Comanche Massacre

PONY SOLDIERS

Number 2 of 10

By Chet Cunningham
Cover art by Bruce Minney

Leisure, 1987

The Comanches had been pushed too far by the corrupt government in Washington, driven to anger by the whiskey traders and formed into a deadly fighting force by cold-blooded gunrunners. They were killing mean and vowed to sweep across the territory like a cyclone – murdering, scalping, and raping….

The Pony Soldiers were a dirty, undisciplined rabble, but they were the only chance a thousand settlers had to see another sunrise. They were an unyielding rock in a sea of bloodshed, determined to fight to the last – each man swearing to kill ten Comanche before he died.

This story starts shortly after the events of the first book. Captain Colt Harding using his newly formed Lightning Troop to attack the Comanche whenever he can whilst also searching for his kidnapped daughter. Harding’s hate comes across strongly and he and his troopers’ willingness to kill their enemy sees them committing many similar atrocities to their foe. The opening massacre carried out by the Lightning Troop seeing them slaughter men, women and children without remorse. Seeing how Harding tries to justify this to himself makes for some interesting reading even though readers may not agree with his rationalizing. 

After the opening destruction of the Comanche camp the author mixes a number of different storylines. There’s further training for the Lightning Troop. A man-hungry young lady who doesn’t care if her conquests are married or not, nor for the consequences of her dalliances. Then there’s White Eagle’s band of Comanche and his quest to pregnant a wife with a son. They are also the Comanche who killed Harding’s family and stole his infant daughter, Sadie, now known as Laughing Golden Hair. A fair amount of the book deals with the Comanche way of life. Each of these plotlines slowly entwine and deadly confrontations are inevitable and much blood will be spilled, the death toll high as the soldiers face superior odds.

Chet Cunningham has written a decent, almost episodic, follow up to the first book. It’s very readable, contains some brutal action scenes and a little graphic sex. Harding and White Eagle’s characters are developed further as are other recurring individuals. Not all the storylines come to an end thus ensuring readers will want to pick up the next book, something I hope to do very soon.

I’ve stated this is the second book of ten, which is true of the original paperback series. Many years later Chet Cunningham continued the series, publishing three more stories as ebooks.