Bugles and Blood

LEW EDEN #1

By Ben Bridges and Brent Towns

Bookends, October 2017

Lew Eden was thirteen when he killed his first man. A lot more died at his hand before he finally had his fill of blood and bullets. Then he decided to enlist in the newly-formed Seminole-Negro Scouts, hoping to do what he could to broker peace between white man and red.

But an Indian-hater named Cramer killed Lew’s Sioux woman. After that, Lew wouldn’t rest until he’d put one last man in his grave. But Fate had other ideas. Scouting for General Crook, he was to take part in the Battle of the Rosebud, where the killing started up all over again …

Two well-known authors in the western genre have teamed up to write a series of novels featuring Lew Eden, a scout first met in their Company ‘C’ series, who they’ve now decided to write a spin-off series about.

The Lew Eden books should appeal to all western readers, either those who enjoy purely imaginary tales or those that put fictional characters into true historical events. It’s the latter category that this book falls into.

The book starts with events that see Eden becoming romantically involved with a Sioux woman, Morning Dove after she nurses him to health after he's wounded in a vicious fight saving a well-known Sioux leader from being killed. After six men rape and murder Morning Dove, Eden is consumed with rage and rides out after the killers but he fails in completing his quest for vengeance and one of the killers escapes his justice and Eden finds himself scouting for Crook only to learn that the man he’s hunting is also a soldier but Eden has to keep his anger in check as more important events unfold as the army rides towards the Rosebud.

There has already been plenty of action in this very fast moving tale but the story now becomes one long fight as the soldiers find themselves facing superior numbers of warriors in a battle that they will struggle to come out of alive. 

The story is now told in chapters that are broken by headings that help keep track of which part of the battle is taking place and who is involved. The majority of characters we now read about were real people and the authors also include a lot of historical fact. The skill of the writers comes to the fore as this part of the tale could read like a history lesson but it doesn’t as they blend fact and fiction together seamlessly in a desperate fight for survival.

So does Lew Eden find the last killer of Morning Dove among all the carnage around him? I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out. What I will add is that the Battle of the Rosebud may come to some kind of conclusion but the war isn’t over yet and the authors leave the storyline open to ensure the reader will be looking out for the second book in the series, Ride to Glory, to find out what happens next, something I for one am eager to find out.

If you have any interest in the Indian Wars and in particular The Battle of the Rosebud then this is a must read. If you just like action packed westerns that feature soldiers and Indian confrontations then grab yourself a copy of this as I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Mexico Breakout

By Ben Bridges

Bookends, October 2011

With the promise of $10,000 still ringing in his ears, professional fighting man Carter O’Brien rode south to free Aaron Norris, a big-shot politician who’d been framed for murder. But it wasn’t going to be easy. Norris was being held in a prison nearly two hundred miles from home, and it was a veritable fortress that had been built right on the doorstep of a garrison full of Mexican soldiers.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, there were others who’d set their sights on the reward — two get-rich-quick Americans named Pope and Trace, and a half-Cheyenne Dog Soldier called Sundown.

As they all came together, the dry Mexican air was shattered by the roar of dynamite and the higher, deadly whine of bullets...

This story is one of fourteen starring Ben Bridges’ series character Carter O’Brien. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t read any of the others before this as it is a self-contained novel. It was originally published by Hale as a Black Horse Western back in 1988.

Like other books by Ben Bridges I have read this one is told at an ever increasing pace and is filled with well-drawn characters. Captain Vadala, the man in charge of the prison, being one of particular note. Diane Norris is another, a woman who will play an important role in O’Brien’s plan to free her husband.

O’Brien’s plan actually sickens him but he can see no other way and it makes for some very tense scenes, especially when trying to escape the prison with Norris.

Ben Bridges is a pseudonym used by David Whitehead, and he’s an author that I find a pleasure to read. Once I’ve read one of his books I immediately find myself wanting to read another.

The Ben Bridges ebooks are very affordable and there are many to choose from (with more to come) so if you’ve never tried his work maybe now is the time to see what you’ve been missing.

Piccadilly Publishing

Longtime Western fans and Amazon Kindle best-selling Western writers Mike Stotter and Ben Bridges have finally realized a long-held dream to bring back into 'e-print' some of the most popular and best-loved Western and action-adventure series fiction of the last forty years.

Series fiction, the most popular genre was always the Western, but it also encompassed war stories, tales of pillaging Vikings, life in the Roman arena and action-adventure set in the far-flung future, was at its most popular throughout the 1970s and 80s and is still fondly remembered and avidly collected by die-hard fans. Some books are now so hard to come by that it's not unusual for them to change hands for astronomical amounts.

"We got to know a number of the authors when we were teenagers," remembers Mike. "Although they mostly wrote Westerns, they often joked that they had never been further west than Piccadilly, in London's West End."

"It seemed such an obvious idea, to bring these books back in a new format for a predominantly new audience," says Ben Bridges, a.k.a. David Whitehead. "For years I had been scouring second-hand bookshops to rebuild my original collection, and everywhere I went I got the same response. 'If I could get my hands on Westerns, I could sell them. But you just can't get them anymore.'"

"It seemed like a ridiculous situation," adds Mike. "I have constantly heard that the Western genre is dead. Yet, through sales, I know we have a large Western readership out there and no-one is catering for them. So I suggested to Dave that maybe he and I ought to do something about it--and now here we are."

Thus Piccadilly Publishing was born. One of its aims is to bring back titles for new and old readers alike. Great care is taken over the production of each title, and each one has a specially-commissioned cover from Westworld Designs that recreates the feel of the originals, at the same time giving them a fresh and more modern look.

The first Piccadilly Publishing eBook--Trackdown, by Neil Hunter--is now available for download from Amazon's platforms in the UK, US, Spain, France, Germany and Italy, and more titles are set to follow over the next several months. There are plans to expand their availability on other electronic platforms. 

  

"We're adding authors and series to our catalogue almost every day," reports Whitehead. "Over the next year or so I think we'll surprise and delight our fellow fans with what we have to offer."

For further enquires email the editors at piccadillyp@yahoo.com

Keep upto date with their news at their blog.

Hang 'Em All

By Ben Bridges

Bookends ebook, April 2011

First published by Hale, 1989

They rode into Austin Springs stirrup to stirrup, six men with guns in the belts and blood in their eyes. The minute the town marshal Sam Judge clapped eyes on them he pegged them as trouble. He was right, too, because by sunset Death had called and the blood of innocents had been spilled in the town’s quiet and dusty streets.

Almost before he know it, Sam – once a celebrated town-tamer whom Ned Buntline himself had called ‘The Pistol Prince’ – found himself embarking on a vengeance hunt. A boy Sam hadn’t seen for fifteen years was hooked up with the killers, so that made it personal. But first and foremost, Sam was a peace-keeper. Convinced that the law would hang ‘em all, he wanted the outlaws to have their day in court. The only thing he never reckoned on was the fact that they might very well kill him before he could find and catch them.

This is the first of Ben bridges’ six book series featuring Sam Judge and Matt Dury. Hang ‘Em All tells of how Judge is reunited with his long lost son, the fact he is Dury’s father is something Matt is unaware of.

I’ve always found Ben bridges’ (really author David Whitehead) books to be extremely readable, very difficult to put aside once stared. He paces his stories perfectly and includes plenty of exciting action. This particular book builds up to a lengthy showdown between Judge and the men who robbed the town bank, who killed a young girl and the doctor in the process.

Judge is a man in his mid-forties and is feeling it, he also wants to bring his quarry in alive – a decision that almost gets him killed a couple of times. There’s some great human animal interaction as a cat, Mitzi, has adopted Judge. Mitzi won’t be left behind so Judge is forced to take her with him, riding in a saddlebag. Anyone who likes cats will easily relate to the scenes with Mitzi.

Through much of the story Judge has a letter, which remains unopened, this adds a touch of mystery to the tale. It’s only at the end of the story that the contents are revealed and this in turn sets up, I presume, the plot for the next book in the series, Riding for Justice, and left me eager to read more about Judge and Dury.

David Whitehead has been busy making many of his westerns available as ebooks, all now as by Ben Bridges. At less that £1.00 each (around $1.50) how can you not treat yourself to some of his work?

Three for the Trail

By Ben Bridges

An eBook: April 2011

For those who have yet to try a book by Ben Bridges, then I’d suggest this is an excellent way to discover his writing. All three stories in this collection have been published before (see the contents below for more details). The second tale features one of Ben Bridges’ series characters, Carter O’Brien.

All three stories are smooth-flowing and have well thought-out plots, each offering surprises along the way, particularly the third tale. Characters are well crafted and believable as is the dialogue. All provide exciting and suspenseful reading making them difficult to put down until the final word.

Ben Bridges is a pseudonym used by David Whitehead, and he has also had many westerns published under his own name and a handful of other pen-names, and has been busy making some of them available as ebooks (check his website for more details – a link can be found below) as I’m sure you’ll want to read more of his books after reading this one. Three for the Trail sells at less that $1.50 and the same in English pounds, at prices like that how can you pass this book by?

Contents:

Lonigan Must Die! – a simple quest for vengeance turns into something much different. (First appeared in A Fistful of Legends, Express Westerns 2009)

Comanche Reckoning – a down-at-the-heel sheepherder and his family have to set past hatreds aside when renegade Comanches attack their modest spread. (First appeared online at www.benbridges.co.uk 2006)

Stretch-Hemp Station – an elderly couple struggle to keep a terrible secret that threatens to tear them apart. (First appeared in Where Legends Ride, Express Westerns 2007)

Book and Magazine Collector #309

Just thought I'd bring to everyones attention the July 09 issue of Book and Magazine Collector. It contains a seventeen page article written by Ben Bridges (David Whitehead) about his choices of the top 50 westerns books, with information about many of them, including how much they are worth. It makes for fascinating reading.

Amoung the other articles is an in-depth look at the work of Cormac McCarthy.

The magazine can be found in UK shops now - not sure about other countries, but it can also be ordered direct.