THE ORACLE OF THE MONTANA MOUNTAINS

 

THE BALLED OF A WESTERING MAN
Book 2 of 2
ORACLE OF THE MONTANA MOUNTAINS
By Bill Yenne
DS Productions, May 2026

If madness can be defined in an allegory, there are few allegories more apt than Gideon Safford’s blind obsession with crossing the Continental Divide on the cusp of a Montana winter. This westering man survives certain death in one blizzard only to find himself making a promise to brave further hardships— and bullets— to locate an enigmatic woman with eyes like a blizzard who has become an oracle.

The traveling Jesuit missionary who saves his life brings Safford to a Blackfeet camp on the Marias River. There, Safford hears the tale of a young woman who is believed by many to possess great, even magical, powers of insight. She was kidnapped and sold to people across the Divide, and her own people, especially her sister, want her back.

Because of her strange eyes, which once seen are never forgotten, this oracle has become a mysterious object of wonder, speculation and avarice on both sides of the Divide, a woman about whom people speak only in whispers.

This book is a reissue of one I always meant to read but never got around to doing so. This new publication sees it published under a new title – previously it came out as Eyes Like a Blizzard back in 2022. I do wonder if it had an earlier publication under yet a third title as this is what happened to the first book which originally appeared in 2019 under the title Vultures Over the Elk Fork Country. This was republished in 2022 as Death Stalks the Mountains. In 2025 it had another title change and is now known as Racing the Snows Across the Great Divide. I have no idea if any of the publications have seen the books rewritten in any way. You can read my review of the first book here.

Full of engaging characters, this book soon had me hooked as I wanted to know if the woman, Máakai, Safford had agreed to deliver a message to could be found, and if Safford did succeed in tracking her down would she really have magical powers? Yenne descriptions of Máakai are excellent and you can’t help but share the emotional turmoil she goes through.

The story challenges the thought of owning someone. To buy and sell people. It’s a story about greed. 

The book is fairly short. The plot moves forward at a swift pace, building to its conclusion with ever increasing tension as Safford and Máakai are pursued across the Divide by more people than they know about during which they have to struggle to survive a blizzard, before everyone comes together for a final showdown. The action scenes are well described and are fairly graphic at times. 

Does the white-eyed Máakai have magic powers? I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out. 

It's been a long time since I read the first Gideon Safford tale and I’m very glad I finally read the second book as it proved to be a very enjoyable. I’ve seen mention of a third book, You Can’t Outrun Your Past, which was published in 2022. Hopefully that will be republished soon, and if it is, you can bet I’ll be reading it. 

American readers can get a copy here.

British readers can get a copy here.

Vultures Over The Elk Fork Country

Gideon Safford series, book 1

By Bill Yenne

DS Productions, December 2019

Gideon Safford drifts into town quietly and unpretentiously, fully and completely expecting to drift out again in that same manner, just as he has passed like a shadow through so many other settlements and fading boomtowns across the West.

It is not to be. Guns are drawn. Safford kills a man to save a man, but quickly finds that he has helped to upset a delicate balance of conflicting interests in the foothills and placers across the remote Elk Fork country of Montana Territory.

As the wind ruffles the golden leaves of the aspens, war explodes between avarice and innocence. Cold hearts exact cold-blooded revenge. Safford puts a thumb on the scales of justice, but a mysterious malevolence lurks within the deepest ravines.

Winter falls hard upon the country, icy winds blow, death stalks the mountains, and vultures circle in the sky.

Bill Yenne had a couple of westerns published by Berkely back in 2012 and 2013 and then disappeared from this genre, which was a shame as I really enjoyed those books. I was really pleased to discover that Bill had written another western, the first in a new series, and I was very eager to read it.

Gideon Safford makes for an excellent lead character, but as the opening chapter reveals Gideon Safford isn’t his real name. This, and the reason he rides under an alias, adds a great sense of mystery to this man. As the story develops, we discover a little more about his past and his hopes for the future. One thing is for certain, he’s very good with a gun.

Yenne has also created a superb cast of supporting characters, each having important roles to play as the tale unfolds. Hired guns are killing off settlers, is this part of a landgrab? As Safford begins to whittle these gunmen down, he discovers someone else is taking them out too. Who is this mystery sniper and what is his motive? It isn’t long before the vultures of the title have plenty of corpses to feast on as the story races forward at a fast pace, and before the conclusion is reached the author springs plenty of surprises as to the who and whys of the tale. 

Yenne’s writing is extremely readable, his dialogue is believable and bad language is kept to a minimum. His action scenes are visual and graphic. The descriptions of emotions after innocents’ die are beautifully written and are very moving at times. 

All too soon I found myself reading the final page so all I can do now is patiently await the arrival of the second book in this series. If it’s anything like this one I’ll be in for another exciting and entertaining read. 

The Fire of Greed

By Bill Yenne

Berkley, November 2013

Bounty hunter Bladen Cole rode into Santa Fe with the bodies of two wanted outlaws who decided to try their luck against his Colt .45. But he’s riding out with an even more profitable venture – the capture of four robbers who stole a payroll from the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway.

Rather than let word spread about the theft, the railroad men need someone who can get the job done quickly and quietly. This is a job for a bounty hunter.

Following a trail of bodies, Cole soon realizes that the payroll robbery is only the beginning of something much bigger and bloodier on the horizon…

This is the second Bladen Cole book and it proves to be just as an entertaining read as the first. Bill Yenne fills his tale with intrigue, action, and a number of excellent twists to the tale.

Bladen Cole’s pursuit of the payroll robbers brings up painful memories of his past, something that will become one of the major storylines of this tale. Cole will also meet someone who may have a meaningful role to play in his future too.

Bill Yenne switches regularly from character to character weaving a number of different threads that are soon heading on a collision course. Not all these threads are resolved at the same time, in fact some launch new problems for the bounty hunter.

With both strong male and female roles, a gripping plot that at times mirrors a Shakespeare play, exciting gunfights, visual descriptions, believable dialogue (and very little bad language), this is a book that should be on the reading list of all western fans.

Bladen Cole: Bounty Hunter

By Bill Yenne

Berkley, November 2012

Bladen Cole will be getting a handsome sum of money from Isham Ransdell, the owner of the Gallatin City Bank. It’s not a withdrawal, but a reward for the heads of the men who killed Ransdell’s associates. The banker wants the Porter boys back in Gallatin City dead or alive – preferably dead. As Cole sets out on his manhunt, he questions the motivation of his new client, the only rich man in Gallatin City somehow left unscathed…

His pursuit goes smoothly enough until he finds himself in the middle of a battle between two rival Blackfeet bands. Cole is forced to take sides, but luckily, this double duty leads him straight to the Porter boys, who are surprised to see a bounty hunter flanked by such an unusual posse. But Bladen Cole is in for a few surprises of his own…

This is the first book in a new western series and as far as I can tell the first western fiction from Bill Yenne.

Cole’s backstory is explained quickly and sufficiently in the prologue. The blurb above, taken from the back of the book, is covered in the first part of the story and then the complications set in as Bill Yenne tells his tale through various characters, Ransdell’s daughter, Hannah, being one of my favourites. I found it fascinating seeing her struggle to accept the truth about her father and then having the strength to act on this and see justice served.

Bill Yenne’s writing style is very readable and contains very little bad language and that that is does is very tame. Descriptions are good as is character development. Action scenes are gripping and one in particular makes for some very tense reading (Hannah being stalked by something in the night). Relationships are formed but don’t always work out as expected and there’s a neat plot twist near the end.  

On finishing this book I felt that I had been thoroughly entertained and was left looking forward to the next book, The Fire of Greed that at the time of writing this review is to be published in November 2013.