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.

WESTERN STORY - October 1953

 

WESTERN STORY
British Edition, October 1953, Vol. VIII, No. 10
Atlas Publications
Cover art by Norman Saunders

From the March 1953 issue the British Edition of Street & Smith’s Western Story Magazine had a name change to Western Story on the front cover and spine but the inside named it as Western Story Magazine. The October 1953 issue is subtitled incorporating Star Western Magazine. All the stories and cover art are taken from the American June 1953 issue of Star Western Magazine, which you can see below. 

This issue opens with the novelette Rough, Tough – and Kissable! by Art Lawson. I’ve not read anything by this author before so was keen to give him a go. Drifter Hugh Warden finds himself mistaken for an Association man brought in to investigate cattle rustling. Warden denies this is who he is, saying he’s just passing through on the way to his niece’s wedding, but is he telling the truth? Whilst in the area Warden gets himself involved with two very different women; one who’s tough and seems to want to kill him, and the other being a homely girl a man could settle down with. Art Lawson has created some great characters for this story that contains some lively action scenes and includes some neat twists to the tale – even if I did see a couple of them coming. Of course, Warden gets the girl at the end, but which one? Sorry, I can’t give that away here as it would be a major spoiler. On the strength of this story, I would read Lawson again. 

Next comes another novelette One Hell of a Blonde by Frank P. Castle. Iris arrives to lay claim to Bob Drummond’s ranch, saying it’s hers even though he has the deeds for it. Iris is not the only problem Drummond has. His neighbouring rancher, Sellers, wants his ranch too, and is trying all kinds of dirty tricks to get it. Why he wants it is anyone’s guess, and the author keeps the reason a secret until the very end, thus ensuring I kept turning the pages. This is only my second read of a story by Castle, and like the last one, I enjoyed it a lot. The mystery element, cracking dialogue, well described fight scenes, and some later surprises made this a memorable tale.  

The Devil’s Daughter by Will Cook is the first short story. A wagon train is heading across the mountains as winter snows threaten to cut them off. Elder Mercy won’t listen to advice and also orders a pregnant woman, Victoria, who’s been rescued from the Arapahoe, one of whom is her baby’s father, to be cast out into the snows to perish for having been with a heathen. One man, Mel Holden, stands up for her and ends up leaving the train with her. Soon the wagons are in difficulty and Mercy has to ask Holden for help if any of them are to survive. Will Holden help a man who can banish people and leave them to die without a second thought? Cook’s story raises some interesting questions and I enjoyed seeing how they would be dealt with. I did feel it was a shame the story wasn’t longer so they could be explored in more depth. As it was, I found the tale to be a satisfactory read. 

When Olga was old enough to be courted, one rough-handed suitor brought her a box of candy, a second brought her a ring, and a third – and the gentlest – six .45 bullets! This is the blurb for the next short story, Bride for an Outlaw Bride! by Frances H. Ames. It certainly had me intrigued enough to want to read this story. The three men arrive within minutes of each other at Olga’s home on her sixteenth birthday to ask, or take, her as a wife. Olga’s parents get them all to sit down for a meal that is filled with tension that threatens to erupt into violence. This it does, although that happens outside the house and the victor claims Olga. This is the second story I’ve read by this Ames and I enjoyed it as much as the previous one. His ability to build suspense is excellent and his fight scenes are well written. I look forward to reading more of his work soon.

The last tale is another short story, Girl of Outlaw Valley by Theodore J. Roemer. A girl, Rita, is taken from a stagecoach during a robbery. The gang leader, Quant, wants her for himself so decides to take her to their hideout. Already having a woman waiting there for him, he tells one of the gang members who hates women to pretend the stolen girl is his, as Quant knows his woman will kill both him and the girl if she suspects anything. Quant aims to come to Carlson’s cabin one night and take Rita. I’ve not read anything by Roemer before and I will say he certainly knows how to build an air of impending doom. The fear Rita feels comes over strongly. As the story progresses, I was soon wondering if Carlson would protect the girl, especially as it seems she knows who he really is and why he hates women so much. Everything comes together in an exciting moment of violence that brought the story to an end I expected. Roemer’s tale finished this issue of Western Story with another entertaining read. 

As you’ll see from the cover art below of the original Star Western publication it shouts Big Romances of the West above the title. That statement is a little misleading as there isn’t any more romance in these stories than can be found in other western pulps. I guess the only thing it tells you is that someone is going to end up riding into the sunset with the female lead. In such short stories I’m always amazed how people that have never met each other before so readily commit themselves to each other and fall in love so quickly without really knowing anything about the other person. Due to this I often find the falling in love elements a little hard to believe, but I can look past that and enjoy these pulps for what they are. 

Overall, this issue of Western Story was very readable and I enjoyed all the stories with Frank P. Castle’s tale being my favourite. 

BLOOD MOON

THE TEXIANS
Book 4 of 5
BLOOD MOON
By Zach Wyatt
Cover art by Bruce Minney
Pinnacle Books, April 1985

While Josh Sands has been eating dust on a wild horse round-up, Comanche raiders have cut a bloody trail as far south as San Antonio. With the Texas Rangers depleted, the Indians are growing in boldness and power. Now it’s up to Sands and his rag-tag bunch to come to the aid of the republic. Along with the undermanned Rangers, they’re going to make a daring foray into the heart of Comanche territory – to stem the tide of terror and destruction – and give the Texians back their future.

Whilst the previous three Texians books have revolved around documented missions that really happened, this story is much more loosely based on historical events. With no funding to support them, the Texas Rangers have virtually disbanded, with many of the men let go. Josh Sands is one of those men. The Comanche take advantage of this situation and pretty much raid and pillage unchecked. Blood Moon tells of the struggle of the small band of Texas Rangers and volunteers to stop the raids whilst facing much larger odds. 

A lot of the early part of the book follows Sands and his friends during their attempt to set up a horse ranch and round up wild horses, including a stallion, to start this project. Whilst doing this Sands has to deal with a couple of Comanche raids and his frustration at being let go from the Rangers. His heart isn’t in the ranch, or horses, but belongs to the Rangers. During this part of the story, we meet some characters that first appeared in the previous book, War Devils. 

As you’d imagine, stories that are based on real events include real people too. Sands is fictional, but he’s friends with Captain John Coffee Hays and will eventually team up with Hays and his remaining rangers to track down and stop a much larger band of Comanches. They are joined by another real person in the Lipan Apache chief Flacco and a small number of his braves. The final battle features a charge into the enemy lines by Hays and Flacco that becomes legendary and the author explains why this happened in a humorous way. This final battle makes for an exciting conclusion to this fast-moving tale.

Blood Moon isn’t quite as good as the previous three books but it is still a very entertaining read and left me looking forward to reading the next book very soon. 

Zach Wyatt is a pseudonym used by George W. Proctor. 

BLOOD ON THE WIRE

 

THE LEGEND OF JOHNNY COLT
BLOOD ON THE WIRE
By James Reasoner
DS Productions, 2026

The open range is dying, strangled by fences, greed, and men willing to kill to claim what was never theirs. Johnny Colt rides into the middle of that war carrying a reputation he didn’t ask for and a gun he knows how to use. He’s fast, dangerous, and determined to live by his own rules – but the West has other plans.

When rustlers, hired guns, and powerful interests clash over land and cattle, Johnny finds himself pulled into a brutal struggle where right and wrong blur as sharply as the wire cutting across the plains. Every fence post hammered into the ground brings more violence. Every ambush leaves another body in the dust. And the men behind it all believe intimidation and murder will clear the way for their empire.

They’ve underestimated Johnny Colt.

Blood on the Wire is the first book in a new series from one of the best western authors writing today; James Reasoner. 

In Johnny Colt, James has created an engaging character. Is he headed for a life of outlawry or will he stay on the side of the law? From the opening chapter it seems it could be the former as he is riding with a bunch of wire-cutters and cutting wire is against the law. There’s an ambush waiting to be sprung on Johnny and his companions from which Johnny only just manages to escape, finding himself the unwilling guest of a patrol of Texas Rangers led by his uncle. 

Johnny wants to track down the person responsible for the death of his friends and goes to work on a ranch owned by the man he believes ordered the ambush so he can find the proof he needs to bring down Atkinson. Things get complicated as Atkinson has a daughter that Johnny is attracted to. Johnny’s first meeting with Lydia being just one of the many memorable scenes within this book.

Pacing is excellent and it urges the reader to keep turning the pages. The book is packed with fascinating characters, gunplay, and twists waiting to spring surprises on Johnny Colt and the reader, which is why I’ve not revealed much about the plot as it would be difficult to do so without providing spoilers. 

Blood on the Wire proves to be a terrific introduction to this new series and it left me very eager to see what problems Johnny Colt will face in the second book. I can only hope it isn’t too long before it is released. On the strength of this book the Legend of Johnny Colt series deserves to have a long run.

American readers can get a copy here.

UK readers can get a copy here.

LATE FOR GETTYSBURG

 

LATE FOR GETTYSBURG
By Vance Tillman
Robert Hale, December 2013

Eugene Wyeth doesn’t seem to realize that the Civil War is over, and even his family can’t persuade him to surrender. With a price on his head, he assumes there is a bounty hunter around every corner. 

But, when his old comrade-in-arms, Rattlesnake Jack, is shot, Wyeth must risk exposure and ride into town to seek help. With the powerful Kirby Taylor and his gang of gunslingers determined to stand in Wyeth’s way, there is trouble looming, and Wyeth must examine all he has stood for and put his very identity to the test.

After the first attempt on Wyeth’s life the author hooked me well and truly with a mystery, that of a small black skull the would-be assassin carried. What is the meaning of this item? But, a few pages later the author explains all, which I found a shame, but it did allow Tillman the opportunity to switch to other characters to explain their motives and actions. 

As the title references a battle during the American Civil War it came as no surprise that there were a few mentions of combat and manoeuvres during that conflict. Events at Gettysburg being the reason behind the plot of this book. It was also interesting to read about the Ketchum hand grenade that one of the characters had in his possession and I looked forward to seeing it used. Unfortunately, I was let down as this never happened.

The story has a fast pace, building well to its final showdown. There’s plenty of gunplay along the way and a couple of robberies. The book includes a particularly tense scene depicting the escape of a young woman from her captor’s home. 

Overall, this was a readable story but not one that will make me hunt through my collection for the other Vance Tillman book I have yet to read. 

Late for Gettysburg was the third and last book Robert Hale Ltd put out under their Black Horse Westerns banner from the author named as Vance Tillman. 

DUEL IN PURGATORY

 

GUNN
Book 6 of 29
DUEL IN PURGATORY
By Jory Sherman
Cover art by Pino Daeni
Zebra Books, 1981

The stage is set for trouble when Gunn arrives in Colorado. He’s there to assist an old friend, Herb Oxley, but even Gunn’s helping hands are tied. The cattle owners are feuding over possession – and someone is tampering with the brands.

Before he gets a chance to intervene Gunn is nearly killed in an ambush by a lone sniper. He suspects that it’s an inside job, probably one of Oxley’s gang. That explains why Oxley’s beautiful young wife is being so flirtatious – or at least one the reasons why.

Gunn being ambushed is how this book begins. It’s one of the best parts of the story, tension filled, almost noir in its telling. It also sets up a mystery for Gunn to try and solve. Jory Sherman’s prose is a joy to read, at times poetic in its descriptions, hard hitting at times – one scene making me cringe, as I expect it will for most male readers. The book contains plenty of gunplay and one of the longest fistfights I’ve read for a long time. 

The violence is graphic and the many sex scenes explicit, the latter encounters taking up quite a few pages each. There are plenty of women eager to share their bed with Gunn but will they all get what they desire? I did think Mr. Sherman could have been a bit more imaginative when he described their eyes – most if not all have blue eyes. 

The plot isn’t overly complicated but it certainly kept me turning the pages, especially as I wanted to see if my suspicions on who was the mystery sniper was correct. Trouble is Jory Sherman is very good at pointing the finger at most of the book’s characters as being that person so I doubted myself a number of times and still got it wrong.

As the pages began to run out, I did begin to wonder if it would have a rushed ending, or would some of the plotlines spill over into the next book. Fear not though, Jory Sherman wrapped it all up well with some shocking revelations and brutality.  

Duel in Purgatory is another entertaining read in what, so far, has been a strong series.