UNWANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE

UNWANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE

By Gene Shelton

Cover art by Eric JW Lee

A Jove Book, March 1996

Framed for cattle rustling and horse theft by the corrupt banker who foreclosed on their employer’s ranch, Buck Hawkins and Dobie Garrett found themselves out of work, out of cash, and out of luck. So, they decided to try and live up to their reputation as wanted men. An idea easier said than done…

One step ahead of a hanging party, Buck and Dobie bungled a stagecoach robbery – and met Marylou Kowalski, a fiery young woman looking for excitement. She insisted they kidnap her. Soon, she had Buck and Dobie convinced that the three of them could pull off the ultimate heist: robbing the low-down banker who set them up. Now, if only they could learn to shoot…

Having read, and enjoyed, Gene Shelton’s four book series the Texas Horse Trading Co., I was looking forward to reading Unwanted: Dead or Alive, the first of two books featuring Buck Hawkins and Dobie Garrett. 

I was surprised to find that the opening chapter didn’t really grab me. Nothing much happened apart from descriptions of Hawkins and Garrett’s life as cowboys, struggling to find cattle in the snow. I’m glad I continued to read though as with chapter two the story really picked up. Complication upon complication befell our now out of work cowboys.

Our two leads couldn’t be more different. Garrett is impulsive, all for charging into any situation without giving it a second thought. Hawkins is the exact opposite, careful and needing to spend time considering their options. One thing they agree on is the need for money, so Garrett talks Hawkins into becoming an outlaw. Holding up people and stealing their money can’t be difficult, can it? 

What follows is a series of attempted robberies, a trading post run by a woman, a stagecoach and more. Their major problem is that they only have one gun between them and that doesn’t work, so bluff is the name of the game and they soon learn that being an outlaw isn’t easy as none of their robberies go according to plan or result in riches. These attempts at a life of crime are exciting and often comical. In fact, a lot of the book has a humorous tone coming from situations and the banter between the main characters. Once they team up with Marylou, Hawkins and Garrett are forced to realize how useless they are. An attempt to rob a train emphasizing that point as does their lack of shooting skills.

Can they turn their lives around? Will their plan to get even with the banker succeed? Will they continue to be wanted for crimes they didn’t commit? Will Marylou ever see them as more than hopeless? These, and more questions have to be answered before the end of the tale.

After that first slow chapter, the pace of this book really picks up. Dialogue is lively and at times offers laugh out loud moments. The robberies are tense and the build up to the final confrontation with the banker is extremely well told. The final showdown providing some gripping reading that also tied up all the hanging story threads and left me eager to read the second book, How the West Was Lost, as soon as I can.

American readers can get a copy here

British readers can get a copy here

A GOOD DAY FOR A MASSACRE

 

SLASH AND PECOS
Book 2 of 6
A GOOD DAY FOR A MASSACRE
By William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone
Pinnacle Books, July 2020

Life on the straight and narrow is easier said than done for a pair of crooks like Jimmy “Slash” Braddock and Melvin “Pecos Kid” Baker. But these reprobates are doing their damnedest to make an honest go of it. They’ve managed to safely deliver a church organ to a mountain parish when their sometime employer – Chief U.S. Marshal Luther T. “Bleed-‘m-So” Bledsoe – recruits them for a job only fools would take.

Marshal Bledsoe wants them to pick up a shipment of gold in the mining town in the Sawatch Mountains. Here’s the catch: Slash and Pecos’s wagon is just a decoy. When a ruthless gang ambushes the real gold shipment, it’s up to Slash and Pecos to go after the trigger-happy bandits. And they won’t be alone. A lady Pinkerton, Hattie Friendly – who is anything but – survived the ambush and is hellbent on getting the gold back. Even if she has to team up with a pair of ornery old cutthroats like Slash and Pecos….

The author has come up with a very engaging pair of lead characters in Slash and Pecos. They’re tough, they bicker and can get into all kinds of trouble without trying. Their outlaw days are over and they’ve been granted an amnesty, trouble is not many people know about this. Teaming them up with Hattie makes for some lively exchanges of dialogue which often had me laughing out loud.

The story is fast paced and action packed. The body count is high. As well as knives, pistols and rifles, Gatling guns are used to devasting effect. Slash and Pecos get thrown in jail too by a lawman who doesn’t know they are free men now. As well as Hattie, there are other strong roles for female characters. Slash is looking to pop-the-question to one of them….if he can conquer his nerves. Trouble is he might just have a love rival.

Having only read two of the books in this series, Slash and Pecos have already made a strong impact on me and have become two of my favourite characters to come from the Johnstone’s. 

American readers can get a copy here.

UK readers can get a copy here.

.44

.44

By H.A. DeRosso

A Wagon Wheel Western, publishing date unknown

First published in the UK by Mills and Boon, 1957

Originally published by Lion in America, 1953

Dan Harland was a man with a reputation—a reputation earned through killing. He was a hired gun, and the speed of his .44 was the stuff of legend. He never enjoyed his work, but he did it well and the pay was good.

But even the money didn’t help when Harland was hired to hunt down a man who seemed all too ready to be killed. The look in that man's eyes as he died stirred something almost forgotten in Harland's soul...his conscience. All at once, Harland knew he couldn’t rest until he found the mysterious man who had hired him for the job—even if the trail led to his own grave.

H.A DeRosso wrote around 180 tales for the western pulp magazines but only had a small number of novels published. I believe .44 was his second full-length book.

There’s no getting away from the fact that this is a bleak story. It has the feel of a noir crime novel but never forgets that it is a western first and foremost. 

Harland is a reluctant assassin and is sickened each time he has to kill but his reputation is set and there is no turning back from his unwanted profession. When we first meet him, he’s tracking a man called Lancaster. Their showdown proves to be unforgettable. Lancaster is the faster draw yet does not shoot so Harland guns him down. Then the questions come. Why did Lancaster allow Harland to kill him? Who wanted Lancaster dead? Harlan sets out to find out the answers to those questions and to avenge Lancaster’s death.

The tone throughout is dark, very dark. Harland is a bitter man but he’s also determined. The story gets more complicated as we learn about Lancaster’s past and some stolen money. Why do people insist that it was them who hired Harland through a middleman? Harland refuses to confirm whether he did or did not kill Lancaster. There are two attractive females, one of whom is Lancaster’s wife, who both seem to want to see Harland dead. Is Harlan falling in love with Lancaster’s ex-wife and could he find happiness with her? The book contains plenty of action and Harland has to endure torture as he slowly pieces together the truth. 

This is a gripping read. Harland isn’t a heroic figure, he’s not a man you’ll even like. He is a fascinating character though and his grit is to be admired. You’ll want to know if Harland will find the person who hired him and what will happen if he does. The ending is as dramatic as it is bittersweet.

.44 gets a big thumbs up from me.

FAMOUS STORIES OF THE WILD WEST

 

FAMOUS STORIES OF THE WILD WEST

By Leonard Gribble

Cover art by Jack Hayes

A Universal-Tandem Target Adventure Book, 1973 – abridged version

Originally published by Arthur Barker Ltd, 1967

Leonard Gribble had over 200 hundred books published but is probably best known to western readers as Stetson Cody (Cactus Jim Clancy series) and Lee Denver (Cheyenne Jones series). He wrote under a number of other pseudonyms too.

In this collection of ten short stories Gribble writes about real people and events that helped shape the West. All but one of these tales features a full-page illustration by Laszlo Acs in a similar style to those found in pulp magazines.

Most of these stories cover a long period of time. As well as facts and dates, Gribble occasionally includes some dialogue and short descriptive action scenes. When you realize that each story is around fifteen pages long and how much information Gribble fits into each tale you have to praise him for keeping them entertaining as they could so easily have read like a history lesson. 

To people already interested in the American West most of the characters that have their lives, or part of, told in these stories won’t come as a surprise. Having said that, there are a couple of people who I didn’t know much about and Gribble’s story of one of them, Henry Plummer, has me eager to learn more about him. 

Famous Stories of the Wild West is a fascinating and well told collection of short stories that I would think most people who are interested in the history of the American West will enjoy reading.

Contents

The Worst of the Badman Sheriffs
The life of Henry Plummer.

A Great Bunch of Kids
Tells the story of the Pony Express – features a young Bill Cody and others. The cover painting shows the young Cody.

The Coming of the Iron Horse
The challenge to join the Atlantic to the Pacific by rail. Again, features Bill Cody and includes the hunting of buffalo to feed the rail crews. 

When the Daltons Rode
As you’d expect from the title, this story is about the Dalton gang.

There’s Gold in them thar Hills
Tells the tale of John Sutter and the discovery of gold that started one of, if not the biggest gold rush ever.

The Man with the Quicksilver Draw
The life and times of John Wesley Hardin. 

The Legend of Wild Bill
The life and death of James Butler Hickok.

The Cheyenne Ride Out
Tells the tale of when Dull Knife and Little Wolf lead the Cheyenne away from the reservation and the U.S. Army’s attempt to track them down.

Gambler and Gunman
The story of Johnny Ringo. Includes the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, Buckskin Frank Leslie and others.

Tall in the Saddle
This is about Bill Tilghman and his hunt for the Doolin gang. Heck Thomas features too.

A NOTCH WITH NO NAME

A NOTCH WITH NO NAME

By Walt Beaumont

A Cleveland Western (No. 1470) from Cleveland Publishing – year unknown.

Although I’ve been aware of the author name Walt Beaumont for a long time this is the first story I’ve read by him. I found his style very easy to read and the pace of the tale was excellent as it built to the inevitable showdown and I was never quite sure how it would end.

The story starts with a wedding, one that the families of the bride and groom are opposed to. There is a long running feud between them. The marriage takes place and the expected fight comes when both families find themselves in the same bar.

Beaumont tells his tale through the Brannigan family, with the main character being Scott Brannigan who is doing his best to keep the peace, to end the long running animosity. 

There’s a third family involved too. Frank Haskell wants to buy some of the Brannigan land, but Scott’s mother, Kate, refuses to sell. Scott is involved with Haskell’s daughter Greer which further complicates matters. More problems arrive in the form of two drifting gunhands who see a way of making money out of the troubles revolving around the Brannigan’s, the Allen’s and the Haskell’s. If that isn’t enough, Steve Brannigan is having an affair with the Sheriff’s wife.

At first confrontations are dealt with by bitter words or fists. Then the killings begin and members of both the Brannigan and the Allen families fall victim. Words of unfounded blame see Kate Brannigan lead her family in an all-out assault on the Allen’s. Only the deaths of her long-time enemies will satisfy her. 

A Notch with No Name is a fairly straight-forward feud western that contains one or two easy to predict twists but does include a couple of surprising deaths. The dialogue is lively and the feelings of hate and despair comes across strongly. The fight scenes are well written too. As to who would be alive at the end became impossible to predict.

After reading this book and being thoroughly entertained I was left looking forward to reading more of Walt Beaumont's work soon.

THE GAVEL & THE GUN

 

PREACHER’S LAW 
Book 3 of 7
THE GAVEL & THE GUN
By Dean L. McElwain
Leisure Books, 1987

Blackmailed into working for Isaac Parker, the notorious hanging judge, J.D. Preacher found himself with a tin star on his chest and a whole lot of trouble on his hands. His job: bring in some of the thieving, murderous scum that were raping the territory and the judge would clear his name.

Preacher believed in justice at the end of a rope – but only when he was judge and jury. That was Preacher’s Law.

It took me a long time to track down a copy of this book, so I’d already read the other four books that carried the author name of Dean L. McElwain - the last two books came out under the author name of Barry Myers. By the time I picked up The Gavel & The Gun I was eager to fill in the gap as the books have strong continuation running through them. The books don’t just feature Preacher, there are other supporting characters that appear in more than one novel. This one brings back someone who Preacher believed was dead. 

Even though there is a plotline that runs through the entire book, the story is fairly episodic and a lot of time passes before the end is reached. Although Preacher is the star of the series, he doesn’t take centre stage for much of this story, the author writes about other characters as much as, or more than, Preacher. 

Preacher is a hard man and can come across as quite cold at times. He’s lightning fast with his guns and will stop at nothing to achieve his aims. And for God’s sake, don’t call him the Widow Maker as he really doesn’t like the moniker that he picked up in the first book. 

McElwain includes enough information to tell new readers about Preacher’s past such as why he has a bounty on his head and it is this that Preacher is hoping Parker can remove. There are plenty of people willing to take on Preacher to try and claim that bounty and the identity of one of them comes as a surprise.

As well as Parker, a lot of other real people get mentioned or make appearances in this fast-moving story. The James brothers, Hec Thomas, Doc Holliday, The Earp brothers, and Bat Masterson to name but a few. 

This period of Preacher’s life comes to a fitting and satisfying conclusion and the author uses the last few pages of the book to explain what happened to Preacher and some of the other characters during the last couple of years of the 1870’s. Having already read book four, The Last Gunfight, I can tell you that it picks up not long after the end of The Gavel & The Gun. I will also add that the series is best read in order if you can. 

CANNON'S GRAVE

 

THE BADGE
Book 16 of 24
CANNON’S GRAVE
By Bill Reno
Cover art by Shannon Stirnweis
Bantam Books, April 1990

Emmett Kolfax is as vicious an outlaw as the West has ever seen. Hard as nails and ugly as a bulldog, he hides behind a bandanna and a hail of bullets, leading his gang on bloody killing sprees. But not even Kolfax can hide from the law – when the lawman is United States Marshal Joshua B. Cannon. Fast with a Colt .45, Cannon’s brought down dozens of cutthroats, and figures Kolfax will be just one more…until Kolfax hits on a plan to lure Cannon to his grave, one that puts the woman Cannon loves at the mercy of the ruthless desperado.

Most of the books in The Badge series are only linked by the fact that the main character wears a badge of some kind. One or two of these lawmen do feature in more than one book, but generally they are stand-alone titles, and Cannon’s Grave is one of those.

We’re introduced to Cannon and his abilities in the first chapter. The method he uses to take down some outlaws is something that I haven’t read that often, if at all, in a western and I had to wonder if this skill would be used again to bring Kolfax to justice.

The author switches between his characters regularly so he can reveal just how brutal Kolfax is. Kolfax also treats his own men harshly and it’s impossible to know when his temper will overflow in violence. This man, and his gang, are surely going to be difficult for Cannon to bring down.

Some of the story plays out like many other westerns, such as Cannon going undercover as an outlaw into the Hole-in-the-Wall to get close to Kolfax. Someone there recognizes Cannon but can’t place him. You know this man will remember who Cannon is at some point and this adds some good tension to this part of the book.

Reno does have a few surprises in store though, such as where the title of the book comes from. This is the reason Kolfax heads for the Hole-in-the-Wall only to find he isn’t top dog there and he gets a taste of his own medicine from the man who rules the roost.

The book is paced well, contains a lot of action including a couple of savage fistfights, and throws in a couple of neat plot twist before good triumphs over bad as expected. Cannon’s Grave isn’t my favourite book in the series but it certainly kept me entertained and left me looking forward to reading the next book soon. 

Bill Reno is a pseudonym used by Lew A. Lacy.