Wild Blood

HERNE THE HUNTER #22

By John J. McLaglen

Piccadilly Publishing, February 2018

Originally published by Corgi, 1983

Herne has been hired by Major Russell to stop the man who was blackmailing him over his youngest daughter’s gambling debts. What Herne discovered was that Cassie was involved in much more than just gambling – she was living in a world of violence, pornography and murder – and it was up to Herne to get her out.

Herne the Hunter is one of my favourite series written by the group of authors known today as The Piccadilly Cowboys. The writers behind the John J. McLaglen pseudonym being Laurence James and John B. Harvey, the latter of which wrote this entry into the series.

In many ways this book reads like a detective mystery as Herne delves into the background of the Russell family and those running the gambling house. This leads to attempts on his life and then we get the western elements back in full as Herne pursues two hired guns and shows he isn’t above treating the culprits brutally to get the information he needs. Of course everything isn’t as straight-forward as it seems and Harvey includes many twists and turns, not least the fact that no-one seems concerned with finding who killed a man named Conners, this dead man being the previous person Major Russell hired to stop the blackmail.

One of the things that makes this book stand-out from other westerns is the plot involving pornography, something that doesn’t appear to often in the genre, so if you are looking for a story that offers something a bit different then this book could be worth considering.

Harvey’s character studies are well done, each having their own personalities. His descriptive scenes creating an intense backdrop against which the plot is played out in all its brutality, and the violent acts are graphically illustrated.

Fans of this series, and others written by the Piccadilly Cowboys, will not want to miss this one and I believe any western reader will find much to commend in this book too.

Herne the Hunter #17

THE HANGING

as by John J. McLaglen

Corgi, 1981

When bank robber George Wright decides to take advantage of his fleeting resemblance to Herne the Hunter by crediting his own crimes to the shootist, Herne becomes both hunter and hunted – he must track down Wright and his gang in order to acquit himself, and he must avoid a lynch mob of outraged citizens hell-bent on hanging him high…

This book is pretty much a straight forward track them down and kill them story. By having someone who looks like Herne as the main outlaw allows for a couple of cases of mistaken identity, which see Herne captured by a posse and nearly hanged. This part of the story echoes a scene from the classic Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark in which the hanging is delayed so the “guilty” man can write a letter. In this case though Jed Herne uses his pencil as a weapon to escape, by stabbing it through one of his captors’ eyes.

As with much of the violence in the books written by the group of authors (in this case Laurence James) known today as The Piccadilly Cowboys, the above scene is described in all it’s gory detail as are all the other violent acts carried out during Herne’s attempts to clear his name.

James also includes a neat twist as to the identity of one of the outlaw gang, not that this has any effect on Herne’s cold-blooded mission to see the outlaws pay for blaming him for their crimes.

The Hanging may not be the best book Laurence James ever wrote, or even the best in the Herne the Hunter series, but it is a fast moving, brutal, action filled read. If you enjoy the blood-and-guts style of books then this should satisfy.

As a point of interest the man on the cover holding the rifle is the author, Laurence James.

Herne the Hunter #11

 SILVER THREADS

as by John J. McLaglen

Corgi, 1979

Wild Rose City, Dakota Territory. Eliza and Lily Sowren ran the town with a fist of iron. Eliza tall and bony, Lily short and fat – both as tough as nails. On the surface they were both pictures of elderly virtue but beneath something altogether different… As Jed Herne found out when the sisters called on his special talents to protect their silver mine from an unknown gang of thieves and murderers…

‘Darling, I am growing old,
Silver threads among the gold
Shine upon my brow today;
Life is fading fast away.’

John J. McLaglen is a pseudonym shared by Laurence James and John Harvey. This book was written by Laurence James.

The Sowren sisters make for two very memorable characters, James paints a gentle image of them, then through hints and finally actions brings out their real personalities in a series of shocking revelations, including sadistic torture and other perversions. These two elements often turn up in books written by James, but by having them as the darker side of two sweet old ladies, helps make them two of the most memorable characters James created.

Silver Threads also contains an equally memorable challenge to Herne’s reputation as a fast gun. The shootist trying to avoid the confrontation, even though he knows what the inevitable outcome will be. This scene is beautifully captured by the cover artist right down to the correct colour clothing.

For me, Silver Threads has always been one of the strongest entries in the Herne the Hunter series, and re-reading it now, confirms this is still so.

If you like tough, brutal, westerns then this book is well worth checking out – as is the whole series in my opinion. After Edge, Herne the Hunter is my favourite series to come from the group of authors known as the Piccadilly Cowboys.