Six-Gun Law

WIND RIVER #7

By James Reasoner and L.J. Washburn

Five Star Publishing, June 2019

Ransom Valley: The Wyoming Territory town of Wind River has gotten so peaceful that some people think it's downright civilized. But they don't know that a gang of outlaws is planning a raid that will clean out the bank. Anyone who gets in their way will be cut down in a hail of bullets. A beautiful young woman finds herself taken prisoner by the outlaws, and it's up to Marshal Cole Tyler and Texas cowboy Lon Rogers to rescue Brenda Durand . . . if they don't wind up on the receiving end of some outlaw lead first!

Outlaw Blood: Outlaw Blade Kendrick's wife runs away from him, taking their two young sons with her. Knowing that he will come after her, she leaves the boys with different families to raise. Kendrick does catch up to her and she dies accidentally during their confrontation. Kendrick is sent to prison for another crime. When he gets out ten years later, he starts tracking down the boys. The older son is with a family that's moved recently to Wind River to start a new church. When Kendrick arrives with his younger son, whom he has found and recruited into his gang, the older brother tries to turn bad in order to save his adopted family, but he can't do it. Instead he ruins his outlaw father's plans, which leads to a showdown between Marshal Cole Tyler and the dangerous gang.

Way back in June 1994 the first Wind River book was published and five more entries in this series swiftly followed, the last appearing in November 1995. Then, in November 2012 the authors published a new book in the series, Ransom Valley. Now, that story, revised, has been republished in a double book containing a brand-new tale, Outlaw Blood.

For anyone who followed the original series then these two new stories are a must read, as they are for any fans of James Reasoner and Livia Washburn’s work. You don’t need to have read the previous six books to enjoy these two new tales as the authors include enough backstory to explain Marshal Tyler’s background and that of other characters that appeared in those earlier books. 

Both these new tales regularly switch between their various characters as Tyler finds himself dealing with deadly situations once more that will have you wondering how he can possibly achieve his tasks of upholding the law. He also has to deal with town dignitaries that want to scale down the number of lawmen Wind River has as they believe civilization has arrived…boy, are they in for a shock. The first story also sees Cole having to reign in a love-sick cowboy whose rashness could bring about the Marshal’s death.

The second story concentrates more on Kendrick and his sons and is told more from their viewpoint than that of Tyler’s. This tale is quite dark in its themes and it includes some heart-breaking decisions that the older son finds himself forced to make. 

Both tales move forward at a tremendous pace. Descriptions are visual, dialogue believable, tense situations aplenty, superb characterization, hard-hitting decisions, and beautifully choreographed violence, combine to make these stories exciting, gripping reading that will defy the reader to put the book down before the end.

Thunder Wagon

WIND RIVER #2

By James Reasoner

Harper, August 1994

Big trouble is brewing in Wind River. The Irish are up in arms as the Chinese arrive from California to work on the railroad and the friendly Shoshone stand accused of stealing cattle. Wild talk of gold sends settlers rushing into the Wind River Mountains as the army arrives to protect the railroad and strong-arm the Indians into honouring their treaties.

As enraged railroaders launch a disastrous attack against the Shoshone, and the cavalry thunders towards a catastrophic confrontation, only Marshal Cole Tyler and his deputy Billy Casebolt can track down the real culprits – a vicious gang of saboteurs hell-bent on lighting a fuse that will set off a bloody massacre.

This book is almost non-stop action from beginning to end. Marshal Cole Tyler doesn’t have a chance to catch his breath as one deadly situation immediately follows another.

James Reasoner does manage to find time to develop Tyler’s relationships, for better or worse, with the various characters who inhabit Wind River and its surrounding area, some of whom readers of this series will have already met in the first book Wind River. 

Greed and acting before the true facts are known are the main driving forces behind the problems Tyler has to deal with, such as the arrival of a Chinese family and the subsequent strike by the railroad workers which in turn leads to mob violence. There’s also the muggings that sees the victims lose and ear, cut off for a gruesome trophy – who is the culprit and what is their motivation?

There’s an exciting race against time as Tyler and his deputy try desperately to stop the massacre of the Shoshones by proving someone else is behind the killings being blamed on them, but who and why?

All the main story threads come to a satisfying end but the author expertly leaves one or two hanging thus ensuring the reader will pick up the next book, Wolf Shadow, as I definitely will, to find out what happens next.

Note: This book has now been released as an ebook under its true authorship names of James Reasoner and L.J. Washburn. (The original publisher wanted just one author name on the cover)