The Gunsmith #19

 BANDIDO BLOOD

as by J.R. Roberts

Charter, August 1983

When a gang of ruthless bandidos kidnap wealthy Andrew Woodland’s daughter, he turns to Clint Adams for help. Adams agrees to go south of the border to rescue the girl. But between hostile Yaqui Indians and corrupt Rurales, the odds are stacked against the Gunsmith. His only allies are some frightened peons and a hot-blooded senorita with a score of her own to settle. Unless he can turn them into a fighting unit, the Gunsmith will be lucky to get out of Mexico alive!

This book offers plenty of exciting reading as Clint Adams finds himself facing more bandits than he alone can possibly hope to take on, and win. The bandits are lead by a wonderfully created leader called El Espectro, a hooded rider who appears to be a skeleton and refers to himself as “the bridge between life and death”.

El Espectro isn’t the only fascinating character The Gunsmith will meet, there’s also the blind Father Rameriz who has a passion for chess – with an ingeniously designed set that a blind man can use.

The book moves forward at a rapid pace and is filled with action – of more than one kind – although the ending where Adams rallies the peons to stand and fight against the bandit horde did feel like it borrowed a little from The Magnificent Seven movies, The Magnificent One anyone?

All in all this is a very entertaining read.