DEATH RIDES FAST

DEATH RIDES FAST

By Cy James

Panther Books, April 1964

For a woman – he challenged the desert…challenged thirst and hunger…challenged the whole Comanche nation…challenged death itself…

Against the vast loneliness of the terrible Staked Plains stood one man, challenging the scourge of the Texas border. He fought death by thirst, hunger and violence, because the woman he wanted had been taken from him. Arne Bushby would have challenged Hell itself rather than back down from a fight for what belonged to him.

When we first meet Arne Bushby, he is on the run with his friend Carl Diplock. They’re being pursued by a posse. Bushwhacked and wounded, Bushby and Diplock make it to a cabin which is the home of two young ladies. The posse catch them there but before anyone can leave the Comanche attack. This prolonged battle sees the girls taken by the Comanches which leads to Bushby, Diplock, the girls father Lane, and an English rancher who is sweet on the same girl Bushby falls for, ride out to rescue them.

Cy James is a pseudonym used by Peter C. Watts, perhaps better known for his work as Matt Chisholm. If you’ve ever read anything by him, you’ll know you’re in for an action-packed read and Death Rides Fast is certainly that. The siege of the ranch house is full of tension and dramatic scenes, something that could easily have been the conclusion to many stories, but Watts has much more hardship planned for his rough heroes. How about two of those men tracking the girls and their captors facing fifty bloodthirsty Comanches? Another, Bushby, attempting to rescue the girls from a large Comanche camp? Later, Bushby will have to face superior odds alone. There are plenty of other skirmishes too and not everyone will survive. 

Watts’ characters are tough men, and women, all of whom will sacrifice themselves to achieve their aims. Fear is brushed aside so they can do what needs to be done. Watts excels in his descriptive prose of the battles and the determination of Bushby to survive comes over strongly even though the odds on that happening seem hopeless. 

The plot is straight-forward and plays out pretty much as you’d expect, although there is always a nagging doubt of any of the main characters surviving. The storytelling is excellent and the pacing is terrific as it gallops from one bout of gunplay to the next with hardly any time to breathe between. 

If you like fast-moving tough westerns, filled with action, then I’d recommend this book to you. If you’ve never read anything by Watts, then Death Rides Fast would be a great introduction to his writing.

WESTERN TRAILS - June 1936

WESTERN TRAILS
June 1936, Vol. XXIII, No. 1
Magazine Publishers, Inc.
Editor A.A. Wyn, Associate Editor Harry Widmer
Cover art by William Fulton Soare

This pulp magazine first appeared in October 1928 and ran for 124 issues, this last issue being published in April 1949. I don’t believe there were any British editions.

The opening novelette is Kid Thunderbolt by Frederick C. Davis. This is the second of six stories he wrote for Western Trails featuring The Jingling Kid. When Jingle finds a notorious dying killer, Kid Thunderbolt, the lightning-fast gunman gives Jingle his guns, horse, hat and instantly recognizable vest and asks him to pretend to be him and help a young woman who has asked for his help. Jingle accepts these gifts and mission. Jingle is a no-account drifter, a young man scorned and ridiculed by others, but know under his new persona he relishes in the adulation he receives and finds a new confidence in himself and sets out to help Donna Dexter. 

The story is fast moving, contains mystery as to who is killing Donna’s ranch hands with knives in the back. It also seems there’s a traitor among Donna’s crew as the enemy seem to be one step ahead of them. There’s plenty of action – gunplay, a jailbreak, a town on fire and chase sequences. I was waiting throughout for someone to expose this new Kid Thunderbolt as an imposter and I got my wish. I haven’t read anything by Davis before this, and found Kid Thunderbolt to be a very entertaining read and look forward to reading another soon. 

Double-Cross Brands by L.P. Holmes is next. Holmes was a prolific author for the pulps with around 600 being published, most of which were westerns. He also had many paperbacks published too. Going by how many stories he wrote, and how long I’ve been reading westerns, it may come as a surprise when I tell you I haven’t read anything by him before. 

Double-Cross Brand features the much-used plot of a young man and a young woman in love with each other but unable to act on these feelings due to being son and daughter of families that have been involved in a very long-running feud that began before either of them was born. When Jerry Bennett is offered his father’s ranch with the provision that he keeps the feud going Bennett refuses the gift, saying he wants to end the feud so he can be with Arlie Condon. When calves belonging to each side are discovered wearing the oppositions brand accusations fly thick and fast and it looks like the feud isn’t due to end anytime soon. Jerry sets out to solve the mystery of the branded calves and end the feud. Yes, everything played out as I expected but I had great fun reading it and am now eager to try another story by Holmes.  

The third story is another novelette, Destiny Rides the Lobo Pass by Peter Germane. Peter Germane is a thinly disguised pseudonym used by Peter Germano before he switched to the now much better-known penname of Barry Cord. Under the Germane name he had around twenty stories published in a variety of western pulp magazines.  

Destiny Rides the Lobo Pass is a gritty tale with a dark theme of a father being set up to kill his son who he thought dies years ago. The son believes an outlaw is his father and rides with him and his gang. Both are extremely fast draws and the father has become known as Senor Death of the years. This twisting tale provides a gripping read as Germane builds the tension to snapping point. There’s plenty of gunplay, an exciting knife fight, and a kidnapping. Hatred fuels many of the cast of characters with Senor Death being driven by the thirst for revenge too. The story has a bittersweet ending. This has to be one of my favourite tales I’ve read by Peter Germano. 

Hellion’s Lash by Phil Richards is a short story by an author unknown to me. An escaped prisoner, Randen, tries to discover why his friend helped frame him for murder but is forced to kill him. This makes Randen even more determined to find the person behind his prison sentence. For such a short story, Richards involves a lot of people, meaning I had to pay attention to who was who and why they were included in the tale. The story involves a judge and his daughter (who’s sweet on Randen), lawmen, wealthy businessmen, prison guards (one who’s very handy with a whip), and bounty hunters. With so much going on I found it hard to connect with any of the characters but was intrigued enough to read on as I wanted to see how Randen cleared his name and who the bad guy was. Hellion’s Lash was an ok read but I doubt I’ll be hunting out more of Richards’ yarns anytime soon.

After Hellion’s Lash, and presumably just included to fill the second half of a page, comes an account of a tale of an extraordinary roping feat by a man called Don Manuel Acuna. This piece doesn’t have a writer’s name attached to it. This true story or completely fictional tale stretches belief a lot. If it is true then damn, it’s amazing. If fictional it’s ‘is that possible even in your wildest dreams?’

Next, we have a three-page true story King Fisher by Charles Kenmore Ulrich. This is subtitled Romances of the Old Frontier No. 21. As you’d expect this is told in a factual way and covers Fisher’s life from a young age until his death. The author adds some imagined dialogue which brings some life to this historical article that got me interested in reading more about King Fisher. According to an information box, Ulrich only wrote about people he’d met in person. 

Boot-Hill Carnival by Clyde A. Warden is a novelette featuring the author’s series character Bert Little. Warden wrote 78 stories starring Little, all of which were published in Western Trails.

Colonel Andrew Dexter makes the mistake of trying to hire Little for his guns but Little refuses as he doesn’t kill for money. Unsurprisingly, Little gets involved anyway after an attempt on his life. This story is about making Barry Sanders pay for murdering the brother of Dexter, so this is a revenge tale that, of course, includes a pretty girl who is the daughter of the dead man. Little finds himself riding alongside a man called Cactus, who has a rep as a troublemaker. There’s plenty of gunplay as Little and Cactus try to track down Sanders. The story played out pretty much as I expected until the end where twist upon twist that took me completely by surprise turning a routine yarn into so much more. 

Boot-Hill Carnival was a very readable story with a memorable ending that left me looking forward to read more tales about Bert Little soon. One thing that confused me though was the title as Boot-Hill doesn’t feature in the story and neither does a carnival. Maybe the editors didn’t like Warden’s original title and changed it without reading the story? I guess that’s something we’ll never find out 90 years after this magazine was published. 

We then get two regular columns that I didn’t read. These being July Roundup of Western Trails which tells readers what they can look forward to in the next issue, and Stampede by Powder River Bill, which is a few pages of letters asking for pen pals.

Six-Gun Shadows by Carl Mck. Saunders brings this issue of Western Trails to a close. It’s a short story about a man called Andy Hall who steals the loot from outlaws. We meet him just after he’s run off with the money from a train robbery and is being hunted by the furious thieves, which is a big problem for Hall as he doesn’t have any bullets in his guns. Carl Mck. Saunders is a pseudonym used by Philip L. Ketchum and on the strength of this short story I would certainly read him again even though the twist in this tale was easy to spot coming and me not being a fan of ‘in-the-nick-of-time’ endings. 

This issue of Western Trails was a very enjoyable read with all the stories holding my attention well and it has me wanting to read my only other copy of this magazine as soon as I can. 

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.