Where Guns Talk

THE LONER #1

By Sheldon B. Cole

Piccadilly Publishing, October 2019

Originally published by Cleveland, 1967

Ahead was a cold-blooded killer and an innocent woman who wanted to believe he was no such thing. Behind was a God-fearing tyrant by the name of Isaac Madie and Madie’s three sons, all of them with vengeance in mind.

And Blake Durant was caught smack in the middle.

He wanted to rescue the woman and return a fortune in gold bullion to its rightful owners. But Madie had other ideas. And if it came to that, so did Ringo Nyall, the killer who’d set his mind on the gold … and the girl!

My western book collection contains a handful of Cleveland publications but I’d never got around to reading any of them. My first edition copy of Where Guns Talk was put out under their Bobcat Western line and numbered 405. Although I have read work by some of the authors who wrote for Cleveland, I haven’t read any of Sheldon B. Cole’s stories and as Piccadilly has begun to publish The Loner series in ebook form (along with other Cleveland series) I decided to hunt out my dog-eared copy and give it a go.

Cleveland westerns aren’t very long, this one having 92 pages of fast-paced prose. Each of the ten chapters are titled. 

Blake Durant’s past is hinted at in this opening tale and this adds a hint of mystery to the reasons he gets involved in other people’s troubles, and by rescuing a young woman from three attackers he soon finds himself facing a number of deadly situations where some folk keep their real identity hidden and conceal some or all of the truth about their motivations.

The author presents the reader with some wonderful characters, particularly Isaac Madie, a man who is hard to like but you will feel his pain when things go wrong in the worst way possible. The girl, Angela Grant, is a memorable character too. Watching her slowly realize the man she is fixing to marry may not be all he says he is provides some fascinating reading, and she will also add an unforeseen twist to the end of the story.

Sheldon B. Cole’s descriptions are excellent, and they produced some very visual imagery within my minds eye, especially when reading the hard-hitting action scenes. Everything comes to a neat end and the final act left me with a grin on my face and the desire to read another Loner story soon. 

Sheldon B. Cole is a pseudonym for Australian author Desmond Robert Dunn (1929 – 2003) who wrote over 400 westerns for Cleveland under a variety of pen-names, these being Adam Brady, Sheldon B. Cole, Matt Cregan, Morgan Culp, Shad Denver, Gunn Halliday, Brett Iverson and Walt Renwick. 

Backlash

THE BADGE #9

By Bill Reno

Bantam, February 1989

Marshal Wesley Clarke was a fast-draw, tough-as-steel lawman who met force with force, bullet with bullet. That was why gambling king Tip Ruckman wanted him out of the fast-growing Idaho town of Rock Falls, dead or alive. Ruckman had secretly brought in hired gunslingers to help him shoot his way to a bloody takeover of Rock Falls, lock, stock and barrel. But first the cunning gambler had to discredit Clarke and get the marshal’s badge pinned on one of his own men. Pretty, prim and proper Jeannine DeGarmo fit right in with Ruckman’s scheme, and now Clarke was heading for a showdown that could cost him his honor . . . or her life. 

Marshal Clarke is an excellent character, his belief that the only way to punish outlaws is to see them killed by either bullet or a hangman’s rope to ensure they won’t commit a crime again, forms one of the main story threads of this very fast-moving tale. Clarke’s methods of dealing with the criminal element soon sees him banging heads with newly arrived Jeannine DeGarmo who thinks the way of the Eastern cities is the only way to bring justice to the lawless towns of the West and that’s by trial and prison sentences. Both views are effectively represented by the author and will certainly make the reader think.

Even though Clarke and DeGarmo’s differing opinions cause them to clash every time they come into contact, there is an underlying tension, an attraction neither will admit to, both denying it to themselves. These feelings add another layer of depth to the story.

There is plenty of action too, as Ruckman puts his plan into operation, that will ultimately force DeGarmo to realize everything isn’t quite as black-and-white as she thinks it is. Then there’s other law-breaking people who Clarke has to deal with and this often leads to hard-hitting deaths, one of which is both tragic and horrific – and it’s this that is superbly portrayed on the books cover by artist Shannon Stirweiss. 

One of the strengths of the author behind The Badge series, is that you can never be sure whether good will win over evil completely or that the hero will get the girl. Bill Reno (real name Lew A. Lacy) often makes his characters suffer emotionally as well as physically and this, for me anyway, is something I welcome in my reading. So, does Clarke’s methods of upholding the law win the day? Does he get the girl? I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out, and in doing so will hopefully enjoy it as much as I did. 

Petticoat Marshal

By George Snyder

Crowood Press, April 2019

Gunfighter Cort Packet rides into the town of Scarlet intending to kill Yucca Frazel, but many try to prevent him: Frazel’s employer rancher Addison Blackwell, an Indian agent cheating Apaches out of goods, a gunfighter rumoured to have murdered the marshal’s husband, and the marshal herself – Rebecca Rogers, trying to find the truth about her husband’s death, forced into being marshal in a fixed election by the powerful rancher who professes warm feelings for her. But are the feelings for here, or are they for the riches on her land?

Before Cort can finish his business with Yucca Frazel, he finds himself caught up in killings, treachery, stealing and politics that threaten to leave him lying dead.

I’ve not read any of George Snyder’s Black Horse Westerns, under that name or his other pseudonym of George Arthur before, so I approached this one open minded. The book has a hard-hitting start with fairly graphic descriptions of violence and death. Those first few short chapters explain why Cort is intent on killing Yucca Frazel.

Cort Packet is also slightly more unusual to many other western heroes, as Snyder has a cripple as the leading character, having had his leg shattered during the Civil War and now needs the aid of a silver topped cane to get around. 

The story is very fast moving and the author regularly switches from Cort to other characters, and in doing so Snyder makes sure the reader knows what is going on with the storylines even if Cort and Rebecca Rogers don’t. It’s the plot behind the rancher’s desire for Rebecca’s land that fills the bulk of the tale. 

Snyder does keep one sting-in-the-tail for the end, shocking both Cort and the reader with its horror, which leads to a bloody and vicious finale. Even though I had worked that twist out quite early on it in no way diminished my enjoyment of this book and I closed this book feeling thoroughly entertained.

Border Bandits

THE RANGER #2

By Dan Mason

Harper, March 1991

The Ranger: Hard, sharp, fearless. He’d face down the devil himself to bring evil to justice in the untamed West.

Border Blood: Violence on the sizzling no-man’s land between Texas and Mexico is nothing new. It seems one side always has what the other wants – money, power, freedom. Now, a new series of brutal raids by a ruthless band of brigands has handcuffed the local law. In rides Texas Ranger Lex Cranshaw. Outnumbered or not, he vows to bring one of two things to the border – peace or blood.

So how do you find a brutal band of bandits when you have no idea where to find them? This is the problem that author Dan Mason gives Texas Ranger Lex Cranshaw, and this is the hook that kept me turning the pages. 

Cranshaw starts the investigation alone whilst waiting for a fellow Ranger to join him. Along the way he will find himself accepting the help of others and trying to stop more joining the chase, especially a padre named Murtagh. The padre believes he has reason to ride with The Ranger, Cranshaw believes the man is out of his depth and, as I expected, things don’t work out the way either want.

Bandits, Rangers and those caught up in the hunt are well drawn, each having their own character traits that make them a joy to read about. The story contains plenty of action, some of the deaths and discoveries of corpses quite gruesome in their description. Pacing is excellent and the plot takes a twist when the Mexican Army get involved – not liking that Texas Rangers are operating on their side of the border without permission. 

The final showdown between The Ranger and the bandits is exciting and bloody. Everything is tied up neatly but not everyone survives, giving the story a hard-hitting ending that left me looking forward to reading more books in this series.

Dan Mason is a pseudonym for author Charley McDade. 

Cover art is by Larry Schwinger.