Heed the Thunder

By Peter Brandvold

Mean Pete Press, April 2013

Gideon Hawk hunts the notorious depraved killer, Pima Miller, into the Superstition Mountains of Arizona Territory. Hawk inadvertently shot the killer’s Apache woman, orphaning the killer’s infant son. The killer himself doesn’t seem to mind. He leaves them both behind to save himself and head into the mountains with his beautiful young guide, Jodi Zimmerman, whom he’s kidnapped from the Superstition Stage Relay Station.

Hawk, however, minds very much that his bullet meant for the killer, Miller, struck an innocent woman. He storms after Miller with his usual bloodlust.

The Superstitions are no picnic, however. The Apaches consider the range their Thunder-God’s abode, and the Chiricahuas don’t care for interlopers. And neither does the strange old desert rat known as the Dutchman who will do everything he can to keep his secret stash of ancient Apache gold just that--a secret.

Great to see Peter Brandvold bring back the Rogue Lawman, Gideon Hawk, in his seventh full length story.

As hoped this is just as savagely violent as the previous entries in the series and sees Hawk doing everything he can to kill Miller. This extremely fast moving tale could also be end of Hawk, his death something he is ready to accept and welcome as it means he can then join his long dead wife and son.

The Superstitions provide a hard, maze-like backdrop for this tough story to be played out in and the constant threat of Apache attack keeps all the characters on edge throughout.

The story has a dark tone but Peter Brandvold adds some humour too that matches the mood of the tale. His descriptions are gritty and visual and his characters memorable, be they man or woman – and for me it’s the latter that will remain in my memory most, one of whom we have met in previous Rogue Lawman books.

The book has a powerful ending that is sure to scar Hawk emotionally and make him an even tougher anti-hero (if that’s possible) and I for one am very eager to see where Hawk’s next trail will take him and I’m hoping Pete doesn’t make us wait too long to find out. 

Rogue Lawman #6

GALLOWS EXPRESS

By Peter Brandvold

Berkley, May 2011

Brazos got off lucky this time. His pa, Blue Tierney, saved him from receiving due justice at the hands of a hangman in Trinity Ridge. Which means the Tierney’s and their gang are continuing to roam free, spreading their terror…

What this town needs is a temporary lawman who exhibits little diplomacy when it comes to doling out justice – and Gideon Hawk is that man. Not everyone is sure of him though, especially a hard-nosed yet fetching schoolteacher and some shady businessmen…

Like most hardened outlaws, the Tierney’s don’t take kindly to getting pushed out of their territory, and they put up a damned good fight. But Hawk won’t back down until he has them strung up from the gallows they once escaped…

Once more Peter Brandvold comes up with the goods. This is a tough, violent, and very fast moving story that throws up a couple of surprises for fans of this series. The first being Hawk’s promise to a dead lawman to see the Tierney’s hang, rather than dish out his usual form of justice – killing them on sight. The other surprise comes at the end where we see Hawk considering settling down and getting married! That’s sure left me wanting to see another Rogue Lawman book come out as soon as possible so I can find out if this happens.

The book is filled with hard-hitting action, that builds in savagery towards an exciting and brutal final gunfight that Hawk is luck to walk away from. There’s plenty of cracking dialogue too, often laced with touches of humour. The story also sees the return of Saradee, the girl who kills as easily and proficiently as Hawk.

For fans of the Rogue Lawman series, and Peter Brandvold’s work – this is a book not to be missed.

Gallows Express should hit the shelves any day now if it hasn’t already. Definitely a book all westerns fans should enjoy. 

Rogue Lawman #5

BORDER SNAKES

By Peter Brandvold

Berkley, January 2010

This time it’s Hawk who’s been tracked down. The same governors who had a death warrant on Hawk’s head now desperately need his help to end the bloody carnage sweeping the Southwest…

A gang of merciless Apaches, along with a contrabandista and turncoat called Wilbur “Knife-Hand” Monjosa, is on the loose. Losing his hand to a Mojave ax, Monjosa replaced the bloody stump with a razor-sharp knife. He’s a savage who’ll cut down anything in his way…

Knife-Hand can only be matched with the kind of ruthlessness that burns within the Rogue Lawman. Monjosa’s killer instinct is a sharp as his hand, but Hawk’s fighting for something mightier than anything in Knife-Hand’s artillery – a personal vendetta…

Peter Brandvold begins the fifth book in the Rogue Lawman series with Hawk taking on a gang of outlaws in an exciting, and bloody, gunfight. This sets the scene for the rest of the story, with Hawk up against massive odds, which seem almost impossible for him to win against.

As expected the violence is bloody and graphic, and there’s loads of it. Hawk finds himself teaming up with Sergeant Ironside and a person from his past (see previous books in the series). These three find themselves taking on Monjosa and his army of killers in a tremendous battle in which a Gatling gun is used to devastating effect.

Not only does Peter Brandvold have his hero facing death many times, Hawk will also have to deal with treachery and double-cross that will leave his soul scarred.

This book has to be recommended to those who enjoy the more brutal types of westerns, those filled with tough characters who take another’s life without a second thought or concern for their own.

Me? I’m eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.

Rogue Lawman #4

BULLETS OVER BEDLAM

by Peter Brandvold

Berkley, April 2008

This is the fourth book about Gideon Hawk: Rogue Lawman.

Flanked by six other copper stars and armed with a death warrant, U.S. Marshal Flagg is not about to let Gideon Hawk slip through his fingers. He follows Hawk to the sleepy border town of Bedlam, where Hawk is hiding out. Hawk is considering giving up bounty hunting and starting a new life, but Flagg, who’s not about to be made a fool of in front of his posse, might force Hawk’s hand. Luckily for Hawk, he’s got an old nemesis on his side, a woman who knows her way around him – and around a gun…

Once again Peter Brandvold turns out a savagely brutal – and at times sadistic – book, where the line between good and bad doesn’t exist. Marshal Flagg and his deputies being just as ruthless and cruel as the outlaws they – and Hawk – track down.

The book moves quickly from one violent confrontation to another so to say the book is action packed is almost an understatement.

Great to see Peter bring back Saradee, who first appeared in the previous Rogue Lawman book Cold Corpse, Hot Trail. A woman quick with a gun and soon seeking her own savage form of revenge.

And for Hawk this book doesn't have a happy ending, and leaves me eagerly looking forward to the next in the series.

Rogue Lawman #3

 COLD CORPSE, HOT TRAIL

by Peter Brandvold

Berkley, April 2007

Ex-Deputy U.S. Marshal Gideon Hawk gives some bounty hunters a lethal lesson in how reputations are made. This leads to him being stuck with a beautiful prostitute who he is more than happy to leave with a troop of soldiers. These soldiers are also minding payroll money and a blaze of gunfire proves things are not what they appear to be. Now Hawk will make it a personal mission to make the bushwhackers pay the only way he knows how – with their lives.

This is the third book to feature Gideon Hawk and like those before it the story is filled with bloody violence. Each chapter throws up another deadly confrontation for Hawk.

Peter Brandvold’s work reminds me more of spaghetti westerns than those put out by Hollywood. They’re savage, brutal and paint vivid images. Most of his characters are strong, often without morals. In this book this is balanced by the inclusion of Lieutenant Primrose, a man sworn to capture and bring to legal justice the men who stole the payroll he was guarding. His duty, as he sees it, bringing him into conflict with the man he rides with, Gideon Hawk.

If fast moving, very violent, westerns are your preferred choice then you can’t go wrong with this book.

Rogue Lawman #2

DEADLY PREY
by Peter Brandvold

Berkley, April 2006

Deputy U.S. Marshal Gideon Hawk is a hunted man. Now he’s hiding out in a remote cabin, hoping to simply disappear. But when Catherine McCormick seeks him out he knows the respite is over. An outlaw gang have moved into the local mining town, ravaging and brutalizing at will - killing Catherine’s ten-year-old brother. She’s willing to give Hawk anything to hunt the raiders down and dispense justice, his way. But where eveil men are concerned, the only payment Hawk needs is in blood...

The second Rogue Lawman book begins sometime after the first and Gideon Hawk has a deadly reputation, there’s even dime novels about him. But his notoriety is embarrassing a group of state governors who want the law upheld the legal way, not out of the barrel of a gun, and they send a man to bring Hawk down, a man Hawk taught to be a lawman. So while Hawk hunts the outlaws a lawman hunts him.

Once more Peter Brandvold has written a very fast moving book, a book that seems to be one long blood feast that will satisfy any reader who enjoys action packed reads. The characters, both male and female, are well-drawn, tough, and at times brutal, who will stick in your mind for a long-time.

Quite why Brandvold’s books carry a quote about him being the next Louis L’Amour I don’t know, as his books nod more towards spaghetti westerns than L’Amour's more traditional approach.

You want a well written, savage, western to read? Have never tried Peter Brandvold’s books? Then I suggest you do something about it right now!

 

 

Rogue Lawman

by Peter Brandvold

Berkley, September 2005

This is the first in a new series from Peter Brandvold featuring ex-Deputy Marshal Gideon Hawk.

Famed lawman Gideon Hawk was a man of principle - until Ned Meade kills Hawk’s ten year old son...and the grisly act drove Hawk’s grief-stricken wife to hang herself. Now, robbed of kin, Hawk sets out on a brutal quest to find the man responsible - at any cost, even if it means being hunted by the deputies he once worked with as his lust for revenge changes Hawk from a lawman who abided by the rules to a wanted man...

This book is filled with one violent confrontation after another, tough and at times sadistic action, that will satisfy anyone who likes the reading brutal and bloody.

Peter Brandvold paints a savage picture of the west, in fact many times his descriptive words created vivid images within my mind. His bad guys are vile and his hero, Gideon Hawk, is definitely an anti-hero who can be as cruel as those he’s hunting.

If you like westerns with obvious lines between the good and the bad then maybe this isn’t for you but, if like me, you enjoy the more savage types of western fiction then get this book now!

Peter Brandvold has produced a new western character that I think will become a favourite of mine.