Sunday, 30 March 2025

THE SAVAGE HILLS

 

BANNISTER
Book 2 of 11
THE SAVAGE HILLS
By D.B. Newton
Cover art probably by Jerome Podwil
Berkley Medallion Books, February 1964

Jim Bannister was still on the dodge, still worth $12,000 to the man with guts enough to try to take him in to his death.

Bannister knew he had to stay out of trouble, but he didn’t think befriending a 17-year-old kid would lead him into a trap from which the only way out was a sixgun . . . 

But the kid had a nervous trigger finger and then Bannister found himself accused of murder, only this time it was for a killing he hadn’t done . . . 

Dwight Bennett Newton presents his readers with a tough, traditional western in The Savage Hills. Jim Bannister is a capable, yet flawed hero. He’s a man who makes mistakes that could cost him his life. Perhaps a little too trusting such as with the kid he befriends who will later double-cross him . . . or does he?

The story races along and as more and more characters are introduced so the chances of Bannister being arrested increase. Each new set of characters have their own problems that Bannister finds himself sucked into. Then there’s the suspicious lawman and the gang of rustlers who don’t want anyone else settling into the hills they call their own. As each plot element blends into another it soon becomes apparent that the author is setting everything up for one savage showdown that should resolve everything . . . although as the pages began to run out, I did have to wonder how this would happen and I also questioned how all the ‘good guys’ could live happily ever after. I needn’t have worried as Newton finished everything off neatly, if a little too perfectly for some of the characters. 

I found this book to be as equally enjoyable as the first one in the series and hope to read the next book soon. 

Wednesday, 26 March 2025

THE HELLION

 

ABILENE
Book 11 of 16
THE HELLION
By Justin Ladd
Cover art by Gordon Crabb
Pocket Books, December 1989

Two miles west of Abilene, Nord Madden’s gang guns down Donald Rutledge in cold blood. Two thousand miles away in New York City, an aspiring actress named Beth Rutledge finds out that her father is dead – and starts back to Abilene.

In Abilene Marshal Luke Travis is going after the killers, but the county sheriff is getting in his way. Someone is cutting down members of the gang, and Nord Madden is preparing for war. Travis and his deputy are looking for a slender gunman with a lightning fast .38. Beth Rutledge avows her notorious brother is behind the gun – and he won’t stop until he’s won his revenge!

This book’s plot isn’t as straightforward as the back cover blurb makes it sound. The author has a number of surprises in store, some that long-time followers of the series will not want to miss out on. Affairs of the heart will play their part too for more than one Abilene townsperson. Travis will also butt heads with the county sheriff which could prove very dangerous to his position in Abilene. Someone else on the town council wants to bring the future that is already happening back east to Abilene and that means there’s no place for an outdated lawman and marshal’s office, so political confrontations are set in motion. All this, and more, are secondary plotlines that may play a part in bringing the main storyline to a close, but it’s the race to find the Madden gang and the gunman who is killing them off that takes up the majority of the book.

Pacing is excellent and even though the reader will have some idea as to who is gunning down members of the Madden gang the author has a surprise or two waiting to add a new twist to the tale. The characterization of the new visitors to Abilene is first-rate and you’ll soon be caring about what happens to them. Development of long-time characters continues and these storylines left me looking forward to the next book in the series to see how their lives play out. The many action scenes are top-notch too.

Justin Ladd is a pseudonym for James Reasoner who is one of the best western authors writing today and I’ve yet to read anything by him that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed. This book, in fact the whole series, is highly recommended by me.

Monday, 17 March 2025

EXCITING WESTERN - October 1953

 

EXCITING WESTERN
British Edition, Vol. II, No. 9
Atlas Publishing, October 1953

The British edition of Exciting Western started by taking it contents from the American pulp of the same name with the occasional stories sourced from other American western pulps. As time went on most of the stories came from other western pulps. This is the case with this issue of Exciting Western as all the contents, except one, were taken from the Spring 1953 issue of Thrilling Ranch Stories. The other tale, Fiddle-Foot was taken from Exciting Western, March 1953. 

The opening novella is Rustler’s Run by Lewis B. Patten. Burt Norden is doing his best to look after his mother whose gone into a state of depression since her husband died. Burt is sweet on one of the neighbouring rancher’s daughters, Lucy, but the path to true love isn’t running smoothly. Lucy’s mother is dying and another young man, Mitch Riorson is showing interest in her. Mitch is always picking fights with Burt and they are getting more vicious each time fists fly. It seems it won’t be long before one kills the other. On top of all this is the mystery of missing cattle. Patten’s portrayal of human emotion is first class and his action scenes are well depicted. The story was a little predictable, but even so, still made for an exciting read.

Next comes the short story Fiddle-Foot by Ben Frank (real name Frank Bennett). Freddy had some strange help: a stuffed gorilla, a pet skunk – and Stella’s red-hot skillet! This tale is told in a light-hearted tone throughout and contains quite a few amusing scenes. It tells the story of how the Foster Memorial Museum came to be in the basement of the Courthouse in Mumblepeg. It involves a couple of old-timers, an attractive housekeeper, and a stolen windmill, as well as the already mentioned gorilla, skunk and skillet. This story would fall into the category of comedy westerns, and I felt that it was the perfect length for this type of tale, any longer and it would have outstayed its welcome. 

Paul Randell Morrison’s novelette Grip of the West followed. This is set in the time of automobiles and telephones, but once the opening scene is played out, I could easily imagine it as a western taking place in an early time period. The main character is well-to-do Gary Cortland who, whilst drunk, is dumped on a train heading west as a prank. Cortland ends up working on a ranch, saving the day when a river threatens to burst its banks, and falls in love with the rancher’s daughter, Peggy. Cortland also discovers that he enjoys the harder life of a cowboy than living in a city where everything is done for him. All through the story I was waiting to see if Cortland would get revenge on his two friends who put him on the train and how he does that was amusing and just. Entertaining.

The fourth and final tale in this issue of Exciting Western is the short story The Ranger Takes a Wife by Frank P. Castle. Flounces and frills, ruffles and lace – To her they were pretty. To him a disgrace! Tough rancher Chris Talley decides he needs a wife to keep house and do chores. A homeless girl struggling to survive fits the bill and after a quick wedding they are married. That’s when differences in their outlook to life emerge, things Chris can’t accept. There’s also the Guerra family who Chris believes are cattle thieves. More trouble erupts when his wife Loretta befriends Victoria who is one of the Guerra clan. This is a tough tale that contains some harsh dialogue and scenes. I was never sure how this tale would end. The conclusion was a little to perfect as Chris changes his viewpoint all too suddenly. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the story and would like to check out more of Castle’s work.

The last page is taken up with the article Rope Rascality by Ferris Weddle. I usually don’t read these parts of the pulps but I did this time. It proved to be a collection of tall tales of when a lasso was used, a couple of which made me smile. 

Overall, this was an enjoyable issue of Exciting Western. For me, the best two stories were those by Patten and Castle.

Thursday, 13 March 2025

GALLOWS GHOST

GALLOW GHOST
By Barry Cord
Ace Books, 1967

The man Hell rejected. When the cold swept over the Texas Badlands, it brought something even more deadly with it: a force so violent and evil that even the harsh winter was nothing compared to it

A lone rider came out of the infamous outlaw hideout in the Tenejos hills. That rider called himself by the name of a man who had been hanged twenty years before – and he was riding now to bring vengeance and terror on those who had brought him to the gallows.

This slim, strangely dapper gunman rode into the rangeland and left death and destruction on his trail – but there was one man he especially wanted. That was young U.S. Marshal Colby Jackson, the son of the man who had done the hanging.

But how could Colby shoot it out with a man who was already dead?

This very fast-moving story begins with a one-man massacre, and it’s not just people he kills. Livestock is slaughtered too and a line shack destroyed. And the killing spree doesn’t end there. One of the acts of this dead man is to kidnap a young woman to bring Marshal Colby Jackson to him and it isn’t long before Jackson is gunned down – but he survives and wants answers. Who is this mystery gunman and why does he want to kill Jackson and others? Is he really a spirit returned from the dead wanting revenge? Will the lawman be able to find and free the kidnapped girl? 

Barry Cord’s tale becomes more and more gripping as the lawman tries to track down a ghost. At times the story takes on a very dark tone as some of the scenes depict cruelty in very visual prose. The author switches between characters regularly often leaving them in dangerous situations when changing to someone else. Cord does let the reader know what’s going on partway through the story but that seemed to add more tension to the tale rather than giving away too much. At no time did I predict the outcome of the story and I was never quite sure who would be left alive at the end of the book.

Barry Cord is a pseudonym for author Peter Germano and Gallows Ghost is an excellent example of why I like his work so much and once again I was left looking forward to reading another of his books very soon.

My copy of Gallows Ghost is part of an Ace Double and it is backed by Room to Swing a Loop by Stephen Payne.