THE VINEGAR PEAK WARS

By Hugh Martin

Hale, March 2012

Saddle tramps Cephas Dannehar and Slim Oskin drifted into the Vinegar Peak country of Arizona Territory, helped an old colleague out of trouble, were taken for hired gunmen and bucked the interest of the Black Eagle copper mine and scheming Nate Sturgis, the self-styled Boss of Vinegar Peak.

In a lead-peppered struggle between their horse ranching friends and Sturgis’s toughs, known as the Peace Commission, bullets were soon flying and fires of destruction were lit. All part of the growing pains of a raw western territory, moulding its post-Civil War destiny.

Dannehar and Oskin were no angels but, throwing their guns in on the side of right, they faced a war which could see Vinegar Peak become respectable or its violent citizenry, prodded by grasping ambitions, might make it an outlaw town ruled by thuggery and the lawless gun.

This is Hugh Martin’s fourth Black Horse Western and the first I’ve read. I found the book to be extremely readable and filled with gunplay. Right from the start when Dannehar and Oskin save their friend, which leads to them being mistakenly taken for hired guns, the action never lets up, from a violent raid on a ranch to a gripping battle in a canyon, and then to the final exciting showdown in a confined space.

Hugh Martin’s landscapes are visually described and his characters are as equally well drawn. Dialogue crackles and you can almost smell the smoke of the gunfights. The story is superbly paced and builds well to that final showdown.

The end leaves a couple of characters with an unwanted hero status, men who will become known for something they did, which could lead them into more danger. Hopefully Hugh Martin with write a follow-up book as I for one would like to know what happens to them further down the trail. In the meantime I’ll be checking out Hugh Martin’s previous books whilst eagerly awaiting his next.

DEAD MAN’S RANCH

A Ralph Compton novel by Matthew P. Mayo

Signet, March 2012

For years Brian Middleton’s father waited for his long-lost son to come back to Turnbull, New Mexico, to run the family’s Dancing M Ranch with him. By the time Brian returns, his old man is dead and buried. Although named in his father’s will as the rightful heir to the family cattle spread, Brian is about to find out it’s not that simple.

Brandon MacMawe, Brian’s half-brother, wants the property for himself – as does the county’s wealthiest rancher, Wilf Grindle. Brian’s got both hands full fending off these men when a wild card rides into town: a no-account con man and killer named Mortimer Darturo, who has ideas of his own for the dead man’s ranch….

The first Ralph Compton book from Matthew P. Mayo is definitely a page-turner. The book is filled with excellent characters the make you want to find out what happens next. Brian Middleton is so much out of his comfort zone that he rubs people up the wrong way without being aware that he is doing so, making it very difficult for people to like him, not that he really cares as he just intends to sell the ranch quickly and return home.

Slowly Brian comes to appreciate what is on offer as he discovers some hard hitting truths about family members, particularly about those he thought he knew. Maybe these discoveries come too late as he and his half-brother are left for dead and the author sure doesn’t make it clear if either will survive thus gripping the readers’ attention, making the book very difficult to put down until the answer is revealed.

The blurb perhaps makes the book sound like another range war story and in part that could be true, but it’s not by the gun that those wanting the ranch plan to take it. Legal paths are one route and another sees blackmail as a possibility. Then there’s the son looking to impress his father and it’s through this desire that things all begin to go wrong.

Matthew P. Mayo tells his story at a fast pace, his plot threads drawing all the main characters together for a savage and brutal confrontation that not all will survive. As well as tough male characters Matthew includes some very strong women who refuse to back down when faced with disaster.

This may be Matthew P. Mayo’s first Compton book but I sure it won’t be his last, and I for one am looking forward to the next.

THE VENOM OF IRON EYES

By Rory Black

Hale, March 2012

The notorious gang led by Peg-Leg Grimes is headed to the remote and peaceful town of Cooperville to rob the bank of its recently obtained horde of golden eagles. On the way there one of the gang, Laredo Cole, slaughters a village of innocent Mexicans.

Unknown to the gang the bounty hunter, Iron Eyes, is in town with Squirrel Sally to collect the reward on a gang of outlaws. When the bank explodes into matchwood Iron Eyes vows to get the money, and the outlaws, for Grimes has made one mistake, he has stolen Iron Eyes’ prized Palamino stallion to make his escape….

Rory Black opens this book with a very visual scene of a stagecoach arriving in Cooperville, a stagecoach filled with the dead and being driven by a skeletal man, and this terrific beginning sets the mood superbly for the story. A tale filled with horror and death.

This book is the sixteenth tale in the Iron Eyes series and follows on from events in the previous story, although you don’t need to have read The Skull of Iron Eyes to enjoy this one. Iron Eyes teamed up with Squirrel Sally in the last book and bringing the stagecoach of dead to Cooperville is the task they set out to do at its conclusion.

Iron Eyes is a brutally efficient killing machine who stops at nothing to track down his quarry whom he usually dispatches with a cold emotionless savagery. So imagine my surprise when Iron Eyes allows that hard exterior to crack and is moved to tears whilst cradling a dying baby. Maybe, just maybe Iron Eyes is human after all.

Rory Black is a pseudonym used by Michael D. George for his Iron Eyes books, a series that has a huge following. If you’ve not read one before then this could be a good starting point as it has a great mix of savage action, superbly drawn characters, and touches of humour as Iron Eyes attempts to escape the attentions of Squirrel Sally, and I for one will be eagerly looking forward to the next book to see if he has finally managed to achieve this.

The Venom of Iron Eyes has an official release date of March 30th but is available now from the usual Internet bookstores.

RANGE OF TERROR

By Billy Hall

Hale, March 2012

Pat Harmon, sometime lawman, sometime cowboy, pressed himself against the cliffs in the dark night. Sweeping his gun blindly across the darkness he knew the ‘Ghost Dog’ terrorizing the region could leap out of the darkness at any moment and rip away his throat.

He had been a fool to accept the job of ridding the county of an unseen but deadly menace that had left a trail of dead and mutilated people. Even now he wished he could saddle up and ride away, but he could not, if it meant leaving Callie Hebert.

Suddenly, tiny sounds, impossible to identify, broke the stillness of the night, then pandemonium erupted without warning.

Right from the start Billy Hall hooks the reader with questions as to just what is tearing the throats of out people. It isn’t long before the legend of the ‘Ghost Dog’ is told and terror grips the people in the area. Fear of demons keeping people scared to go out after dark. Billy Hall creates some great atmosphere surrounding these fears. He also adds many other superstitions too, such as spilled salt and crossing the path of a black cat.

Cats and dogs play a large part in this story too, my favourite being Sweetie Pie, a large battered tom cat who both human and animal are scared of, except the man he’s ‘adopted’ and this man’s horses. The picture Billy Hall created in my mind of the cat riding on the back of a horse seated on the bedroll is priceless. Of course these pets have important roles to play in the outcome of this novel.

Amidst all the blood and mayhem a love story also unfolds, one that keeps Pat Harmon searching for whatever it is that’s doing the killing. He doesn’t believe in the ‘Ghost Dog’, yet has no other idea as to what it could be. He is determined to stop it though, before it tears Callie apart too. And it’s Callie’s love for him that will put her in deadly danger as the truth behind the ‘Ghost Dog’ is finally revealed.

With over thirty Black Horse Westerns behind him, Billy Hall presents the reader with another excellent tale. He knows how to build suspense and how to capture the reader’s imagination and left me eagerly awaiting his next publication.

Range of Terror is officially released on March 30th but is available now.

BULLETS FOR A BALLOT

By Nik Morton

Beat to a Pulp, 2012

Part of Edward A. Grainger’s Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles series.

In the town of Bear Pines, Mrs. Tolliver has announced she is running for the mayoral office. She’s the first woman to run as a candidate which divides the residents and sets the town into a tailspin. U.S. Marshal Cash Laramie is sent in to maintain peace and order and to protect Tolliver and her family from powerful allies of the incumbent, Mayor Nolan. In a bid to force her to quit the race, things turn ugly ... and deadly. Surrounded by killers who will stop at nothing to make sure Mrs. Tolliver is not elected, Cash wires Cheyenne for assistance, but will help arrive in time?

David Cranmer writing as Edward A. Grainger created Cash Laramie and Gideon Miles and now allows other authors to write about his heroes. Nik Morton choose to write mainly about Cash Laramie in Bullets for a Ballot, although Gideon Miles will have a part to play later in the tale.

This story fills in some of the blanks about Cash Laramie’s past. Indeed it’s way back in 1869 that Cash first meets Esther Traynor who latter becomes Mrs. Tolliver. The story then moves forwards to 1885 and finds Mrs. Tolliver running against a man to become mayor of Bear Pines and that’s where things turn ugly.

There’s plenty of violent action as Cash attempts to keep Mrs. Tolliver alive but he’s up against some very vicious enemies, some he doesn’t suspect. The story is filled with twists and turns and soon takes on a dark tone, which leads to some surprising deaths.

Nik Morton tells his tale at a fast pace and by including so many plot twists it’s virtually impossible for the reader to guess how the story will turn out. Will Mrs. Tolliver win the election? Will she even be alive at the end? What of her son who will be kidnapped and subjected to torture, will he survive? And then there’s the beautiful but sadistic wife of Mayor Nolan, Angelina, what game is she playing? Can Cash and Gideon see justice served? So a tale filled with many questions that make this a very difficult story to put down until they are answered. Gripping, powerful reading that leaves me looking forward to the next story in the series.

LAST MAN IN LAZARUS

By Bill Shields

Hale, March 2012

When a town marshal is murdered by five escaping prisoners and his new bride is abducted, the killers think they have escaped the justice they deserve. But the marshal’s older brother is Nathan Holly, a feared and relentless US marshal, who is more than happy to take up pursuit.

Holly rides north with a one-man posse, a Paiute tracker called Tukwa. For years Tukwa has searched for the cavalry officer who mistakenly, but brutally, massacred his family. Both men will end their search amidst the winter snows of a mining town called Lazarus, in a storm of blood and vengeance which will turn the landscape red.

Last Man in Lazarus is the second Black Horse Western from Bill Shields, and after enjoying his first book, The Snake River Bounty, I was keen to read this.

If you like books packed with action then you need look no further than this. Savage bloody gunfights and knife duels fill the pages, as Holly tracks down the men who killed his brother. The trail of the last murderer takes the lawman to the town of Lazarus where Tukwa finds the man he has been hunting, but why is this men here? Something isn’t quite right in Lazarus and Holly finds himself involved in the towns’ troubles too.

Great lead and support characters and plenty of twists and turns to the plot told in a very readable and fast moving pace made this book very difficult to put down. The book offers a question too, is there any difference between the vengeance that drives both Holly and Tukwa? Tukwa will only be satisfied with killing the ex-cavalry officer but can Holly be satisfied with taking his prey alive or will death be the only way to quench his appetite for revenge?

I can only finish by saying that I hope it’s not too long before Bill Shields’ third book appears.

Last Man in Lazarus is officially released on March 30th but is available now from the usual Internet sources.

THE CHINESE GUNMEN

THE GUNSMITH #2:

By J.R. Roberts

Speaking Volumes, December 2011

Black Wind, Arizona is torn apart with prejudice and hatred, fuelled by the greed of a ruthless town boss and his hired gunslicks. A nearby colony of Chinese immigrants, the hapless victims of violence, turn to Clint Adams for help.

A lovely Oriental enchantress persuades him to join her people – and to share her bedroll. So The Gunsmith will train the Chinese laborers in the art of Western warfare, until he discovers he has his own score to settle with the wild town.

The Chinese Gunman original appeared in paperback form in February 1982. Now it’s been republished in a variety of formats and the version I’m looking at here is the audio book. Although I’ve read many Gunsmith books, this, the second entry in the long running series, is one that I’ve never got around to before.

Adams runs into all kinds of trouble and intrigue in this fast moving tale. The main bad guy who goes under the name of Himself, turns out to be a worthy adversary. On meeting Himself Adams gets a shock as he knows this man, indeed this man has played an important part in the Gunsmith’s past, is somewhat responsible for making Adams the man he is today. The story contains flashbacks to explain this past, and this I found fascinating as it filled in a lot of Adams back-story, including of the time he was a lawman.

The identity of Himself is not the only surprise waiting for Adams as others are not being completely truthful about who they are. It isn’t long before the Gunsmith is suspicious of not only Himself but the Chinese too, not to mention activities within the whorehouse. So there is plenty of mystery elements to hold the readers attention as the story unfolds at a rapid pace.

The audio version of The Chinese Gunman is presented on 4 discs (it can also be bought as MP3s) and has a running time of approximately 5 hours. Each disc is divided into a number of short tracks so if you have to stop listening part way through it is very easy to find your place again. After hearing a few of these tracks there is a brief interlude of music that signals chapter ends. Barry Campbell in clear and easy to hear speech reads the story; he alters his tone for dialogue and often lowers or raises his voice to differentiate between characters.

Overall I found this to be a very entertaining story, and will add that it’s essential reading for fans of the series due to the telling of so much of Adams’ background.

HIGH COUNTRY GREED

THE TRAILSMAN #365

By Jon Sharpe

Signet, March 2012

High in the Rockies, 1861 – a wild town where greed is the way of life and a pack of killers runs roughshod.

When Fargo comes across two murdered Arapaho warriors, he decides to track the killers…and walks right into a trap. Now he’s on the trail of a gang of ruthless gold hunters heading straight into the Rockies, where both man and nature are cold, merciless, and deadly. And if anyone tries to get the best of the Trailsman, they’re going to end up getting the worst of the deal….

Like the majority of Trailsman novels this tale jumps straight into the action and never lets up as Fargo finds himself fighting for his life almost without a moment to catch his breath. 

Tracking the Arapaho killers to Denver Fargo soon finds and disposes of one of them, this leads to the dead man’s companions making various attempts on the Trailsman’s life. If this wasn’t enough for Fargo to deal with Skye runs into an old friend who owns a gold mine, trouble is Mr. Shanks wants that mine and has the hired guns to help him get it. Trying to help his friend hang onto the mine becomes another headache for Fargo.

This all seems like a fairly straightforward plot, but the author, in this case David Robbins writing as Jon Sharpe, has a surprise or two waiting. Whilst reading the first part of the book there was definitely a sense of all things not being quite as they seemed, and, when Fargo’s friend, Jim McCullock, is killed the twists to the tale take hold making this a difficult book to put down until all the puzzles are solved.

Filled with great characters, crackling dialogue and tough, brutal action, this book makes for a very entertaining read.

Interview: Chet Cunningham

My latest interview is with Chet Cunningham who has had over 300 books published in a variety of different genres. Around half of these have been westerns put out under his own name and a number of pseudonyms. 

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

In high school we had a test essay type. I didn’t really know the answer, so I wrote all the way around it. Got an A. So I said this writing is a great thing to do.

Did anyone encourage you to be a writer, and if so whom?

No one urged me to be a writer. Just the opposite. When I started college I flunked the English exam and was put in the remedial English class. The HEA of the journalism department said since I was in remedial English I couldn’t be a journalism major. I eventually got in by selling four short articles to the Portland newspapers.

What was the first novel you had published and if this wasn’t a western what was your first western? 

Bushwhackers on the Circle K..l968

What appeals to you about the western genre?

I like the historical element in westerns and the research needed.

What is the biggest challenge in writing a western?

Getting the history right and making it work. Then finding new plot ideas that haven’t been done to death.

How much importance do you place on research and how important is historical accuracy in westerns?

If they find mistakes in your history, the reader won’t believe the story.

You wrote the first three books in the Agent Brad Spear series, why didn’t you write anymore of them?

Total disappointment. The editor there thought he was the greatest western writer alive. He completely rewrote all three of the books throwing in western trite parses and characters. It was a three book contract. I didn’t ask to do more.

You’ve written books in a number of series under pseudonyms, such as Arrow & Saber, Canyon O’Grady and Lone Star, are there any of these series you’d have liked to have written more for and why?

At one time I was writing for five different western series at the same time. I did it to earn a living. Yes, I would have liked to have written dozens more for each one. Most folded or cut back and I was not needed.

I believe you wrote a book for the Faraday series called The Owlhoot Express, but Lynx folded before it could be published. Did this story ever appear elsewhere?

The OWL HOOT EXPRESS resides unpublished but writer paid for on boot hill.

When the Spur series first came out three books were published and then the series was launched from number one again, why did this happen?

The publisher never did tell me why they did three and then restarted them over again from number one. It may have been wanting a new logo and a PR sendoff. Just not sure. I did 55 books in that series.

I’ve noticed some of your Pony Soldiers novels have been issued as ebooks, are we likely to see more of these, and/or any of your other books appearing in this form and what do you think about ebooks in general?

Ebook Westerns….just don’t seem to sell. I had the 5 Pony Soldiers on Ebooks for seven years and I think they sold about twenty copies for all five books.  Now they are Nook with Barnes and Nobel. We’ll see how they do.

Ebooks general: I have three new ones out from my own publishing outfit. With Kindle. All three are action adventure. Ebooks take a lot of promotion. The big sellers of ebooks are writers who are already famous and have a known name. Mid level writers will not sell many ebooks. I am a mid list writer.

You’ve recently had a Black Horse Western published, and a couple of others before this, can we expect to see more?

A fourth is now in works and they are looking at a fifth western from me. I expect them to buy it.

Do you prefer writing series books or stand-alones and why?

I much prefer writing series books. You make one sale to the editor for a series and then do 3, 6, 10, 18, or 64 books about the same characters. Easier, faster, and they sell more than a stand alone.

Which of your westerns would you recommend to someone who hasn’t read any of your work yet and why?

I’d go with the Pony Soldiers. Now out of print but available used on Amazon.com for two or three dollars each. Some of my best writing, and my best plots. Also the Seal Team Seven series. l8 books, some are now being re-released. Others used on Amazon.

What do you think of the western genre today and what do you think the future holds for the western?

The TV series of westerns sparked huge numbers of paperback Western Series. Must have been thirty or forty of them. Now there is almost no market for the western. A few publishers bring out a few Westerns. But the market is really low and slow. There will always be western novels. But in the future they will be longer, more complicated plots and they will delve into more historical areas.

As well as westerns you write in the action adventure genre, which books should readers be looking out for here?

Afore mentioned SEAL TEAM SEVEN books.. Also three Ebooks from Kindle Amazon…NORTH KOREAN BLOWUP, RADIATION WIPEOUT, and DIRTY BOMB TERROR. on line for only $4.99.

You’ve also written a number of non-fiction books, can you please tell us something about them.

Fifteen books. Most of them are in the medical field: SCIATICA, IRRiTAL BOWEL SYNDROME, MACULAR DEGENERATION. Like that. All are aimed at the ordinary person, not a medal person. Two non fiction books about motorcycles and cars. Two military books: HELL WOULDN’T STOP, (Wake Island battle and prisoners) and FROGMEN OF WORLD WAR II.

You created the Read-4-Fun program and founded the San Diego Book Awards Association. Could you please tell us something about them.

We got book donations for kids in the fifth grade level. If the kid in class read 200 pages of a chapter type book, he could select a free book from the 4-Fun shelf. For some it was the first book they had ever owned.

What is your favourite western movie and why?

TRUE GRIT….Why? The story line, the setting and the fact of Big John Wayne. This is the first one made, not the second one.

Finally what do you read for pleasure?

Very little. I have macular degeneration and when writing fiction I do it in 22 point bold type on the screen. This I am in 18 point but still need a magnifying glass to be sure I get the words right. Even large print books are in 16 point, so I need an 8 to 10 power magnifier to read a few words at a time. Slow, grinding work and no fun.  I’d rather check out the Cowboy channel from Encore. They have westerns on 24 hours a day, every day.

Morgan Kane: A Ranger's Honor

By Louis Masterson

WR Films Entertainment Group, Inc.

eBook, March 2012

Feelings were running high in Fort Worth…

Charlie Katz, a Ranger with the 4th Mounted, Texas, had run amok. He supposedly had beaten up and attempted to rape Stella Nash, the daughter of the local bank manager. Van Buren, the girl’s fiancée, had rushed in to rescue her – and Charlie went to his death in a spray of bullets.

Charlie Katz was Kane’s best friend. Sickened and disbelieving, Kane set out to clear the Ranger’s name. After being beaten by Sheriff Hewitt and his cronies, he was ridden out of town, and Kane went after the Hondo Mining Corporation with a vengeance. Charlie had been investigating this shady outfit before his death. The name of its chief was Van Buren.

Louis Masterson superbly describes the emotional turmoil that plagues Morgan Kane in this life-changing episode in this overall excellent series. In this story Kane contemplates leaving the Rangers, struggles with throwing his badge and gun away, and fights to control his desire to kill and become a murderer like those he usually tracks down. On top of this he has to wrestle with the facts that paint Katz as a killer, something he cannot believe and to prove otherwise is what drives Kane throughout this book.

There’s plenty of brutal action as Kane fights to prove his friend isn’t the killer everyone, including his boss, Major Monroe, believe. In trying to discover the truth behind this Masterson also adds more mystery in the form of the unidentified stranger, who seems to be following Kane. Just what are his motives?

This book is essential reading for those following Kane’s life as it is a pivotal story in shaping his character and defining the man he will become in later books.

The Brothers O'Brien

By William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone

Pinnacle, February 2012

The War Between the States has ended. Now, driven from Texas by carpetbaggers, former CSA Colonel Shamus O’Brien sets off for a new frontier – New Mexico. Here, where land is cheap, bandits shoot to kill, and rustlers rule the night, it takes more than one man to run a ranch. So he offers a partnership to his eldest son, Sam, with equal shares going to his sons Patrick, Shawn, and Jacob. Together, the brothers O’Brien will defend their homestead, the Dromore, in the violent, lawless land…and when necessary, administer their own brand of frontier justice.

The Brothers O’Brien is the first in a brand new series from the Johnstone family, and like any pilot episode this one has a fair portion of the book taken up with Shamus O’Brien’s background and telling how he built up the Dromore. Right from the beginning we meet a young woman who will also have an important role to play in this fast flowing and tough story that for the first part leaps through the years effortlessly as the author tells the important incidents that shape both the O’Brien’s and their ranch.

Once the brothers are grown-up and become partners is when the story really picks up a gear as a brewing range war threatens to spill over and bring disaster to the Dromore. The brothers O’Brien ride to try to stop this without getting involved within the war.

The number of brothers means the author concentrates on one or two more than the others (something that I expect will change book to book) and here the main character is Jacob, the only brother who doesn’t want to remain on the ranch. He’s content to drift and live by his wits and gun, this latter ability making him much needed in settling the range war problem. Tenderness within him is shown when he adopts a kitten and this contrasts well with his tough side.

The story also becomes more complicated when a second extremely strong scheming woman is introduced who looks set to get the better of the O’Brien’s and anyone else she comes up against. She is a master at playing people against one another.

There are other characters out to get what they can too, and all these plotlines means the story moves through a series of exciting twists and turns before everything is resolved.

The Brothers O’Brien is a fast moving, action-packed, story that proved to be very difficult to put down and left me looking forward to the second book, Shadow of the Hangman, which should be out in a couple of months time.

Comment Moderation

Over the last couple of weeks this blog has suffered from a number of spam comments, so I've now decided to switch on comment moderation to stop these from appearing here. Just thought I'd post this notification so that those who leave genuine comments here will have some idea as to why they don't appear instantly anymore.

Hang 'Em All

By Ben Bridges

Bookends ebook, April 2011

First published by Hale, 1989

They rode into Austin Springs stirrup to stirrup, six men with guns in the belts and blood in their eyes. The minute the town marshal Sam Judge clapped eyes on them he pegged them as trouble. He was right, too, because by sunset Death had called and the blood of innocents had been spilled in the town’s quiet and dusty streets.

Almost before he know it, Sam – once a celebrated town-tamer whom Ned Buntline himself had called ‘The Pistol Prince’ – found himself embarking on a vengeance hunt. A boy Sam hadn’t seen for fifteen years was hooked up with the killers, so that made it personal. But first and foremost, Sam was a peace-keeper. Convinced that the law would hang ‘em all, he wanted the outlaws to have their day in court. The only thing he never reckoned on was the fact that they might very well kill him before he could find and catch them.

This is the first of Ben bridges’ six book series featuring Sam Judge and Matt Dury. Hang ‘Em All tells of how Judge is reunited with his long lost son, the fact he is Dury’s father is something Matt is unaware of.

I’ve always found Ben bridges’ (really author David Whitehead) books to be extremely readable, very difficult to put aside once stared. He paces his stories perfectly and includes plenty of exciting action. This particular book builds up to a lengthy showdown between Judge and the men who robbed the town bank, who killed a young girl and the doctor in the process.

Judge is a man in his mid-forties and is feeling it, he also wants to bring his quarry in alive – a decision that almost gets him killed a couple of times. There’s some great human animal interaction as a cat, Mitzi, has adopted Judge. Mitzi won’t be left behind so Judge is forced to take her with him, riding in a saddlebag. Anyone who likes cats will easily relate to the scenes with Mitzi.

Through much of the story Judge has a letter, which remains unopened, this adds a touch of mystery to the tale. It’s only at the end of the story that the contents are revealed and this in turn sets up, I presume, the plot for the next book in the series, Riding for Justice, and left me eager to read more about Judge and Dury.

David Whitehead has been busy making many of his westerns available as ebooks, all now as by Ben Bridges. At less that £1.00 each (around $1.50) how can you not treat yourself to some of his work?