All Must Die

By I.J. Parnham

Hale, March 2015

A spree of unexplained murders shocked Monotony’s townsfolk, but when bank raider Sykes Caine was caught the killings stopped. Although Sykes pleaded his innocence, he got ten years.

When Sykes is freed from jail, he returns to Monotony where Sheriff Cassidy Yates has to deal with another perplexing case. Two men are killed in what appears to be an act of revenge, but Cassidy notices similarities with the deaths ten years ago. Before long, other people are gunned down and the evidence points to Sykes again being responsible.

With time running out before someone takes the law into their own hands and Sykes receives summary justice, Cassidy must uncover the truth and ensure only the guilty are punished.

I.J. Parnham sure has created a twisting mystery for his series character Sheriff Cassidy Yates to solve. With strange new electrical medical equipment, people who know more than they are willing to divulge, others who aren’t who they say, a mounting body count, and words written in the dirt beside the dead that make no sense, Yates seems faced with an impossible task.

At first this story seems to be a fairly straightforward whodunit, but it soon takes a much darker tone, including a couple of themes you might expect to find in a horror novel more than a western. Having said that it all works extremely well in this fast moving tale where no-one is safe, be they walking the streets or locked away in a cell; death seems to find a way of claiming them all.

Even when Parnham reveals who is behind the killings there is still a number of whys to answer and the reason for a girls’ death is shocking to say the least.

So, once again, Ian Parnham has written a thoroughly entertaining western that leaves me looking forward to his next.

Sheriff Without a Star

By I.J. Parnham

Hale, December 2011

Despite his four years of distinguished service Sheriff Cassidy Yates lost the confidence of Monotony’s townsfolk because his error of judgement led to the death of Leland Matlock’s son. But when the star Cassidy had worn with pride was removed from his chest, Leland claimed he knew something that would shed new light on the sheriff’s downfall.

Before Leland could reveal what he knew he was shot, but Cassidy still had the instincts of a lawman. He believed Leland’s shooting was connected to the death of his son and that if he could uncover the link it would restore the townsfolk’s confidence in him. So Cassidy embarked on his greatest challenge: to get the star pinned back on his chest where it belonged.

Ian Parnham presents the reader with another story about Sheriff Cassidy Yates. You don’t have to have read the others in this series to fully enjoy this novel, as it’s a stand-alone story. And what a tale it is, full of twists and turns that enthral, peopled with a great set of characters, and expertly paced.

My favourite character has to be hired assassin Rockwell Trent. Hired to kill a number of people Rockwell is slowly becoming unhinged as he finds each of his intended victims dead moments before he’s about to take them out. The question of why this is happening, and who is killing them, is just one of the many puzzles that hook the reader and won’t let go until the reason is discovered.

The story is mainly told through Cassidy but does follow other characters too, such as Rockwell Trent. Quite how the different storylines are entwined isn’t obvious, nor is the reasons behind the various plot threads. Everything comes to a head in a fast moving and violent shootout that ties everything up neatly.

If you’ve never read a Sheriff Cassidy Yates story then this book is an excellent place to start, and I’m sure that after you’ve read it you’ll be eager to hunt out his past adventures.

Sheriff Without a Star is officially released on December 30^th but is available now from the usual Internet bookstores.

Railroad to Redemption

by I.J. Parnham

A Black Horse Western from Hale, August 2010

The influx of railroad men looking to build a new track to Redemption brings plenty of trouble for Sheriff Cassidy Yates. However, things seem to be looking up when Dayton Fisher, down on his luck and looking for work, arrives in town.

Dayton’s bravery persuades Luther to hire him as a bodyguard but the job turns sour when Luther hires six ruthless gunslingers to cause mayhem about town. Worse is yet to come and when Luther is killed the repercussions force Dayton to pit himself against his friend Cassidy.

Can the two men put aside their differences for long enough to defeat the gunslingers?

Ian Parnham begins this book by introducing us to the various characters that will play the main roles within this twisting tale of intrigue. There’s Dayton who arrives in town by train, broke and jobless. There’s the three brothers defending their ranch from a group of gunmen. There’s Luther, a man who works for the railroad who keeps his plans to himself. There’s a group of nuns looking for a guide. There’s a band of guslingers lead by a man called Mason Fox. Finally there’s Sheriff Cassidy – a lawman who has appeared in a number of prevoius books – who finds himself struggling to make sense of all that’s happing. At first you don’t see how all these people could possibly become involved with each other, but, of course they do.

Ian Parnham tells his story in easy to read prose that propels his tale forwards at an ever increasing speed, making this book difficult to put down. One of Ian Parnham’s trademarks is that somewhere down the line there will be a surprise or two and I never saw the excellent twist he includes in this book coming. Amoung all the action there moments of humour too, mainly through comments to, or from, the nuns. Eventually everything comes together in a violent showdown that ends the book in a spectacular fashion.

Railroad to Redemption is out now, even though it has an official release date at the end of the month.  

Riders of the Barren Plains

By I.J. Parnham
A Black Horse Western from Hale, July 2009

Jeff Steed rode into Carmon looking for work, but when he got caught up in a bank raid he found himself running from both Sheriff Cassidy Yates and the bank raider Blake Kelly. To escape from the net that was inexorably closing in on him he assumed the identity of a dead man. But as that man was the leader of a supply convoy, he had to undertake a hazardous journey across the Barren Plains to the silver miners at Bleak Point.

With the convoy being escorted by the lawman who had been trying to catch him and the bandit he double-crossed hiding out in the Barren Plains, can Jeff ever hope to survive?

Having read one of I.J. Parnham’s books before, and really enjoying it, I had high hopes for this. Would I be disappointed in Riders of the Barren Plains or would it live up to my expectations?

Right from the start the author gets his hero involved in a series of circumstances that has the reader wondering how he can come out of them on the right side of the law - never mind with his life. As the story progresses at rapid speed, Steed finds himself getting into more and more dangerous situations that see him trying to conceal his identity behind a fragile web of lies. Each time I thought I knew how Steed would solve a particular problem, Ian Parnham threw in yet another plot twist that kept this reader glued to the pages, making this book almost impossible to put down.

Having Steed riding with Sheriff Yates gave the author the opportunity to create some superb, tense, battles of wits as suspicion rises in the lawman’s mind. This isn’t Yates only problem as a headstrong girl searching for her sister joins the party. As mistrusts strengthen and the shadow of the Dark Riders falls across them all, so Ian Parnham ups the pace, which includes well described fist-fights, knife fights and plenty of gun action, as secrets are slowly revealed and surprises sprung and solved.

Characterizations are beautifully developed and Ian Parham’s descriptive prose paints vivid imagery within the minds eye, so well you can share the fear and frustrations of Steed, taste the dust and feel the heat of the Barren Plains.

So, to answer my earlier question, yes this book did live up to my expectations and more, meaning Riders of the Barren Plains is my top choice of the BHW I’ve read this month, and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this book to fans of the western genre.

Readers may also be interested to know that Sheriff Cassidy Yates appears in a number of Ian Parnham’s books.

Riders of the Barren Plains has an official release date of today, July 31st, but is available now from many Internet booksellers. I suggest you get your order in asap before it sells out.

Wanted: McBain

by I.J. Parnham

A Black Horse Western from Hale, 2005

The wanted poster showed Sheriff Cassidy Yates that his ex-deputy, and friend, Nate McBain was a wanted man, a member of Fernandez’s outlaw gang. It’s Cassidy’s duty to arrest McBain, but when he finds him McBain claims he’s working undercover in an attempt to bring Fernandez to justice. Is McBain’s explanation really true? One thing is for certain: when Cassidy learns the truth, it will test to the very limit the strength of his friendship and duty as a lawman.

When I began reading this book I felt the author revealed too much of the truth behind McBain’s actions, I felt all the promised mystery elements had been explained far to early on. But I needn’t have worried, for I. J. Parnham was setting the reader up for a tale filled with twists and turns, double-cross and triple-cross as all the characters struggle to sort out the events they’re involved in. And my initial thoughts of having the plot explained early on soon disappeared in this maze of deception.

There’s mistrust between outlaws, and the lawmen hunting them are at odds with each other too. As the lawmen compete in a battle of wills it seems that McBain will succeed in whatever his real agenda is.

I.J. Parnham doesn’t fill his book with superfluous characters or events, what he does do is create a very entertaining read through a fast moving tale that builds twist upon twist until the satisfing ending.