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 by 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. 

SUNDANCE

 

SUNDANCE
By Richard Telfair
A Gold Medal book from Fawcett, 1960
Reprinted by Frederick Muller Ltd., London, 1961

He’d been a gunfighter back in his wild, young years before he’d become half owner of the Hotel de Paree, before life had given him a second chance. Now things were quiet. He liked what he was doing – and he liked himself.

That was until the Broadhurst bunch hit town, wrecked his hotel and terrorized the town. What started as just a bunch of waddies looking for some fun erupted into something more dangerous.

It was only then that Sundance strapped on his gun....   

Hotel de Paree was a TV western series that ran for one season from 1959 to 1960. It starred Earl Holliman as Sundance. I have no idea if this book, Sundance by Richard Telfair, was an official tie-in novel or not as there’s no indication to the TV series anywhere on the cover or in the book. I’ve never seen the TV show, but from what I can gather it sticks faithfully to the TV series in some areas, changes some parts, and ignores others; for instance, there’s no reference to Sundance’s mirrored hat-band at all – a gimmick to make the show different to others westerns on TV at the time. Annette Deveraux is in the book but her sister/niece/daughter Monique doesn’t appear in the story and there is no mention of her either – I’m not sure of their relationship due to the internet naming her as all of these.

The story is straight-forward. Perhaps a little thin on plot, although it does contain a neat little twist during the cowboy’s raid on Georgetown to free their imprisoned ramrod. Gunplay erupts fairly frequently, but a lot of the time Sundance does everything he can to avoid having to use his gun. 

There’s a lot of tough talk and discussions between Sundance and Annette, the latter of which I felt held to story up at times. The author certainly came up with some engaging characters such as Marshal Bond – his belief in the law is impeccable, it’s just a shame others don’t hold it in such high regard. Then there’s the cowhand Cowl. The Texan, Tris Pony who Sundance has a tense confrontation with near the beginning of the story, and when they both walk away from this you just know they’ll have to face each other again. 

This book is worth considering if you’re looking for a quick easy fun read without a complicated storyline that plays out exactly as you’ll expect it to. 

Richard Telfair is a pseudonym used by Richard Jessup. 

KICKED OUT WITH A COLD SHOVEL

 

BLOODY JOE MANNION
Book 6 of 9
KICKED OUT WITH A COLD SHOVEL
By Peter Brandvold
Wolfpack Publishing, February 2023

Town Marshal “Bloody” Joe Mannion is on the trail of some of the most vicious killers he’s ever faced. It’s up to Mannion to single-handedly retrieve the loot a gang stole from a train. He manages to take down the gang and secure the loot only to find himself facing yet another band of vicious killers who want to lay their own grubby hands on the cash. Bloody Joe, however, has other ideas…and this ain’t his first rodeo.

When the gang tracks Joe to the ranch of Sam and Ilsa McDowell, he finds himself on the run again, with both McDowell’s as well as the loot. The only thing harder than trying to hold onto the loot is getting Sam and Ilsa to safety – especially when a neighboring rancher sets his lusty sights on the girl…

This time Peter Brandvold sticks with Bloody Joe throughout the story. There aren’t any secondary plotlines involving Joe’s wife, daughter, deputies or anyone else back in Joe’s hometown, Del Norte, as has been the case in previous books. Yes, he does occasionally switch to other people so he can tell us what the outlaws, rancher or Sam and Ilsa are doing when they are separated from Joe. 

What the blurb above doesn’t tell you is that Sam is a youngster and his sister Ilsa is in her late teens. Part of the appeal of this novel is reading how their relationship with Bloody Joe develops. As you can imagine, it isn’t long before Sam begins to idolize Mannion, something Joe and Ilsa aren’t too keen on. As the three battle through various deadly situations their bond gets stronger and stronger.

There are some excellent set pieces that include many exchanges of gunfire and a dramatic escape from a trap. With the various groups of people hunting for the loot or Ilsa there isn’t a moment of peace for Bloody Joe as bullets fly thick and fast. Mannion also takes some punishment throughout this tale, this time around it’s mostly physical rather than mentally. 

Ilsa’s beauty also adds to the problems she and Mannion will have to deal with as it’s not just the rancher who sets his sights on her and the only way to protect her is with more gunplay. Unfortunately, Ilsa doesn’t escape from all this attention unscathed and this leads up to a memorable moment near the end of the tale. 

Peter Brandvold introduces some great characters in this story, be they outlaws or otherwise, such as the two who help Joe and Sam when they are in dire need. It isn’t only humans who are going to stick in your memory though. Sam and Ilsa have a pet dog, King, who travels alongside his owners and Mannion as they desperately try to reach the safety of Del Norte. 

Kicked Out with a Cold Shovel is another great entry in the Bloody Joe Mannion series and is one I’d recommended to all fans of western fiction. 

American readers can get a copy here

British readers can get a copy here

WESTERNS READ DURING 2025

It's that time again. Another year has passed so here's my list of the westerns I read during 2025. These range from short stories/novels found in the old pulp magazines right upto books published this year. Authors include Spur Award winners, old-hands, and first time writers. To read a review, just click on the entry number.  

1. Gunsmoke 1: Gunsmoke by Gary McCarthy
2. Hell Bound for Spindriff by Dale Graham
3. Hawke 1: Ride with the Devil by Robert Vaughan
4. Hodge by Matt Chisholm
5. Western Novels and Short Stories Vo. 1, No. 5
6. Bloody Joe Mannion 5: All My Sins Remembered by Peter Brandvold
7. Slocum Buried Alive (424) by Jake Logan
8. Badge for Braddock by Kirk Hamilton
9. Six Graves to Sunrise by Brett McKinley
10. Gallows Ghost by Barry Cord
11. Exciting Western – October 1953
12. Abilene 11: The Hellion by Justin Ladd
13. Bannister 2: The Savage Hills by D.B. Newton
14. Bad Night at the Crazy Bull by John Dyson
15. The Badge 16: Cannon’s Grave by Bill Reno
16. Preacher’s Law 3: The Gavel & The Gun by Dean L. McElwain
17. A Notch with No Name by Walt Beaumont
18. Famous Stories of the Wild West by Leonard Gribble
19. .44 by H.A. DeRosso
20. Slash and Pecos 2: A Good Day for a Massacre by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone
21. Unwanted: Dead or Alive by Gene Shelton
22. Head Hunter 1: Arizona Hellcat by E.J. Hunter
23. Raider 13: The Madman’s Blade by J.D. Hardin
24. Hodge 2: Hang a Man High by Matt Chisholm
25. Western Story – March 1949
26. Bull’s Eye Stage Coach by Billy Hall
27. Longarm and Senorita Revenge (415) by Tabor Evans
28. Fort Misery 2: These Men Chose Hell by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone
29. Hannigan 5: Hell Pass by Lance Howard
30. The Jury on Smoky Hill by Jack Curtis
31. Outlaw Destiny by Clifton Adams
32. Vengeance Trail by Bill Brooks
33. Follow the Lonesome Trail: A Western Anthology complied by Allison Tebo
34. Klaw by W.L. Fieldhouse
35. Thrilling Western – Summer 1950
36. Luke Jensen, Bounty Hunter 2: Dead Shot by William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone
37. Sheriff of Big Hat by Barry Cord
38. Hodge 3: The Law of Ben Hodge by Matt Chisholm
39. The Killers from Yellow Rock by Jeff Pintabona
40. Rails into Hell by Robert Vaughan and Brent Towns
41. The Badge 17: The Vulture by Bill Reno
42. The Lonesome Death of Joe Savage by C.J. Sommers
43. Western Adventure – February 1957
44. Tragg’s Choice by Clifton Adams
45. Bloody Joe Mannion 6: Kicked Out with a Cold Shovel by Peter Brandvold

TRAGG'S CHOICE

 

TRAGG’S CHOICE
By Clifton Adams
Tandem, 1975
First published in 1969
Spur Award Winner for Best Western Novel, 1969

For ten years, Owen Tragg lived on his reputation as a hero – exploited by a slick showman who dressed him up in fringed and beaded buckskin and billed him as ‘the man who killed Jody Barker’.

When the act finally folded, Tragg was relieved. But before he could head for El Paso to apply for a deputy’s job, he had some unpleasant business to take care of at Boser’s Creek. There, Jody Barker’s widow waited for him; and there, by a twist of fate that had sent a half-starved sodbuster on a killing spree, Tragg the man was forced to separate himself from Tragg the legend.

He was all that stood between two people and death.

There are four lead characters in this suspense filled book. They all meet on a stagecoach journey. The author fleshes them out superbly, filling in their backgrounds and their dreams for the future. Guilt and greed drive most of them. Each takes centre stage at different points in the book. The titular character is kept mostly in the background for the first half of the story.

I found it fascinating to watch how Morrasey, a down on his luck sodbuster, desperate for something more in his life, becomes a merciless killer. The story begins with him watching a man die, which is right up there with the best opening scenes to a book I’ve ever read. Gripping indeed.

Jessie Ross is the girl who is intent on turning in her dying outlaw boyfriend for the bounty on him. Then there’s Callahan, a bounty hunter who is eager to get part of that reward, and soon has the opportunity to add to that money when he’s hired to kill one of the other three.

Tragg really doesn’t want to get involved with any of them, but fate has other plans and he finds himself wearing a deputy’s star and is sent out to bring in Morrasey. This supposedly simple task is complicated by the involvement of a revenge hungry lynch mob.

Clifton Adams brings all his characters together for a nail-biting final confrontation from which I began to think none of them would survive. The book has a noir feel at times which adds a hard edge to the storyline. 

This is a book that should satisfy all readers of westerns as Clifton Adams proves once again why his work is held in such high regard. The fact that it won a Spur Award should be enough to recommend it to those who’ve yet to read it without my encouragement. Tragg’s Choice really is a terrific western read. 

Note of interest. Tragg’s Choice was first published in Great Britain in 1970 under the title of Dude Sheriff by Robert Hale & Company. 

Street & Smith's WESTERN ADVENTURE - Feb. 1957

 

Street & Smith’s WESTERN ADVENTURE
British Edition, February 1957, Vol. 1, No. 8
Cover art by H.W. Scott

As far as I can tell, most, if not all, the stories published in the 43 issues of the British pulp Street & Smith’s Western Adventure were originally published in the American pulp Street & Smith’s Western Story, of which there were over 2,000 editions. 

The cover art was altered a bit for the British pulp but this is restricted to the text so a new title could be incorporated. I’ve included an image of the original at the end of this review, with a list of the story titles and notes on where they were first published – as you’ll see they don’t all come from a single issue of Western Story.

All of the yarns in the February 1957 edition are short stories, all seven or eight pages in length. Also mixed in are five columns; Where to Go and How to Get There by John North, Mines and Mining by J.A. Thompson, Range Savvy by H. Fredric Young, Guns and Gunners by Phil Sharpe, The Roundup – author unknown. 

The opening story is Doomed Cargo by Norman A. Fox. This is a tale about a young riverboat deck sweeper who learns how to stand-up for himself when he finds the courage and initiative, he didn’t know he had, to thwart an attempt to steal the riverboat’s cargo and kill everyone onboard. I’ve only read a couple of other stories by Fox, and this is the most enjoyable so far, perhaps because I like riverboat tales.  

Hot-Lead Headliners by John Colohan is next. I’ve not read anything by him before so was interested to sample his work. The story involved committing murder to cover up a previous killing. A drunk newspaper man overhears the bad guys plotting this new assassination attempt and knows he must do something to stop it happening. How he does this adds intrigue to the tale. Colohan also has a neat surprise waiting to be revealed at the end. Colohan’s tale proved to be a fun read. 

Track Treachery by E.C. Lincoln is set in modern times and is about horse racing. Why would a leading horse suddenly turn and head to the side of the track and thus lose the race? I was intrigued enough to want to know the answer to that question so I struggled through the story to find out. The writing style didn’t click with me and I very nearly gave up with it. I probably would have done so had it been any longer. 

After the disappointing pervious story, I was hoping that Murder Gun by B. Bristow Green would be better and I got my wish. This is a bank robbery tale where an innocent stranger to town gets accused of being one of the hold-up men. His capture leads to a make-shift court being set up that provides some tense scenes and a neat twist. I’ve never read anything by B. Bristow Green before and this story left me eager to explore more of his work.  

Easy Does It by C.K. Shaw is the first of three stories she wrote that featured Windy Bill Wicks. I’ve seen a note saying that this tale was originally published as East Does It, but I think the U.K. title is correct as Wicks is told to take things easy more than once. In fact, the opening words are “Easy Windy.” The story is written in the first person and involves two sets of ranch hands at loggerheads with each other over a couple of slashed saddles and a knife that is found beside them. Of course, the knife owner says it wasn’t him and the knife was stolen. Proving this is what the story is about. This was another difficult to read tale due to its old-fashioned style. It was an ok story but didn’t make me want to read the other Windy Bill tales or any more of Chloe Kathleen Shaw work.

The next story was much better than the previous one. White Water Run by Hugh B. Cave is about a Mountie tracking down a murderer. It contains some gripping scenes of canoe travel through treacherous waters, surprises and a neat twist to the end. This was by far my favourite story in this issue of Western Adventure. 

The final tale is Dead Man’s Horse by J. Lane Linklater in which a man has to make a choice of whether to hinder or help the law. Whichever way he chooses will mean a change to the way of life he has known which sees his word ruling the lives of those that live in and near Quiet Gulch. People can be safe there, whether good or bad as long as there aren’t any killings. Then a body is found… Linklater’s story is fast-paced and gripping and even though events play out as I expected I still found it to be a fun read.

For me, this issue of Western Adventure proved to be a patchy read in terms of quality of storytelling but the good far outweighed the bad. I’d only read stories by one of the authors before (Norman A. Fox) and have now added a couple more authors to my want to read more of list. 

Doomed Cargo by Norman A. Fox – originally published in Street & Smith’s Western Story, January 1941

Hot-Lead Headlines by John Colohan – original publication unknown

Track Treachery by E.C. Lincoln – originally published in Street & Smith’s Western Story, January 1941

Murder Gun by B. Bristow Green – originally published in Street & Smith’s Western Story, December 1942

Easy Does It by C.K. Shaw – Street & Smith’s Western Story, December 1942 

White Water Run by Hugh B. Cave – originally published in Street & Smith’s Western Story, February 1942

Dead Man’s Horse by J. Lane Linklater – originally published in Street & Smith’s Western Story, February 1942

THE LONESOME DEATH OF JOE SAVAGE

 

THE LONESOME DEATH OF JOE SAVAGE
By C.J. Sommers
Cover Art by Prieto Muriana
Robert Hale, November 2012

A sense of family duty led Tracy Keyes to search for his cousin, the notorious Wyoming bad man, Joe Savage. His mother wished to know if he was dead or alive – and so did half the lawmen and bounty hunters in the North County.

Tracy hadn’t seen Savage since they were boys and wasn’t sure he’d even recognize his criminal cousin if they met face to face. Carrying the onus of being related to the infamous Savage made things no easier for him, nor did the bounty hunters who dogged his trail, believing that Tracy could lead them to the outlaw. By the end of the long journey, Tracy was convinced that he was only following Joe Savage into his own grave….

C.J. Sommers doesn’t believe in giving his hero an easy time of it. Tracy will be on the wrong end of fists and have plenty of lead slung at him. He soon realizes he can’t trust anyone, and nearly everyone he meets tells him Savage is dead, and good riddance. If he is dead, then where is his grave? This question, and plenty of others such as who owns the land that Savage had bought now that he is dead add some strong mystery elements to this fast-moving tale. It's difficult to say anything else about the plot without including spoilers. 

There’s not as much action in this book as others I have read by this author, but it really doesn’t need it as it’s Tracy’s attempts to unravel the mysteries he’s presented with that easily kept my attention, so much so that I hadn’t realized there hadn’t been as much gunplay as I might have expected until I thought about it. 

I’ve read quite a few Black Horse Westerns written by C.J. Sommers and have found them all to be gripping reads and The Lonesome Death of Joe Savage also falls into that category. C.J. Sommers is just one of three pseudonyms Paul Lederer used for his BHWs; the other two pen-names being Logan Winters and Owen G. Irons and I’ve read many of his stories under those names too and I have yet to be disappointed by any of his books. Lederer didn’t just write westerns for Robert Hale Ltd., he also wrote for some of the American publishers too under a variety of names.

American readers can get a copy here.

UK readers can get a copy here.