TRAIL OF THE DAMNED

TRAIL OF THE DAMNED

By Gil Martin

Cover art by W. Francis Phillips

New English Library, May 1975

Originally published by Robert Hale, 1966

One man dead at Jackie’s feet. Another, bleeding and dusty, lies gasping out his last words. And for Jackie Burrows killing becomes easy.

On the run, from the law and from himself, he changes his name and his women but he cannot change his life and the smoke from his gun hangs heavy on him – thick like blood.

From the moment that first bullet tore into a man there was no turning back – only the beginning of a trail of death for J.B. The Trail of the Damned.

The original hardback published by Hale was put out under the authors name, Martin Overy, as was NEL’s first paperback version in 1968. In America, Berkley put the book out in paperback form in 1967 under the pseudonym of Gil Martin. This was the name used on subsequent NEL publications too. 

Like the other books I’ve read by this author, the story is told in a very hard-boiled style and has a number of dark themes running throughout. Written in the first person we share Jack Burrows bitter observations on life and death, share his emotional turmoil when dealing with women and his desperation to stay away from the law who are hunting him for killing one of their own. 

From the excellent opening paragraphs that immediately pulled me into the story, I found this book difficult to put down. With each person Jack meets tension mounts as he fears he will be recognized, even though he has changed his name to Jess Burgess. Taking a job as ranch foreman for a man he knew back in the Civil War could be the perfect hiding place, until his boss, Frank, takes a new, young, wife. Jack is immediately attracted to her, and it seems the feelings are mutual. This is where the feel of the book becomes more like a crime noir novel, although it never loses its identity as a western, and I began to wonder if this young lady would prove to be a femme fatale. 

Jack is not an easy man to like but this is exactly why he’s such a compelling character. At times he’s harsh, cruel even, to those he finds himself working with and loving. He’s never hit a woman, but tells one there could always be a first time. He’s hardly ever at peace, scared someone will know or discover who he really is. Does Frank’s wife know the truth and if so, why is she keeping it to herself?

In Trail of the Damned, the author has written a gripping, taut tale in which the mental strains Jack struggles to deal with feel very real. Can a man who admits to being a killer ever find happiness or will he get his comeuppance? I can’t reveal that here, but if you do decide to read this book, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy finding out.  

Robert Hale, 1966

New English Library 1968

NO HALLOWED GROUND

 

Double-A Western Detective Agency 2

NO HALLOWED GROUND

By Steve Hockensmith

Rough Edges Press, October 2024

When the A.A. Western Detective Agency needs to hunt men down, it turns to its toughest operatives: former cavalrymen Oswin Diehl and Ira Hoop and their Mescalero Apache scout Eskaminzim. So, when the Double-A is asked to catch bank robbers fleeing across Missouri toward the Indian Territories, it sends the three to head the gang off. Along for the hard ride is Hoop’s wife and Eskaminzim’s sister, Onawa, who’s tired of waiting around to learn who won’t be coming home from the A.A.’s latest assignment.

But when the four reach Missouri, they learn that there’s much more at stake than the holdings of a single bank. The “gang” they’re after is actually a company of former Confederate Cherokees—and they’re backed by a powerful cabal of conspirators bent on avenging the South’s defeat in the Civil War.

What starts out as a chase to track down bandits turns into a battle for the future of the country…one our outnumbered heroes can’t possibly hope to win.

It’s great to see the second book in the Double-A Western Detective Agency series come out so soon after the first one. Hired Guns was a great read and I was left eagerly looking forward to another book featuring Diehl, Hoop, and Eskaminzim. 

The first part of No Hallowed Ground sets up the twisting plot superbly. Diehl and his companions wondering just what they’ve got themselves in to as they pursue the bank robbers in a mission to retrieve the contents of an ice-cream wagon that is being used by the robbers to transport their loot. Each time they met a new person the mystery deepens and it becomes clear that they haven’t been told the truth, but they’ve been assigned to the case and will do their best to get the bank’s property back. It’s only when the second part of the book is reached that the outrageous reality is discovered and the race to stop the gang becomes even more desperate. Trouble is things aren’t going to be that straight-forward as the author has more surprises waiting for his heroes and readers that will add more complications to the mission.

There’s a lot of humorous observations throughout the story, mainly coming from Eskaminzim as he often likes to wind-up his fellow detectives and enemies alike. Having Onawa along for the ride sees Eskaminzim’s competitive side become stronger than we’ve ever witnessed before, such as when he tries to prove he is the best tracker in the group.

Action scenes come thick and fast and these violent acts are often hard-hitting and offer some nail-biting edge of the seat reading, such as those that take place in a hotel. Hockensmith regularly switches from character to character, often leaving them in cliff-hanger situations thus ensuring you’ll keep reading to find out what happens to each of them.  

The final showdown is excellent as all the various factions battle for the contents of the ice-cream wagon and very few people escape the flying lead. This shootout provides some tense reading as everything is resolved in blood and fire. What happened to the loot was shocking but also made me laugh as did how the Double-A detectives decided to conclude their mission.

All I can now hope is that it isn’t too long before Steve Hockensmith writes another book about these operatives of the Double-A Western Detective Agency.

American readers can get a copy here

British readers can get a copy here

SIX-GUN WESTERN

SIX-GUN WESTERN

British Edition

Cover art by Joseph Szokoli

This edition doesn’t include any issue numbers or publication dates. It is a partial reprint of the American Six-Gun Western published April 1950 so I assume it came out not too long after as that was usually the case with British editions of American pulps. It also seems this was the only British edition of Six-Gun Western.

The American edition had 130 pages; the British was trimmed to 100. Two stories were cut to make this possible, these being Ray Gaulden’s Once a Badge Toter and the Six-Gun Smith comic strip The Gambling Lady by Berthold Tiedemann. 

This pulp differs to many that I have seen in that it features two or three drawings illustrating something that happens during each story and all the artists are named. What is a little annoying is that these illustrations often come a couple of pages before the events take place in the story so they act as spoilers. Some of the stories continue page to page and then you have to turn further into the magazine to find the last couple of pages, something I’m not a fan of. One story has its final paragraphs printed on the page before the tale begins. I just don’t understand why some of the adverts couldn’t have been moved around so the stories could be printed unbroken. 

This issue opens with Cow-Country Mail Call which is made up of a few letters from readers and comments by Dobie Dallas. 

Next, we have the novelette Short-Cut to Hell by E. Hoffmann Price with illustrations by William Meilink. This story was originally published in the January 1939 edition of Thrilling Adventures and was the first of four tales Price wrote featuring the character, Saul Epstein. This story was also the reason I picked out this pulp to read as way back in 2011 I read and thoroughly enjoyed the anthology Nomad’s Trail by Price which contained a number of tales featuring one of Price’s other pulp heroes, Simon Bolivar Grimes who was a series character in Spicy Western Stories.

Epstein is a secondary character in Short-Cut to Hell, who pops up a little to conveniently for me to help the main lead, Pete Barlow, take on a man who is trying to muscle in on his girl whilst they all travel in a wagon train. Epstein joins them mid-journey pushing his hand-cart from which he seems to sell everything you could possibly want. There’s also another young woman who shows an interest in Barlow and he doesn’t seem able to resist her advances. That’s not the only problem Barlow will have to deal with as there is a gang waiting to attack the wagons. 

Short-Cut to Hell was an ok read and contained a fair bit of action but overall was nowhere near as entertaining as the Simon Bolivar Grimes tales I’d previously read. Epstein was a fun character though, so I can see why Price would write other tales about him.    

The comic strip Tethered to Murder, featuring series character K-Bar-Kate by R. Hayden was next. This was competently drawn but the story wasn’t gripping in any way and was filled with too many nick-of-time moments for me.

The Grey Wolf by Charls Getts, with illustrations by Kingsland Ward, was much more to my taste. A mysterious stranger wearing the emblem of a wolf comes to the aid of an old settler and his pretty daughter whilst tracking down an old enemy. I guess it’ll come as no surprise that the person threatening the settlers is the man the stranger is hunting. The tale plays out pretty much as expected except for the ending and I was left wanting to read more by Getts.

Gunsmoke Tally by Frank Morris came next. H. W. Kiemle provided the illustrations. Hank Green was holed up in a cabin while his enemies scoured the countryside for him. When there came a knock at the door and a girl tumbled in, he was sure that it was just a ruse to get him where their guns could cut him down. The entire tale takes place in the dark cabin and is a very tense story that is filled with mistrust. Is the girl really who she says she is? Green doesn’t think so. Can she persuade him otherwise? Green starts to believe her but is soon full of suspicion again as his enemies fight their way into the cabin. I’ll certainly be keeping an eye-out for more stories by Morris as I really enjoyed this one.

Golden Girl by Ralph Sedgwick Douglas - a house pseudonym shared by a number of authors but I haven’t been able to discover who wrote this story. Illustrations are by Max Plaisted. The title is the name of the hero’s horse and the story tells the tale of Tuck Creighton’s return to his home spread after a year away. It seems his father is still sore at him though and there are a lot of very puzzling things happening on the be-devilled range. The author came up with some memorable characters for this tale, Whistling Willie, a youngster who can make the sounds of any bird, and a man called The Weeper who oozes evil and works for Tuck’s father. Of course, there is also a pretty girl involved. The author keeps you guessing at just what is going on and springs a couple of surprises during this well told tale, although there is a bit of an unbelievable event that helps Tuck free himself when captured and tied up. How everything was resolved was a little too perfect and involved a just-in-time intervention that for me was a bit of a let-down. I still liked this story quite a lot and would read more by this author if I ever discover who it is. 

The final story is Transformation in Skeleton Flats by John White and this was illustrated by Al Savitt. Jeff Markle was the young offspring of a no-good, shiftless family, and treated with pretty low regard around Skeleton Flats. But it is sure surprisin’ what a shave, a haircut, a bushwhacking and a girl can do to affect the life of an unkempt range rannihan! Jeff puts the blame on himself when Julia Latham’s brother is shot by a gunman trying to kill Jeff as he believes this will help him get close to Julia and win her affections. A mis-guided plan if there ever was one. White tells his story well, even if it is unbelievable making this the weakest tale in this issue of Six-Gun Western. 

Overall, this was a readable pulp that introduced me to a couple more authors I’d like to read more of. 

FIGHT FOR THE VALLEY

 

FIGHT FOR THE VALLEY
By Lee Leighton
Panther Books, January 1962
Originally published by Ballantine Books, 1960

Five long years of waiting…nursing and nourishing his hatred…learning how to slap leather fast enough…growing from a frightened young boy to a fast and fighting man…waiting, always waiting for the final day of reckoning – until, with savage suddenness – it came!

The above blurb makes this sound like it’s going to be a tough, dark, brutal read to me. Boy, was I wrong. The book is beautifully written and I soon found myself caught up in the storyline. I wanted to know what would happen, so had to keep turning the pages. But, where was the action? 

The book is split into three parts; The Boy, The Youth, and The Man. The story follows Tommy Gordon as he grows from a naïve youngster struggling to understand adults and his feelings towards two young women. He lives on a ranch but is not wanted by the owner, Mike Dugan, although the rest of the family accept him with open arms. Witnessing a horrific beating, Gordon leaves. He drifts from place to place. Grows into a capable young man. Gordon is then drawn back to the area of the ranch he once called home and it seems inevitable this will lead to a violent confrontation between him and Dugan.

Lee Leighton is a pseudonym used by Wayne D. Overholser, and I think this is the first full-length book I’ve read by him, although I have read a couple of his short stories. Overholser began his career by writing for the western pulps in 1936. 

Here's a quote from Overholser discussing his output in general “I have tried to be accurate in describing my settings and consider character more important than action.” That is exactly what you get in Fight for the Valley. It’s an excellent portrayal of character development, of a growing young man. Although there is very little in the way of gunfights the book does contain a couple of hard-hitting scenes that help shape Gordon and some of the other characters, one of these scenes being quite heart-wrenching and I though Overholser handled this particularly well. It was obvious from the beginning that Gordon and Dugan would face-off and I was glad to find that it didn’t quite play out as I expected and that it provided a satisfactory conclusion to the tale.

I have a couple of other westerns put out under Overholser’s own name and one co-authored with Lewis B. Patten – this latter book written for the children’s market – and a few short stories, so I guess the question is will I be reading any of them anytime soon? The answer has to be nope, not in the foreseeable future as I prefer my westerns to have a lot more action in them. Having said that, if I pick out a pulp or anthology that includes one of his stories I will read it, and I aim intrigued by the book he wrote with Patten to see how their styles mix and how they went about writing a children’s story.

NEW WORK ON A. LESLIE SCOTT

 

NEW WORK ON A. LESLIE SCOTT

by Anders N. Nilsson and James Reasoner

Towards a Bibliography of Alexander Leslie Scott, Focusing on Jim Hatfield, Walt Slade, and the Reprint of Pulp Stories as Books distributed as free PDF for reading online at, or downloading from:

https://archive.org/details/lesliescott_bibliography_nilssonreasoner_2024/mode/1up

Alexander Leslie Scott (1893-1974) was a very productive American western writer best known for his stories about the Texas Ranger known as Jim Hatfield or Walt Slade. The 206 novel-length Jim Hatfield stories were published in the Texas Rangers pulp magazine 1936-1958 under the house name Jackson Cole. 69 of Scott's Walt Slade novellas were published in the Thrilling Western pulp magazine 1940-1951.

Many of the Hatfield stories were reprinted as Popular Library paperbacks, whereas a large number of Walt Slade stories were published as Pyramid paperbacks. Many of Scott's pulp stories were also reprinted as hardcover remakes. Other authors studied here are Tom Curry, Peter Germano, Roe Richmond, Claude Rister, Lin Searles, and the two pseudonyms Buck Billings and Tex Holt.

HIRED GUNS

HIRED GUNS

By Steve Hockensmith

Rough Edges Press, September 2024

When former Army officer Oswin Diehl ventures into Mexico in search of fortune, he encounters more than he bargained for-bandits and chaos. Saved by old comrades Ira Hoop and Apache scout Eskaminzim, Diehl is offered a job that leads him to Arizona Territory and a showdown against a powerful conglomerate harassing local mine owners.

As Diehl and his resilient team face off against the hired goons of Consolidated American Mining Corporation, the stakes rise. With the brutal chairman, Kingsley Le May, and an army of operatives led by an old enemy, former Texas Ranger Thomas Breck, the battle turns into a deadly game of wits and survival.

Amidst the dust and gun smoke, alliances are formed, love is kindled, and a desperate struggle for freedom unfolds. Will Diehl, Hoop, Eskaminzim, and the fiery mine owner Catrin Gruffud overcome their adversaries and prevail in the ultimate showdown? The hired guns are locked, loaded, and ready for justice.

This book features detectives working for the Double-A Western Detective Agency. An organization that fans of Steve Hockensmith’s Holmes on the Range series will already be acquainted. This series isn’t about the Amlingmeyer brothers though, but it does star a couple of operatives that have ridden alongside Big Red and Old Red. 

The Holmes on the Range books are told in the first person, Hired Guns is written in the third. This allows Hockensmith to regularly switch between various characters, often leaving them in cliff-hanger situations. Like the other books, this one contains a fair amount of humorous banter and scenes. The main difference is that this book has a lot more violent action as Diehl, Hoop, Eskaminzim and Romo find themselves faced with an enemy that has a small army to help him get what he wants.

Steve Hockensmith paces the story superbly, building to a terrific final showdown. Characterization is excellent and descriptions paint vivid pictures in the mind. The author also pays homage to scenes from a well-known spaghetti western or two. The story also contains some neat twists and turns and a touch of mystery. 

If you like traditional westerns that are packed with tough, brutal action, mixed with elements of humour and have plots that will keep you guessing until the end, then look no further than Hired Guns. Me? I’m really looking forward to the follow-up story, No Hallowed Ground, which I believe is due out this October. 

Oh yeah, who can forget Prince Pudding Paws?

American readers can get a copy here

British readers can get a copy here 

THROUGH WESTERN STORMS

THROUGH WESTERN STORMS

Edited by Richard Prosch

Independently published, August 2024

Crashing thunder! Pelting sand! The whirl of confusion and the winds of madness.

Join 13 unsurpassed storytellers to journey through Western storms with tales of perseverance, grit, and courage as vast as the 19th-century American landscape.

This is an excellent collection of well-written short stories that either feature characters battling against the elements or emotions. You’ll find tales that are heart-breaking, those that find humour in desperate situations, and everything in between. There are stories that feature real people such as Nannita Daisey and Oscar Wilde. There’s one that is about a strange long-necked creature. Others tell tales about soldiers, mechanics, and detectives. Most are about ordinary people struggling through life. 

One of the things that I enjoy about anthologies is discovering new authors and nearly all of these writers are new to me. I’ve only read stories by three of them before. Of course, it’s all subjective to the reader when it comes to picking out favourites, which authors you want to read more of, or singling out stories you aren’t so keen on.

If you pushed me to pick out my favourites, I’d name in the order they appear in the collection, A Death on the Concho, Valiant-For-Truth, White City, and Noah’s Lament as being my top choices. I will quickly add that the others are very good too.

If you want to introduce yourself to the work of some current authors, perhaps discovering some new favourites in the process, then I’d suggest you grab a copy of Through Western Storms as soon as you can. 

Contents

Another Man’s Sea by Vonn McKee

The Lost Diary of Nannita Daisey by Nancy McCabe

Hurricane at Hogg’s Holler by Scott McCrea

Go On by Jim Jones

Windmiller by Jackson Lowry

A Death on the Concho by Jane Little Botkin

A Cowtown Wind by Natalie Cline Bright & Denise F. McAllister

Valiant-For-Truth by Elisabeth Grace Foley

A Newspaper Comes to Cripple Creek by Big Jim Williams

A Death in the Family by W. Michael Farmer

White City by John D. Nesbitt

Noah’s Lament by Preston Lewis

American readers can get a copy here
British readers can get a copy here