Bad to the Bone

THE PECOS KID #6

By Jack Bodine

Harper, October 1994

On the dodge south of the border, Duane Braddock lands in a luxurious Mexican hacienda, where he befriends a powerful nobleman’s lonely wife. It’s only a matter of time before hot lead starts flying, especially when American bounty hunters are closing in on the Pecos Kid, Apache have been seen in the vicinity, and his former great love, Miss Vanessa Fontaine, is hot on his trail.

But Duane Braddock is eighteen years old, and thinks he can handle anything. His problem is that Lady Luck might not agree.

Jack Bodine gives his hero a major moral dilemma in this story, as his religious upbringing fights his lust for a married woman. But is it just lust? Could the Pecos Kid be falling in love? And it’s this question and its ramifications that form the centre storyline of this fast moving tale.

Jack Bodine writes these emotional struggles extremely well, his technique of laying his story out in short scenes that switch regularly from character to character throwing further complications into the mix works superbly and it isn’t long before treachery and vengeance, real or imagined, cause events to explode in violent action.

And what of Vanessa Fontaine? Will she be reunited with Braddock? Will Braddock accept her back and want to spend the rest of his life with her?

Jack Bodine answers all these questions as I hoped he would as this book turned out to be the last in the series. Whether the author knew this at the time of writing I couldn’t say as he closes most of story threads that have been running throughout the series. Braddock is still left wanting revenge on his father’s killer though, and there is a new thread that is just begging to be developed. For me this series ended far too soon.

These books have been released as ebooks under the authors real name, Len Levinson.

Devil's Creek Massacre

THE PECOS KID #5

By Jack Bodine

Harper, March 1994

Cutthroat Comancheros, wandering banditos, the Mexican Army, the Fourth Cavalry – and Miss Vanessa Fontaine – all want Duane Braddock, who has the fastest gun in the West and much more than a price on his head. But it is the Apaches who leave him for dead in the Coahuilian Desert.

Found by a ragtag outlaw band led by an ex-Confederate soldier, Braddock is brought back to the land of the living. By the time he is well enough to run, a greedy plan to seize half-a-million dollars of Army payroll is in place. The dynamite is set, the fuse is lit, and the Pecos Kid has his pick: kill or die.

The book begins moments before Braddock finds himself fighting for his life against a small band of Apaches in a gripping scene that leaves the Pecos Kid barely alive. A good portion of the story then deals with Braddock’s recovery. During this time Jack Bodine introduces his cast of excellent characters, such as outlaw leader Captain Cochrane and his woman Juanita Torregrosa, Dr. Montgomery and the crazy killer Johnny Pinto, all of who will cause problems for Braddock as the tale evolves.

Jack Bodine switches between characters chapter by chapter, following all their thoughts and schemes. By far the largest number of chapters not about Duane Braddock continue the story of Vanessa Fontaine – Duanne and Vanessa had been lovers (see previous books). Newly widowed Vanessa now searches for happiness but still can’t get Duane out of her mind so she sets out to find The Pecos Kid, her trail putting her into all kinds of dangerous situations.

Braddock must struggle to keep true to his beliefs and tries to get out of having to take part in the payroll robbery. He also has his hands full of trouble in the form of Johnny Pinto, this madman forcing Braddock into an extremely well written duel.

Does Vanessa find The Pecos Kid? Does Braddock manage to avoid being part of the robbery? Does he get away from the outlaws? All I will say is the book gallops forward to its brutal final showdown that sees a few loose threads left dangling so they can be continued in the next book in the series. A book I shall be reading very soon. 

Jack Bodine is a pseudonym used by Len Levinson, and he’s recently put all the Pecos Kid books out as ebooks under his own name, along with his other excellent western series The Apache Wars Saga that were originally published as by Frank Burleson.

 

The Pecos Kid #4

OUTLAW HELL 
as by Jack Bodine

Harper, November 1993

Everyone tells Duane Braddock to stay out of Escondido. But a month alone in the desert, even with his Apache trained survival skills, is a month too long. He’s just partial to trouble – and when he’s hired to bring order to the outlaw town, there’s plenty for the taking. Before the day is out, four bullies are dead and the cold-blooded killer responsible is just warming up for his real target – Braddock. Duane knows that the truth about his family and his past is at stake, sending him on a vengeance ride that will end in a hail of lightning quick lead.

An interesting entry into this series as it sees Duane Braddock searching for his past, searching for information about his parents; who they were and how they died. Only problem is anyone who tells him anything winds up dead.

The author, Len Levinson – writing as Jack Bodine – fills the book with action and incident. He soon has the reader hooked by firing questions about Braddock’s parents that make the reader want to know the answer as much as his hero does. Most of his very well drawn characters become suspects, even those who seem to be helping Braddock.

As Braddock slowly unveils the answers so he begins to uncover the truth about his parents and the author snares the reader with hints of a storyline to come, thus guaranteeing the reader will seek out the next book in the series.

As with other books I’ve read by Len Levinson I found this to be a very enjoyable read.