Texas Hills

A Ralph Compton novel by David Robbins

Signet, November 2015

Owen Burnett’s needs are small. All he’s ever wanted is his wife’s affection, his children’s health, and a little plot of land to farm. Still, he’s no fool. So when his neighbour Gareth Kurst makes him a business proposition that could leave him richer than he’s ever dreamed, he can’t refuse giving the risky scheme a try.

Rounding up cattle in the Texas hill country is nothing to take lightly. Between the Comanches roaming the countryside and the horns of the beasts he’s hunting down, Owen knows every second he spends out in the wild puts his life in plenty of danger. But the greatest threat to his person is one he never expected: his ruthless and conniving business partner, who has no plans of ever sharing his bounty….

The mix of three very different families trying to work alongside each other without killing each other, an old mountain man, and a band of Comanches on the warpath, makes for many tense situations, especially when the Comanches begin to raid farms where the womenfolk have been left alone. These suspense filled raids being one of highlights of this excellent tale.

Like in much of David Robbins’ work the importance of family bonds plays a major part of the motivations of a lot of the characters. Greed drives some too. There is also a growing romance between an unlikely pair that provides a lot of the humorous moments within the story.

The book begins like a slow burning fuse, fizzing with anticipation, then burning faster with dangerous intent before exploding in a deadly race for life and violent gunplay. 

David Robbins writes in short chapters, ending many with someone in peril but then switches to other characters for the next chapter or so making it almost impossible to put the book down before you discover what happens next to them all.

In Texas Hills David Robbins has certainly written a book that should entertain all fans of westerns. 

They Rode Together

THE LANDON SAGA #7

By Tell Cotten

Solstice Publishing, November 2015

When a violent attack leaves cowman J.T. Tussle in trouble, the Landons and Lee Mattingly are quick to come to his aid. Tussle must get his yearlings to market, and they embark on a cattle drive to Fort Worth. Along the way, they get caught up in herd cutters, a bounty hunter, relationships, thunderstorms, and each other.

Tell Cotten has once more come up with a very fast moving story in his Landon Saga series. This time the whole book is written in the third person rather than being part third and first as many of the previous books have been. Due to the fact that all the major characters from the series are in this, and the story switches regularly between them and no one person takes centre stage so to speak, I guess it was easier to make the story flow by sticking to the third person.

If you’ve never read one of the Landon books before I’m going to suggest that it might be wise to start from the beginning as this book continues and concludes a number of storylines carried over from the earlier books. Of course Tell Cotten leaves a couple more plot threads hanging for continuation in the next book of the series.

Much of the story is dialogue driven and there’s some great and often tense conversations laced with humour. Tell Cotten’s action scenes make for exciting reading and they come thick and fast throughout the story. During all this there is time for developing romance but I can’t say any more about that as I don’t want to spoil anything for those who are following the series and have yet to read this book.

Tell Cotten also includes a real historical person, John T, Lytle, into the mix.

Top class entertainment from a top class western author. A writer all fans of the western should be reading. Roll on book eight in the series: Warpath, it can’t come soon enough for me.

The Smiling Hangman

By Owen G. Irons

Hale, October 2015

The town of King’s Creek is in uproar. Young Matthew Lydell has been found guilty of murdering the beautiful Janet Teasdale, daughter of a local banker. Lydell, mute throughout his trial, is to be hanged.

But the town marshal has been delaying proceedings, and he has sent for a hangman from the county seat. The roughs in town try to rush the jail three times; they won’t wait to exact revenge.

When the hangman arrives, he does so quietly and unnoticed. The man in black tours the jail and the town, smiling, always smiling. What secret lies behind that smile and what intentions does he have for the Colt that rides on his hip?

Owen G. Irons blends western and mystery superbly in a tale that defies you to put it down before all the story elements are resolved, and, of course, this doesn’t happen till the end.

Why doesn’t Lydell defend himself? Janet Teasdale may be dead but why hasn’t her corpse been found? And what of the bank robbery that seems to be the perfect crime? Puzzles that will soon have you wondering as to just what is going on and whether these events are linked in some-way. As more questions arise during a savage gunfight to take Lydell from the jail and lynch him, you have to wonder if anyone will be left alive to provide the answers.

Owen G. Irons’ latest story moves forwards at a tremendous pace, mixing frustrations, explosive action and humour – the latter mainly provided by two waitresses methods to fend off unwanted attention. And then there’s Storm Hiller, the smiling hangman of the title. Just who is he and what does he really want? These questions are answered fairly early on but transform into the gripping problems of how he can succeed in his aims. 

Once more Owen G. Irons (a pseudonym used by Paul Lederer) has written a terrific book that again strengthens my belief that he is one of the best writers producing westerns for the Black Horse Western line today.

Shadow of the Hawk

By Ron Honthaner

July 2015

Mountain-man Mike McCloskey, a run-away slave Thaddeus, and a young orphan Jericho, lives cross paths and they become lifelong friends. As time passes Jericho becomes a sheriff, Thaddeus moves into town, but Mike continues to live and trap with his Indian wife and daughter in the mountains even though the days are numbered for his kind of life.

When Mike heads into town to purchase supplies, he defends an Indian friend’s life from outlaw cowboys and sets in motion a collision of mishaps—a single mistake changes his life and the lives of friends and enemies alike.

Ron Honthaner is a film and TV veteran whose first script for Gunsmoke landed him a job on the series, going on to write other scripts for the show, then working as post production supervisor and later, associate producer. He was the recipient of two Cowboy Hall of Fame awards for his work on the Gunsmoke producing team.

The first half of this fast moving tale includes many flash-back sequences to explain the relationship between the three main characters, although much of the emphasis is on McCloskey’s life working on flat-boats and steamboats. Most of the books other characters have their backstories explained too as a group of very different people find themselves riding in a posse.

Once McCloskey becomes the target of the posse after a bloody and vicious rage driven rampage then the emotional side of hunting a friend becomes a major issue of the story and you can never be sure which way the tale will go next when it comes to who will kill who if the opportunity arises and how much the bond of friendship will dictate the state of play.

Honthaner’s writing is a pure joy to read and his background in writing for TV is very evident in how easily this story paints visual imagery in the mind-eye. Character development is excellent and the action scenes brutal and graphic. What happens to McCloskey to make him go on a killing spree comes as a complete surprise. After that the story is a straight chase tale that may not end how you think it will.

If anymore westerns by Ron Honthaner are published you can be certain I’ll be reading them.

Two Guns North

BODIE MEETS BRAND

By Neil Hunter

Piccadilly Publishing, August 2015

Jason Brand’s latest assignment took him into the San Juan Mountains of New Mexico. He was looking for a Deputy US Marshal and a government geologist, both of whom had gone missing. But what should have been a routine assignment turned out to be anything but—with an unexpected surprise for him along the way.

Bodie the Stalker, on a hunt for a brutal killer, rode the same trail. For him it was just another manhunt … until he found himself on the wrong end of the chase.

Then there was the Monk clan … They were a family that had no time for visitors because they had secrets to hide and were more than prepared to kill in order to keep them.

But then Bodie met Brand. And when they joined forces, the Monks found themselves fighting for their lives.

Brand and Bodie—when they teamed up it was like hell had come to the high country.

So who are Bodie and Brand?

Bodie is a bounty hunter known as The Stalker. He appeared in a six book series published in the UK back 1979. Brand’s publishing history is a little more complicated. This series was originally written for Norwegian publisher Bladkompaniet (who put out the Morgan Kane series). Later some of these books appeared in English, published by Linford Western Library and it was rumoured there was a planned book that would see Neil Hunter’s two heroes team up, something fans of these series really wanted to see happen. Sadly it didn’t until now, some 35 years later!

Piccadilly Publishing have recently put out all six Bodie novels as ebooks and have done the same with the nine Brand stories. And now they are pleased to publish as an ebook that long hoped for team-up tale, Two Guns North.

The book offers everything one could have hoped for. A superbly told tale that really is action packed as the Monk clan seem to have a never ending extended family ready to try their luck against Bodie and Brand.

Neil Hunter tells the story more from Brand’s point-of-view than that of Bodie. This was probably necessary due to the unforeseen surprise that’s waiting for Brand early on in this tale, a shock that could be life-changing for him that makes this a must read for followers of the Brand series.

It takes a little while for Bodie to appear but when he does the blood and bullets fly. In fact virtually every time Bodie is featured you are guaranteed gunplay – and lots of it.

As I don’t want to spoil this excellent story for anyone all I’ll say is that if you’ve yet to read a Bodie or Brand tale then this is a great place to start and I’m sure once read you’ll be snapping up the earlier titles. And for those who are already fans of both series there is great news as the end of the book advertises the fact the Mike Linaker (the author behind the pseudonyms of Neil Hunter) will be writing new books, with Bodie #7: Desert Run due for publication on December 1st. Brand #10: The Killing Days and Bodie #8: The High Riders to follow and hopefully there will be many more too.

Coyote Moon

By Ralph Hayes

Hale, September 2015

Buffalo hunter O’Brien has made an effort to settle down to a more civilized life in Fort Revenge, in Indian Territory, helping his friend run a stage line there.

However, it isn’t long before trouble comes at O’Brien from two directions: first in the form of an outlaw gang from Tulsa who want to buy his friend’s stagecoach company and won’t take no for an answer, and second from a family of killers who are seeking revenge for the death of their kin at his hands.

O’Brien must respond to these challenges with his own brand of gunsmoke, while he wrestles with two life decisions: whether or not to return to the trail, and whether to take Sarah Carter, the girl he brought to Fort Revenge, with him when he leaves.

Ralph Hayes first wrote about O’Brien back in the early 1970s, bringing him back in 1992. 2011 saw the publication of a Black Horse Western in which O’Brien returned once more, and this is the third BHW to feature him.

The books do mention events from those very first O’Brien westerns, in fact the family gunning for him in this one tangled with him in the 1973 book The Secret of Sulphur Creek (later republished under the title Gunslammer). Hayes gives just enough backstory to understand why they want revenge but not enough to spoil that pervious book should you read it after this one.

O’Brien seems to take all the life and death situations in his stride, in fact provokes some of the gunplay himself and lets rage rule his actions when Sarah’s wellbeing is threatened. It’s Sarah who also provides the biggest battle for O’Brien as he struggles to understand his feelings for her and whether they can possibly compete with the lure of the wild.

Ralph Hayes does tie-up a number of loose threads that have been hanging throughout this series which makes me wonder if this will finally be the last we’ve seen of O’Brien. I certainly hope not as he makes for a great western hero.

For fans of the O’Brien books this is a must read. As a stand-alone novel it proves to be a very entertaining and action packed story that should satisfy most western readers and I’d be surprised if it doesn’t make you want to check out more of Ralph Hayes work.

The Gamblers of Wasteland

By Jim Lawless

Hale, September 2015

Convinced that Blackjack Chancer is behind the death of his youngest brother, Lukus Rheingold steals the Saturday night takings from the gambler’s Wasteland Eldorado.

Led by Marshal Jed Crane, the Wasteland posse is outwitted by Lukus’s surviving brother, Kris. The Rheingold brothers head for their home at Nathan’s Ford, where they are followed by a mysterious woman calling herself Lil Lavender, and later by Chancer and his hired gun, Fallon. All three have their own reasons for hunting Lukus Rheingold, and the hunt leads to a final bloody climax in the Rheingold family cemetery.

Jim Lawless is one of a fistful of pseudonyms used by John Paxton Sheriff and if anyone has read any of his previous books you’ll know the story won’t be as straight-forward as the blurb above might indicate, for the author always includes many plot twists and turns, many of which will take the reader completely by surprise. It’s these elements that makes Sheriff’s work such a joy to read.

Even as it becomes obvious Lil Lavender isn’t being exactly truthful we learn that Lukus Rheingold has a past that may become his downfall. In fact the lawmen he encounters seem more interested in arresting him than finding who has kidnapped his brother Kris.

Filled with plenty of action this story gallops towards its deadly finale, one that throws up yet more questions that have to be answered before Sheriff brings his tale to a close. Even then there is another surprise in waiting, and there is also a hint that we haven’t heard the last of some of the characters, that there could well be a sequel further down the line. I certainly hope so.

Hale must be complimented on their excellent cover choice.