THE KILLERS FROM YELLOW ROCK
By Jeff Pintabona
Veritas Entertainment, September 2025
$25,000 in blood money. One mountain. No second chances.
Blood money has a way of calling every gunman for miles.
High atop Yellow Rock Mountain, notorious gunfighter Mort Totten sits like a vulture king, with a $25,000 bounty on his head. Nineteen men have tried their luck. Nineteen men never came back alive.
But the lure of fortune is stronger than fear. When young trail hand Jerry Dixon and his Apache partner Coyotero set their sights on Totten, they’re drawn into a deadly game of ambushes, betrayals, and gunsmoke. Soon, Dixon finds himself riding alongside the very outlaw he meant to kill—facing merciless bounty hunters, corrupt lawmen, desert ambushes, and savage killers who want the reward for themselves.
From dusty Nevada canyons to lawless frontier towns, The Killers from Yellow Rock explodes with blazing six-gun duels, knife fights, ambushes under desert stars, and the kind of larger-than-life characters that define the Western myth.
Although this is the second western from Jeff Pintabona it is the first I’ve read by him and what an entertaining read it turned out to be.
The opening attempts on Totten’s life captured my imagination easily and once I found out that Dixon wasn’t really after the bounty but wanted Totten to help him take revenge on a man Totten used to partner the story really grabbed me and ensured I’d keep turning the pages.
Totten is an out-and-out killer. A man who will kill the opposition anyway he can with the least danger to himself. This put him at odds with Dixon who refuses to kill a man in cold blood. As they travel towards their target, Totten attempts to change Dixon’s mind whilst teaching him how to be quick with gun, knife and fist. There is plenty of trouble to face whilst on their journey which highlights some of the weaknesses Dixon has.
Characterization is done well and I did notice that the reader never gets to share Totten’s thought process, which helps make him appear somewhat cold-hearted, but he occasionally acts in a way or says something that hints there is more to him than what we see at face-value.
I don’t really want to reveal anything else about the plot as it would spoil the surprises the reader has coming. I did begin to wonder who of the main characters, if any, would be alive by the end.
The Killers from Yellow Rock is a tough, gritty read that is filled with hard-hitting action. Pacing is excellent as it builds towards its exciting final showdown that left me hoping for a sequel as I need to read more about the survivors. Recommended.
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