The Traditional West

- An anthology of original stories -

By The Western Fictioneers, 2011

With twenty-four brand new stories from some of the top western writers working today, this anthology most definitely offers value for money.

Most of the included authors aren’t new names to me, and of the handful that were I think it’s safe to say I’ll be looking to try some of their full length novels soon. Of course there are stories that stood out to me but I can honestly say that there isn’t one that I didn’t enjoy reading.

Many of the authors have chosen to write new stories for characters they’ve written about before. The themes of the tales cover a wide variety of situations such as murder, robbery, land grabbing, revenge, and serial killers. A couple of the stories delve into the supernatural, and another has an unusual choice for a hero: a samurai. All of this means you are never certain what kind of tale you are going to get as you start each new story.

Each story is headed by a paragraph that gives some background to the author that wrote it, one of which says the hero of his tale is to soon appear in a brand new western series – something I’ll be looking forward to.

This anthology should be essential reading for every western fan and I can only hope that The Western Fictioneers follow this excellent collection up with another not to far down the trail.

Contents

The Silver Noose by Jackson Lowry

A Close Shave on Commerce Street by Steven Clark

Lost Mountain Pass by Larry D. Sweazy

The Poker Payout (a Calvin Carter adventure) by Scott D. Parker

Blood Trail to Dodge (a Talbot Roper story) by Robert J. Randisi

The Sin of Eli by Troy D. Smith

The Way of the West by Larry Jay Martin

The Great Texas Kapusta Incident by James J. Griffin

The Death of Delgado by Rod Miller

Whiskey for Breakfast by Jerry Guin

Rattler by James Reasoner

Silence by Ross Morton

Never Trust a Widder by Phil Dunlap

Storm Damage (a Rome Warfield Frontier Mystery) by Pete Peterson

Catch as Catch Can (a Maple Jack tale) by Matthew P. Mayo

Kataki by Chuck Tyrell

When Was It Going to Rain? by Dusty Richards

New Dog, Old Tricks (a Gideon Miles story) by Edward A. Grainger

The Redemption of Cade Beauchard by Kit Prate

Boot Hill Neighbors by Clay More

The Kindness of Strangers by Cheryl Pierson

Wire by C. Courtney Joyner

Panhandle Freight (a Lucas Hallam tale) by L.J. Washburn

Penance by Kerry Newcomb

Also available as an ebook.