THE ORACLE OF THE MONTANA MOUNTAINS

 

THE BALLED OF A WESTERING MAN
Book 2 of 2
ORACLE OF THE MONTANA MOUNTAINS
By Bill Yenne
DS Productions, May 2026

If madness can be defined in an allegory, there are few allegories more apt than Gideon Safford’s blind obsession with crossing the Continental Divide on the cusp of a Montana winter. This westering man survives certain death in one blizzard only to find himself making a promise to brave further hardships— and bullets— to locate an enigmatic woman with eyes like a blizzard who has become an oracle.

The traveling Jesuit missionary who saves his life brings Safford to a Blackfeet camp on the Marias River. There, Safford hears the tale of a young woman who is believed by many to possess great, even magical, powers of insight. She was kidnapped and sold to people across the Divide, and her own people, especially her sister, want her back.

Because of her strange eyes, which once seen are never forgotten, this oracle has become a mysterious object of wonder, speculation and avarice on both sides of the Divide, a woman about whom people speak only in whispers.

This book is a reissue of one I always meant to read but never got around to doing so. This new publication sees it published under a new title – previously it came out as Eyes Like a Blizzard back in 2022. I do wonder if it had an earlier publication under yet a third title as this is what happened to the first book which originally appeared in 2019 under the title Vultures Over the Elk Fork Country. This was republished in 2022 as Death Stalks the Mountains. In 2025 it had another title change and is now known as Racing the Snows Across the Great Divide. I have no idea if any of the publications have seen the books rewritten in any way. You can read my review of the first book here.

Full of engaging characters, this book soon had me hooked as I wanted to know if the woman, Máakai, Safford had agreed to deliver a message to could be found, and if Safford did succeed in tracking her down would she really have magical powers? Yenne descriptions of Máakai are excellent and you can’t help but share the emotional turmoil she goes through.

The story challenges the thought of owning someone. To buy and sell people. It’s a story about greed. 

The book is fairly short. The plot moves forward at a swift pace, building to its conclusion with ever increasing tension as Safford and Máakai are pursued across the Divide by more people than they know about during which they have to struggle to survive a blizzard, before everyone comes together for a final showdown. The action scenes are well described and are fairly graphic at times. 

Does the white-eyed Máakai have magic powers? I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out. 

It's been a long time since I read the first Gideon Safford tale and I’m very glad I finally read the second book as it proved to be a very enjoyable. I’ve seen mention of a third book, You Can’t Outrun Your Past, which was published in 2022. Hopefully that will be republished soon, and if it is, you can bet I’ll be reading it. 

American readers can get a copy here.

British readers can get a copy here.

STRONG MEDICINE

 

HOLMES ON THE RANGE
STRONG MEDICINE
By Steve Hockensmith
Rough Edges Press, July 2026

The A.A. Western Detective Agency rides into Galveston in 1894 Texas, a city of elegant Victorian mansions and dark waterfront secrets, when a wealthy businessman burns to death in his own warehouse under far-too-convenient circumstances.

With Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer on the case, Old Red’s obsession with Sherlock Holmes is finally put to the ultimate test. Their client’s household is crawling with suspects: a brilliant female scientist, an eccentric would-be snake-oil salesman, a volatile socialite, and a charismatic “healer” whose devoted followers will do anything she demands.

As blackmail, madness, and murder tangle beneath Galveston’s gleaming surface, the detectives must separate miracle from menace before the killer delivers another dose of strong medicine.

With threats closing in from every direction, can the Double-A Western Detective Agency smoke out the truth before the next victim goes up in flames?

The last full-length Holmes on the Range book came out in 2023 and a couple of short story collections followed in the same year. The latest novel, Strong Medicine, has links to the previous book in that the Amlingmeyer brothers have agreed to help one of the characters from Hunters of the Dead and are soon involved with a wonderful set of people and creatures as they attempt to solve crimes of murder and blackmail. 

Steve Hockensmith tells his fast-moving tale through the voice of Big Red whose observations on the investigation and life in general had me howling with laughter many times, as did one of the action scenes involving flying vegetables. Descriptions are excellent too and painted very visual images in my mind’s eye – the gardeners and their overseer being particularly vivid. 

I must point out that this is not a comedy western/murder mystery novel. It’s a captivating, twisting, thrilling story that includes humour. There are plenty of tense scenes, one involving scorpions and another seeing the Amlingmeyer brothers on the wrong end of a gun. 

I am purposefully being vague with details about the plot and characters as I just don’t want to spoil anything for those intending to read this terrific edition to the Holmes on the Range series. 

As usual, I gave up trying to work out the who and why of the plot as Steve Hockensmith is extremely good at pointing the finger at just about everyone the Amlingmeyer’s meet. Seemingly meaningless comments and actions will later be revealed as major clues to solving the mysteries facing the brothers, something they will do, no matter the cost to themselves. Oh, and could one of them be falling in love? And then there’s the question of whether nut-butter made from peanuts could ever catch on.

As you’ve probably guessed, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to all readers who enjoy whodunit stories. 

American readers can get a copy here.

British readers can get a copy here. 

NO TEARS IN HELL

 

THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY COLT 2
NO TEARS IN HELL
By James Reasoner
DS Productions, June 2026

The path to justice winds through the Gateway to Hell. Fourteen soldiers are dead, the shipment of rifles they were guarding is gone, and those responsible are hiding behind whiskey, cards, and dirty money. 

Johnny Colt arrives in Harker City, where nobody asks too many questions – unless they’re prepared to pay for the answer. He is supposed to track down the killers and uncover the truth, but first, he needs to make them believe he is one of them.

Every man he meets seems meaner than the last, and a knife might be hiding behind every pretty smile in town. Texas Ranger Johnny Colt must risk everything under an outlaw’s name. On the border, the truth often comes out with a gunshot. 

Johnny Colt has a reputation of being a gunfighter and an outlaw. His uncle, Captain Esau Parker, employs Colt as a Texas Ranger. Johnny’s rep meaning he’s an ideal candidate for operating undercover. 

Once in Harker City, Johnny makes the acquaintance of Catherine “Copper” O’Malley, a stunning young woman who owns a saloon. It isn’t long before Johnny begins to wonder if she’s involved with the outlaw’s he’s determined to bring down. Soon, Johnny is invited to join the small army of bandits and his initiation into the gang makes for one helluva memorable part of the book.  

After that life gets much more complicated and dangerous for Johnny. Each new character he meets seems to offer a threat. Even though Johnny has his suspects there’s still the reasons for the soldier’s slaughter to uncover. 

James Reasoner has long been one of my favourite western authors and here he comes up with another fast-paced and gripping read in No Tears in Hell. Johnny is a likeable protagonist. There are many other great characters in this tale too; Blackwood, El Cherubin, Copper, and Serafina are just a few of them. The story builds extremely well and includes elements of mystery that kept me turning the pages. There’s plenty of action before we get to the final showdowns that tie everything up neatly. I was also left hoping Johnny will meet one of the survivors in a future book.

No Tears in Hell is a book that I believe all western fans will enjoy reading, so it gets a big recommendation from me. 

American readers can get a copy here.

British readers can get a copy here.

COLONEL DEATH

 

CANYON O’GRADY
Book 14 of 25
COLONEL DEATH
By Jon Sharpe
Cover art by Jerome Podwil
Signet Books, July 1991

Canyon O’Grady had his gun hands full of trouble. U.S. Cavalry Colonel Judson Kilgore had led renegade troops out of Texas and down south of the border. O’Grady was sent as a one-man army to stop the kill-crazy colonel and his crew from carving out an empire of evil. Even worse, the big redheaded U.S. special agent also had a bevy of bloodthirsty banditos, a lost confederate colony, and an explosive spitfire to deal with. All O’Grady could do was give it his best shot – again and again and again…

Set in 1868, this story sees O’Grady having to face near unsurmountable odds. A lot of the book sees the author telling us of the atrocities Colonel Kilgore, soon to be known as Colonel Death, was carrying out and tells of men flocking to join his ever-growing army. How can one man, O’Grady, take on over one hundred men? 

As O’Grady travels into Mexico, he finds himself following a trail of corpses and ransacked towns. The locals are weary of Americans and O’Grady has to defend himself from those who assume he’s one of Kilgore’s men. 

Eventually O’Grady meets Mercedes, a young woman who has seen her father and brothers die at the hand of Kilgore. She wants revenge and insists she will accompany O’Grady on his mission. O’Grady doesn’t want her along, but circumstances see her join him. Of course, she’s very attractive and O’Grady enjoys some explicit action with her. 

The final showdown is fast-paced and takes place over a few skirmishes and the defence of and an attack on a fortified town. 

Jon Sharpe is a pseudonym. Book twelve saw Chet Cunningham stop writing for the series (he’d written all but three of the previous books up to then). Book thirteen saw a new author come on board and I believe this book, number fourteen, is yet another new writer. I’m not sure who it is but I have seen it mentioned that it was Mark K. Roberts. I’m not familiar enough with his writing to confirm whether this is true or not. 

Colonel Death is a longer story than the previous book. Not in page length but in the size of the print and that the chapters start a few lines down from the end of the previous one rather than on the next page. To be honest I did feel the story rambled a bit at times, especially during the first half or so, but it still held my attention as I wanted to find out how O’Grady would succeed in his mission. The story is very straight-forward with little in the way of twists. Overall, I found this book to be an ok read.

SHORTY

 

SHORTY
By Clifton Adams
Fontana Books, 1969 and 1976
Originally published in 1966

When Shorty Gibbs rode into Hardrow Texas with a bullet wound in his skull and a grudge against the man who put it there, he was surprised to hear he was supposed to be dead and his murderer had already been strung up by a mob.

But he was even more surprised when he realized that most of the population was sorry to hear about his recovery and were anxious to run him out of Hardrow, dead or alive…

Shorty Gibbs is a small man with an even shorter temper that boils over before he has time to think about the consequences, and most of the time that’s fine with him. Figuring out who shot him and why sees his short fuse get him into all kinds of trouble and often at odds with the town marshal, Tooms. Gibbs holds the lawman partly responsible for the situation he is now in – jobless, homeless and disliked. 

Clifton Adams sticks mainly with Gibbs’ thoughts as he attempts to solve the mysteries surrounding his attempted murder. Why would someone want to kill him and steal his mail pouch? Why had an innocent man been strung up? How is the old sheepherder who’d saved his life involved – if indeed he is? Why does a group of ranchers want him out of town? It’s these questions and more that kept me eagerly turning the pages as bursts of violence hint at the shocking revelations to come in a tense final showdown when Gibb’s and a couple of others face a much larger force. 

I’m purposely being vague about the plot of this fast-moving hard-boiled tale of guilt and the changing world so as not to spoil it for anyone. You’ll definitely start having your own ideas about what is going on as I did, but Adams will soon throw you off track as he springs twist after twist to his engaging plot. 

Shorty is another extremely good read from Clifton Adams, an author who rapidly climbs higher and higher on my favourite western author list with each book I read by him. 

SILENT STALKER

 

FRONTIER SCOUT 5

SILENT STALKER

By Lane R. Warenski

DS Productions, April 2026

Caleb Miller—known across the frontier as Night Tracker—has built a hard reputation as Chief Scout for the 2nd Cavalry out of Fort Laramie in Nebraska Territory. As his young wife prepares to give birth, Caleb makes a choice that could cost him everything: leave the danger of the plains and return to Springfield so their child can be born near family.

The thousand-mile journey home is anything but safe. Caleb agrees to escort orphaned twins, Clara and Cloe, across wild country stalked by outlaws and war parties. Along the way, they encounter Gray Owl, the Silent Stalker—a young Pawnee warrior who seeks Cloe for his wife. Bound by circumstance and mutual respect, Caleb and Gray Owl forge a bond that soon turns into true friendship.

In Springfield, Caleb briefly dons a sheriff’s badge before accepting a perilous freight run to Santa Fe. Hostile tribes and highwaymen soon learn why Night Tracker earned his legendary status so young. 

I’ve not read anything by Lane R. Warenski before so was looking forward to trying this much praised author. I found his writing style flowed smoothly and his descriptive prose painted visual images of the landscapes, towns and action scenes beautifully. Dialogue was handled equally as well.

As I started reading, I did wonder whether I needed to have read the previous books in this series to fully understand the relationships between the main characters. I needn’t have worried though as Warenski provides enough backstory to explain how these people knew each other and what struggles they’d face to make them who they were. I must admit to being surprised at how young Caleb Miller was as usually scouts with the kind of knowledge he has are depicted as much older men, so this made for a welcome change. 

Due to the nature of the story, long treks across the country and facing different situations, some of which could see the death of Miller and his family and friends, meant the tale came across as very episodic. A couple of times this felt like a new story had begun, especially when Miller starts out on the journey to deliver freight to Santa Fe, which was my favourite section of the story. Even so, everything is linked by the characters and the reasons they take on these new tasks. 

All the main storylines come to satisfactory conclusions, but one or two are left hanging so there will be continuance into the next book, assuming there will be one. 

Did this story make me want to read anything else by Warenski? Definitely. 

American readers can get a copy here.

British readers can get a copy here.

GUNPOINT

 

GUNPOINT

By Jeff Pintabona

Veritas Entertainment, February 2026

In Gunpoint, everyone has a price.

Some men just refuse to pay it.

Gunpoint is a town on edge. Five men are found dead outside a line shack, cut down with brutal precision. Whispers spread fast, and one name keeps surfacing: Mort Totten, a legendary gunfighter with a fifty-thousand-dollar bounty on his head. As killers flood the territory looking to collect, Marshal Lin Cannon is tasked with keeping Gunpoint from tearing itself apart. He's faced down outlaws before, but Totten isn't like the others. He doesn't miss. And he doesn't leave witnesses.

Meanwhile, two relentless lawmen are closing in from another direction, following a trail of blood, lies, and betrayal that leads straight to Gunpoint and straight toward an inevitable collision.

As private bounties, corrupt power brokers, and old vendettas converge, the line between lawman and gunman begins to blur. In a land where justice is often decided at the muzzle of a revolver, every man must choose what he's willing to kill and die for.

Gunpoint is the much-anticipated sequel to The Killers of Yellow Rock, a novel that I great enjoyed, a book that left me wanting more. You don’t have to have read that first story to appreciate this one as the author gives you all the backstory you need to understand what has gone before.

Dixon and Totten have gone their separate ways, with the former now wearing a lawman’s badge. Trouble is there’s a massive bounty on both their heads. Dixon needs to put an end to this, so rides to find Totten to see if he’ll help approach the person who has put up the bounty and get it removed as the constant strain of being on edge and having to face an almost endless stream of people wanting to try for the life-changing bounties is taking its toll on body and health. 

Finally meeting up outside the town of Gunpoint they find themselves swept up in the death struggles that are taking place within that community that seem to revolve around Marshal Lin Cannon and his brother. Cannon has a reputation as a town tamer but soon pure hatred will drive his actions, not the law.

Like with the first book, I am keeping my descriptions of the plot vague so as not to spoil the many surprises this very fast-moving tale offers. It’s a gritty read full of lightning-fast gunmen who get to display their talents often. There are difficult choices to be made, especially for Dixon when he’s asked to forget he’s a lawman and become a gunman and help kill some men. This challenges his code of honour. Can he be both? 

Pintabona kept my attention easily with plenty of what-will-happen-next situations all taking place under clouds of gunsmoke. His action scenes are edge-of-the-seat stuff and come thick and fast, all being extremely well described. The final showdown during a thunderstorm will stay in my memory for a long time. 

The final two words end with a question mark. One I need an answer to. It doesn’t mean the story doesn’t come to a conclusion because it certainly does, but it also implies there could well be a third book on the way. For me, that can’t come fast enough. 

American readers can get a copy here.

British readers can get a copy here.