---as Piccadilly has done.
Glad you liked the story. I'd hoped that Fargo could (perhaps temporarily) ride off into the sunset on an especially entertaining note.
David
Yep, it's a shame to see these series grind to a halt. I have a fondness for all of them, and SLOCUM in particular, as I wrote a number of them over the past few years.
Piccadilly's continuation of the GUNSMITH series is excellent news.
As is the news that the inimitable Peter Brandvold has stepped in to fill the void: A rip-roaring all-action AW series, THE REVENGER, is out now. In fact, I think he's up to #7. And they are excellent reads. Here's a link to a sample chapter from the latest:
http://peterbrandvold.blogspot.com/2014/11/revenger-7-now-available-from-mean-pete.html
-Matthew
I have been reading the Trailsman for 30 years. I look forward each month for the next book to download into my Nook. I am very unhappy that Skye Fargo is no longer going to be traveling the west. The Trailsman is the only western I read. I hope the publisher will reconsider canceling this series.
I hope this isn't the end of "Skye Fargo, The Trailsman"...
I have every book from number 1 and I enjoy reading the series...
Can you let us know if it is over and if so WHY???
Thanks
David
.
This sucks. I will miss The Trailsmans books for sure. I hope they bring the books back.
Is there a good place to download the whole series for free?
Not to my knowledge.
After getting back into reading, and Westerns at that, I do miss the Trailsman... Then I discovered Longarm almost a year after starting Trailsman books... Now you say they both have been discontinued... Thats a sad thing... Now I'll have to read The Gunsmith series until something else comes out... Any idea when..?? Thanks, Gordon...
Not sure anything will be coming out to replace them as publishers have cancelled virtually all their westerns series (there are a couple still putting them out though). Many authors have taken to self-publishing new ebook westerns, some in the same style as The Trailsman, Longarm etc (adult) - and, of course, The Gunsmith is continuing this way. There are ebook publishers putting out westerns too, both reprints and new work, some also making available print versions too. You need to search Internet stores though as these books don't make it into stores.
Man I just want to cry! I love the trailsman series my pop-pop got me hooked on them and since he as passed away every time I read about Sky Fargo I feel connected to my pop-pop. I'm determined to read and own them all. I hope the publisher changes their mind because westerns are awesome! This girl can't read enough of them.��
I love the trailsman as well reading every book since #1 and am very disappointed that it may have come to an end. Pretty shitty way to end such an enduring character and stories!!
Just ran across part of this series at a sale, never heard of it before. Researched it a bit, can anyone tell me why some of the books are more expensive than others? Seems like they would all be valued the same? I'm new to this, so please forgive my ignorance. TIA
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