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.

Blind-Sided

By Billy Hall

Hale, July 2015

He could see the tip of the hat brim in the doorway of the balcony across the street. Just over the top of the ridge of the mercantile store’s roof, he caught a glimpse of another hat. That meant at least two men were waiting to kill him in cold blood.

Ike Murdo knows that awaiting him upon his arrival are several people who want him dead. The risks were clear when he chose to interfere with the gang’s plans. He’d had no choice: when the son of the woman he loved was kidnapped, Ike followed his heart.

Now, he must pay the price and confront the gunmen.

He swallowed his fear and called out to the gunfighter. ‘Cadwall! Come out and face me.’

Billy Hall begins his story in an almost gentle fashion as we witness Murdo search for and secure a job that sees him doubling as a cowboy and a farmhand. It’s the latter that provides some fascinating reading as Murdo gets to grips with new methods of ploughing and Hall’s descriptions of this put you right there to witness Murdo’s determination to master these new techniques.

During this time Murdo finds himself become more and more attracted to the ranch’s owner and he bonds with her children. But all the time Hall allows the threat of danger to simmer below the surface and throws a few questions into the mix, such as why Murdo doesn’t carry a belt gun.

Later Murdo sends a telegraph when danger threatens, but who to? Neither characters nor readers are let in on this secret which adds a touch of mystery to the storyline and this turns out to be a great surprise when the author reveals the answer.

As well as fistfights and gunfights there are some excellent confrontations in a court of law that should see off any threat of danger but, of course, they just make things worse and lead to the kidnapping mentioned in the blurb.

The rescue attempt gives birth to a legend which put a huge grin on my face and brings the book to an excellent ending that left me eager to read more of Billy Hall’s work.

Sadly, it has recently been reported that Bill Hallsted (Billy Hall’s full name) passed away in May 2015, so I would like to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to his family and friends and to let them know that for me, and his many fans, Bill will live on in the words of the many westerns he wrote and will continue to bring us pleasure for a long, long time to come. 

The Bronc Buster

By Billy Hall

Hale, November 2013

Bullied as a kid because of his size, Ian Hennessy has sworn never to run from anyone again. But facing a stranger wearing a tied-down Smith & Wesson with a five-inch barrel, there is no doubt that the gunman is after the price on Hennessy’s head.

Now, with the sun directly in his eyes, he can just make out a second gunman, poised to shoot him if he tries to run. And Hennessy’s dreams of going west, and establishing a ranch with the girl he loves, will all come down to this moment….

Roughly the first third of this book tells of how Hennessy was bullied at school and of how he comes to stand up to his tormentors. There’s many a well described fist-fight during this part of the story. He also meets a girl who will become the woman of his dreams.

How to stand-up to bullies isn’t the only new ability Hennessy will learn at this stage of his life. He also discovers, after training, that he is a natural at the fast-draw. Something that he hopes he will never have to use.

So this is a story that shows a young boy growing into a man who doesn’t back down for anyone. A young man who is reluctant to use his talents with fist and gun.

Billy Hall builds his story thoughtfully and almost gently. Hennessy tries to stay out of trouble and make a good living as a bronc buster but the senseless killing of a horse sees his anger begin to boil, but who to direct this hatred at?

There’s another lesson waiting to mould Hennessy, that of learning to control his emotions when being forced to kill. When this happens Billy Hall really ups the pace of this excellent story and gunplay becomes a major element of the latter part of the tale.

So does Hennessy build the life of his dreams with the woman he desires? Is he even alive at the end of the story? Obviously I can’t answer those questions here but I’m sure anyone who chooses to read this book will have fun finding out.

Duel of Shadows

By Billy Hall

Hale, October 2012

Eli Lowenstein has been murdered, and Sam Murray wasn’t the man who took his life. But when the accusers threaten to look in his saddle-bags he remembers the strange noises he heard that morning, and the talk of planted evidence that had condemned Ephraim Harris to an untimely lynching.

If the evidence is in his saddle-bags, he’s sure it can only have been planted by Gar Newberry and he’s also sure that if they find anything he’ll swing from the end of a rope, just like old Ephraim. And there’s no way Sam Murray is going to sit back and let them slip that noose over his head….

Billy Hall beautifully mixes ‘whodunit’ and western and comes up with a very difficult to put down read.

The book opens with a hold-up and a cold-hearted killing that leads to a lynching. Even though the reader knows the hanged man wasn’t guilt, Billy Hall keeps the identity of the real killer a mystery, a shadow that plants evidence and whispers names.

A second killing brings feelings of guilt to those who formed the lynch party and soon local trouble-maker Gar Newberry is suspected as being the one who is framing others. Again Billy Hall presents these suspicions well, cloaked in believability. And even though the reader might have his own ideas as to whether Gar is guilty or not, and may even have an idea as to who the real killer is, I’m sure, like me, you’ll not guess the reason behind the murders.

Sam Murray finds himself out of his depth as he tries to discover who the killer is whilst staying one step ahead of the lynch mob – helped unbeknown to him by a second shadowy figure with an as yet unexplained motive. Sam also has time to fall in love and the young lady in question will also find herself in deadly danger before the killer is unmasked. 

I’ve read a number of Billy Hall’s books before (he’s written at least 30) and have always enjoyed them. This one is right up there with his very best and offers a superb mix of action and suspense, which makes for a gripping read.

Duel of Shadows is out now and I’d urge you to get your copy as soon as possible as BHW sell-out very quickly.

RANGE OF TERROR

By Billy Hall

Hale, March 2012

Pat Harmon, sometime lawman, sometime cowboy, pressed himself against the cliffs in the dark night. Sweeping his gun blindly across the darkness he knew the ‘Ghost Dog’ terrorizing the region could leap out of the darkness at any moment and rip away his throat.

He had been a fool to accept the job of ridding the county of an unseen but deadly menace that had left a trail of dead and mutilated people. Even now he wished he could saddle up and ride away, but he could not, if it meant leaving Callie Hebert.

Suddenly, tiny sounds, impossible to identify, broke the stillness of the night, then pandemonium erupted without warning.

Right from the start Billy Hall hooks the reader with questions as to just what is tearing the throats of out people. It isn’t long before the legend of the ‘Ghost Dog’ is told and terror grips the people in the area. Fear of demons keeping people scared to go out after dark. Billy Hall creates some great atmosphere surrounding these fears. He also adds many other superstitions too, such as spilled salt and crossing the path of a black cat.

Cats and dogs play a large part in this story too, my favourite being Sweetie Pie, a large battered tom cat who both human and animal are scared of, except the man he’s ‘adopted’ and this man’s horses. The picture Billy Hall created in my mind of the cat riding on the back of a horse seated on the bedroll is priceless. Of course these pets have important roles to play in the outcome of this novel.

Amidst all the blood and mayhem a love story also unfolds, one that keeps Pat Harmon searching for whatever it is that’s doing the killing. He doesn’t believe in the ‘Ghost Dog’, yet has no other idea as to what it could be. He is determined to stop it though, before it tears Callie apart too. And it’s Callie’s love for him that will put her in deadly danger as the truth behind the ‘Ghost Dog’ is finally revealed.

With over thirty Black Horse Westerns behind him, Billy Hall presents the reader with another excellent tale. He knows how to build suspense and how to capture the reader’s imagination and left me eagerly awaiting his next publication.

Range of Terror is officially released on March 30th but is available now.

In Need of Hanging

By Billy Hall

A Black Horse Western from Hale, August 2011

For months Thad Palmer had been on Vince Long’s trail – a trail littered with raped, beaten women and people killed in cold blood. Now Thad’s hunt led him into the very valley where his own sweetheart awaited his return. He knew with certainty that she was the object of his quarry’s intent and his heart was already racing at the prospect of being with Coralee.

But as he emerged into the sunlight again bent on reaching the budding settlement, he didn’t see the rifle barrel aimed at the centre of his forehead. Can Thad save himself and the life of the ones he holds dear?

In Need of Hanging is mainly a chase story as Thad Palmer tracks the young killer, more often than not too late to save Vince Long’s latest victims.

The books begins by showing why Long became the crazy killer he is. After that the book mainly follows Palmer as his hunt becomes sidetracked a couple of times, one being warning a wagon train about a possible Indian attack. At the same time he manages to save Coralee from becoming another of Long’s kills. This, of course, is the beginning of Palmer’s and Coralee’s relationship.

There’s plenty of action, some quite graphic in description. Pacing is handled well, building in increasing speed, sweeping the reader along effortlessly towards its well-crafted ending.

With over thirty Black Horse Westerns to his name, Billy Hall once more leaves me wondering why it’s taken me so long to discover his work. Definitely an author worth taking the time to catch up on his back catalogue.

In Need of Hanging is officially released on August 31^st but should be available now from all good Internet bookstores.

The Broken Horseshoe

by Billy Hall

A Black Horse Western from Hall, July 2010

Coleman Black is stumped by a string of murders and robberies near the boomtown of Deadwood. His best friend, hired to transport money from a cattle sale, is among the victims. Cole is desperate to find the answers but, with no clues to go by, the killer could be anyone.

When Cole decides to take some inspired advice from a new friend, he has no idea that he is being led directly into the line of fire. Meanwhile, the killer smiles as he silently waits in the cover of timber, his rifle already aimed at Cole’s heart…

Fistfight, gunfights, ambush, murder, chases – virtually every chapter of this book contains at least one of them, so if it’s an action packed read you are after then this could be just the book for you.

Billy Hall has been writing Black Horse Westerns for around twenty years and definitely knows how to write a fast moving, well paced, story. This one revolves around murder, and who is doing the killing, and why, remains a mystery until the author decides to reveal this persons identity, thus the reader shares the frustrations and suspicions of Coleman Black.

Black is teamed up with a Negro named White, which allows Billy Hall to inject some humorous dialogue around these characters names. Of course a coloured man riding a well-kept horse and carrying guns leads to problems for White, but this isn’t the only reason for including the Negro, as it’s his past experiences that lead to the method used to finally track down the killer.

Why it’s taken so long for me to discover the work of Billy Hall is another mystery – this being only the second book I’ve read by him – but what I can say is he’s now on the list of my favourite Black Horse Western authors.

The Broken Horseshoe is officially released at the end of this month but it should be available now from the usual Internet sources.

Rustler's Range

as by Billy Hall

A Black Horse Western from Hale, November 2009

Tad Strong had made a bold attempt to capture the outlaw king in his own domain. Everything had gone dreadfully wrong. Now he was pinned down, surrounded, and hopelessly outnumbered.

Tad retreated to the wall, propping himself against it. He was suddenly overwhelmed with the constant barrage of bullets, splintering wood, shattering objects, pounding a relentless cacophony of his certain and impending doom. He realized with a rush the enormous stupidity of thinking he could slip into Bligh’s stronghold, take him out, and escape.

At least he would die thinking of Becky, and the feel of her lips against his. There was no further sense in even trying to prolong the inevitable. There were too many. Bligh was dead, but in everything else he had failed. He sighed in resignation, leaned his head back against the wall, and waited for the bullet that would end it.

The previous BHW I reviewed didn’t have much action and this one is almost the exact opposite. It is jam-packed with blazing gunfights, virtually every chapter seeing guns fired in anger.

The book seems to set itself up as a traditional range war story, but this soon becomes the backdrop – the reason – that Billy Hall uses to justify all the gunfights Tad Strong finds himself in. There’s a touch of love interest with Tad’s attraction to Becky, something she is eager to develop herself. There’s a great twist when it’s discovered that rustlers are branding new born calves with a TS brand registered to Strong; so is he on the straight and narrow?

Billy Hall knows how to write a fast paced story that will hold a readers attention. As well as all the action he inserts many humorous lines of dialogue, usually as banter between Strong and the various cowboys he finds himself working with. Everything is resolved in a truly awesome final gunfight that would make for a great film sequence.

There are a number of other books by Billy Hall in my collection; in fact they’ve been there for years, which I’ve never got around to reading. On the strength of this book I think it’s time to dig them out.

Rustler’s Range is officially released on November 30th, but is available now from all the usual Internet booksellers.