To the Far Sierras

By Will DuRey

The Crowood Press, May 2017

Tom Belman has been drifting west since the end of the civil war, lured by tales of wealth and verdant valleys in the territory beyond the far sierras. In the Texas panhandle, however, close to the Canadian River, his progress is interrupted when his horse is stolen. His pursuit of the young thief leads to an unfriendly reunion with a former soldier in Tom’s unit, Lou Currier, who is now sheriff of a small town called Ortega Point. A subsequent lynching compels Tom to find and return to her home an unknown girl who is also being sought by Currier’s posse. But the girl is not easily dissuaded from her investigation into the affairs of businessman Andrew Willis and when she returns to Ortega Point she puts herself and Tom Belman into a deadly situation.

Will DuRey hooks his readers right from the beginning of this fast paced story with a number of questions that you’ll be eager to find out the answers to, such as why does the young man try to steal Belman’s horse? Why is Currier’s posse so desperate to see that same young man hang and why are they chasing the young girl? What does she suspect Willis of doing? 

Belman could easily ride away from these troubles but a hint of guilt sees him stay the distance, and in doing so gets himself involved in all kinds of deadly situations that result in a lot of gunplay. The backstory of Belman and Currier seem to be leading to a confrontation too, that might or might not have something to do with Ortega Point and the secrets some of its citizens hide. I’m not going to reveal the outcome here, but I will say everything resolves satisfactorily if not with some kind of poetic justice.

I’ve read a number of books by Will DuRey and this one is equal in quality and entertainment value with any of those and I will certainly be looking out for more of his work.

Lakota Justice

By Will DuRey

Crowood Press, August 2016

The stagecoach from the north has failed to arrive in the small settlement of Laramie, and when two men ride in fresh from a fight in the southern long-grass country, the inhabitants begin to fear that the rumoured unrest among the Sioux following the discovery of gold in the Black Hills has become reality. Their concerns are relayed to the nearby fort, where visiting wagon-train scout Wes Gray agrees to join an army patrol party sent to find the missing coach. Although doubtful that the Sioux have begun hostilities, he is compelled to investigate the matter for the safety of those travelling west in the nearby wagons, but the discovery of an empty coach is only the first step along a trail which includes murder, kidnapping and inter-tribal warfare, and subjects Wes to extremes of personal violence and humiliation.

This is the third in the Wes Gray series, a fourth is due out in November of this year. It is the first I’ve read about this scout but not the first book I’ve read by Will DuRey.

Not having realized the book was part of a series I found that the story read well as a stand-alone tale. What I took to be fleshing out of Wes Gray’s back story I can now see would be told in greater detail in the earlier books, and my enjoyment of this one certainly has me wanting to read those first two.

Fast moving and action packed, and including a number of how-will-he-get-out-of-that situations such as the humiliation and torture that Gray endures, the story definitely holds the readers’ attention from beginning to end.

DuRey has created a great set of characters in all the races you’ll encounter in this book, be they good or bad, male or female. When justice is delivered it could mean grave consequences for those left alive and Gray has to think fast for a solution that won’t see the plains erupt in an all-out bloodbath.

Once more Will DuRey has left me feeling thoroughly entertained and looking forward to his next book, which just happens to be the next in the Wes Gray series and that’s a story I’m looking forward to reading.

Jefferson's Saddle

By Will DuRey

Hale, August 2015

It is meant to be a day of celebration in Mortimer, Texas, but everything changes when Charlie Jefferson arrives in town. Left for dead after a brutal ambush and robbery, Charlie is intent on finding the man who did this to him.

En route to Mortimer from the wastelands where he was left to perish, Charlie stumbles upon a dying Texas Ranger. Unwittingly, he is drawn into a plot involving the town’s council.

By showing mercy, Charlie becomes part of the plot, whether it ties in with his plans or not. Charlie’s mission in Mortimer is no longer personal. The fate of the whole town rests with him.

Will DuRey returns to Charlie Jefferson who first appeared in his last book, Arkansas Bushwhackers. Charlie is heading for home, and to the girl who is waiting for him, his stake hidden in his saddle. Of course this saddle is one of the things stolen from him, so he must get it back as he needs the money it contains to start his new life. The saddle’s whereabouts is the mystery plotline in this very fast paced story.

DuRey lets the reader in on the con trick being played on the town and seeing how Charlie finds out about this, and deals with it, makes for some gripping reading. This and the missing saddle aren’t the only problems Charlie has to deal with, for there’s an attractive, unattached, girl who takes a shine to him. How can he let her down without hurting her especially after she risks her life to save him?

It’s no surprise that all these story threads become entangled and lead to an exciting final showdown that resolves everything neatly, leaving me hoping that we haven’t seen the last of Charlie Jefferson, because I for one would certainly read another tale about him.

Arkansas Bushwhackers

By Will DuRey

Hale, February 2015

Wandering ex-Union soldier Charlie Jefferson strikes up a friendship with Henry and Dave Willis in Pottersville, Arkansas. The brothers are planning to drive cattle from Texas to the logging camps in the Arkansas timberland and invite Charlie to join them. But the plan falls foul of a gang of bushwhackers called Red Masks who are terrorizing that area.

To bring the gang to justice, Charlie becomes a government agent, a role which requires all his bravery and fighting skills, and an ability to deceive people – even those he likes.

Set just after the Civil War this book deals with ex-Confederates waging war on carpetbaggers. A time when being an ex-Union soldier looking for work isn’t good for your health in this part of America.

Jefferson is looking to earn some money to take home where he hopes to be reunited with the woman he left behind when he went to war. But the Red Masks pose a massive threat to this. 

Will DuRey creates an excellent atmosphere of distrust as his action packed story races through a number of twists and turns which includes elements of mystery as to just who the Red Masks are, and once Jefferson believes he has those answers he then has to prove it.

How Jefferson brings about the demise of the Red Masks makes for some gripping reading that thoroughly entertains. After finishing the book I was left eager to read more of Will DuRey’s work, something I hope to do very soon.

A Storm in Montana

By Will DuRey

Hale, June 2013

Clancy Jarrett possesses a quick and violent temper and the citizens of Brannigan are careful not to cross him. But when his stagecoach hold-up is thwarted by three trail-herders his rage cannot be contained and with revenge on his mind soon there are bodies piling up. For the cowboys, their status as heroes is short-lived and when Jarrett learns they are escorting Kate Jeavons, a dance-hall girl whose sister he has captive, to testify against him, they are firmly in his sights.

Black clouds are forming overhead, but which storm will break first: the wild prairie rain, or the deadly guns of Jarrett and his crew?

A Storm in Montana is Will DuRey’s fifth Black Horse Western but only the second I’ve read, the previous one being In the High Bitterroots, and like that book I found this to be an equally entertaining read.

Once the two surviving cowboys team up with Kate Jeavons the book becomes a chase story, with the three of them trying to stay one step ahead of Jarrett and his men, and there is unrest among this group of outlaws. This isn’t the only plot thread, for there’s also a lawman heading in their direction who has problems of his own. 

There’s lots of well-written action and not all of the main characters will escape being on the wrong end of a bullet or two. In fact, as the story raced to its end, I did start to wonder if any of them would be alive by the last page.

A Storm in Montana is officially released on June 28th but is available now from the usual Internet sources.

In the High Bitterroots

By Will DuRey

Hale, November 2011

They rode out as the snow began to fall, a party of seven. Their purpose is to rescue a band of travellers trapped by an avalanche in the high Bitterroot Mountains. But once clear of the Montana township of Wicker it is soon apparent that the on-coming winter blizzards are not the only threat to success. The swiftly assembled group have brought with them their own grievances and evil.

Moreover, the mountain holds an unexpected threat for young Jess Clarke and ‘Doc’ Hames.

Starting with a bank robbery that introduces the reader to a family of outlaws that have an important role to play in the outcome of this very fast moving tale, the story never lets up in the action stakes. Will DuRey has created some wonderful people, all of which have their own personalities, that soon have the reader hoping they succeed, or not, in their personal agendas. The book contains strong characters in both sexes.

Descriptions are visual, and the dialogue believable. There are a number of ‘edge-of-the-seat’ situations that provide gripping and tense reading. The story is paced beautifully, and everything is resolved in a final series of exciting confrontations.

This is the third Black Horse Western from author Will DuRey* and the first I’ve read. Once finished I was left wishing I’d read his previous two books, and now I’m eagerly awaiting his next.

Great to see that Hale have used artwork that could easily illustrate a scene from the book.

In the High Bitterroots is officially released tomorrow but is available now from the usual Internet bookstores.

* As the eagle-eyed amoungst you will have already spotted, the cover fronting this review shows the authors’ name as William DuRey, the book I have has him named Will DuRey.