Trackdown

BODIE THE STALKER #1:

By Neil Hunter

ebook, Piccadilly Publishing, May 2012

Bodie was a bounty hunter, a legalized killer, a man alone. He was a survivor in a tough world where a gunman’s life depended on his ruthlessness and speed on the draw.

But Bodie didn’t kid himself about the glory of being a gunslinger. Killing was a trade and Bodie was for hire to anyone with enough money and desperation.

Yet there was one man who tried to take Bodie for a two-bit greenhorn. And Bodie wasn’t about to be taken …

Originally published in 1979 the Bodie books fitted in perfectly with the other extremely violent western series being written by UK authors. Unlike many of those series this one doesn’t begin with a first book that explains why their anti-heroes took up the gun. In Trackdown Bodie is already a bounty hunter, a man to be feared by those he hunts. His background is shrouded in mystery, although Neil Hunter hints at his past, his turning point having something to do with once being a lawman.

After Bodie dispatches three outlaws he’s hired to track down and kill another group of men and most of the book tells of his hunt and killing of them. The deaths are graphically described in all their gory detail, being told over lengthy paragraphs explaining just what each bullet or knife thrust does to the victim. Bodie kills without remorse and won’t let anything stop him in his quest.

Even though the story is essentially a bounty hunter tracking and killing his quarry the author adds a bit of mystery to the plot, as in why Trask has hired Bodie to kill Reefer and his gang, and why a seemingly innocent girl was killed and by whom. All this makes for a very fast moving story that is difficult to put down.

A comment about the cover series title, Bodie: this single word was all that appeared on the front of the original books, but the spine and title pages called the series Bodie the Stalker. The Stalker is a nickname Bodie is referred to a number of times during the story, which is why I’ve called the series Bodie the Stalker above.

Neil Hunter is a pseudonym used by Mike Linaker and an interview I did with him sometime ago can be found here, where you'll also find the covers of the original six books.

Piccadilly Publishing will be making the rest of the series available as ebooks soon and on June 1st launch Mike’s other western series, Brand, as ebooks too.

Piccadilly Publishing ebooks are priced very competitively, $1.99 or £1.27, so how can you not buy a copy today.