THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE WAR

THE VIGILANCE COMMITTEE WAR

By Bill Sheehy

The Crowood Press, February 2017

A gang of vigilantes calling themselves The Vigilance Committee are preventing a part of the Indian Territory from becoming a State, and Buck Armstrong and his partner Louie Lewis are being paid to bring them in.

The two former Texas Rangers have been hired by local businesses to stop the vigilantes. Newspaper articles about the hangings being done by the Committee are worrying members of Congress about to vote on statehood. Making their job difficult is that most of the area’s big ranchers don’t really care. They believe hanging rustlers is a good thing. On top of that, a pair of gunslingers each with personal plans for revenge against the former Rangers are in town.

What happens when Buck and Louie get too close to members of the Committee? That is when Louie ends up at the end of a hangman’s noose.

I’ve read and enjoyed a couple of books by William Sheehy a few years ago under one of his pseudonyms; J.D. Ryder (the other being Carlton Youngblood), so was looking forward to this one which carries his own name. 

Bill Sheehy writes in an easy-to-read style that flows well, encouraging you to read more. The plotline isn’t complicated and meanders quite a bit which I felt slowed down the story and came across as padding. Sheehy spends a lot of time telling the backstory of his characters, even those that have little to do with the plot or in moving the tale forward. I did wonder if there were clues in these backstories as to the identity of The Committee members and who ran the group, so I read them rather than skip them. Sheehy does well in keeping these identities hidden though, so this kept me interested in reading the rest of the book. 

There’s not a lot of action in this story. It’s a very talky tale as Buck and Louie spend most of their time riding around and asking questions of various people – and learning their backstories. Buck and Louie also get to reflect on incidents from their pasts too. I guess this is done to flesh out the characters and does so to varying degrees. 

As the story played out as I expected it would I began to correctly guess at the identity of the Committee members but Sheehy did spring a surprise or two near the end that I didn’t see coming which gave a darker tone to the end of the book. 

The Vigilance Committee War was an ok read. If this was the first book I’d read by this author it may well have been my last as lengthy backstories that have nothing to do with the plot really aren’t to my taste. The other two books I’ve read by Sheehy were much better so I’m sure I’ll give another a go somewhere down the trail. 

LATE FOR GETTYSBURG

 

LATE FOR GETTYSBURG
By Vance Tillman
Robert Hale, December 2013

Eugene Wyeth doesn’t seem to realize that the Civil War is over, and even his family can’t persuade him to surrender. With a price on his head, he assumes there is a bounty hunter around every corner. 

But, when his old comrade-in-arms, Rattlesnake Jack, is shot, Wyeth must risk exposure and ride into town to seek help. With the powerful Kirby Taylor and his gang of gunslingers determined to stand in Wyeth’s way, there is trouble looming, and Wyeth must examine all he has stood for and put his very identity to the test.

After the first attempt on Wyeth’s life the author hooked me well and truly with a mystery, that of a small black skull the would-be assassin carried. What is the meaning of this item? But, a few pages later the author explains all, which I found a shame, but it did allow Tillman the opportunity to switch to other characters to explain their motives and actions. 

As the title references a battle during the American Civil War it came as no surprise that there were a few mentions of combat and manoeuvres during that conflict. Events at Gettysburg being the reason behind the plot of this book. It was also interesting to read about the Ketchum hand grenade that one of the characters had in his possession and I looked forward to seeing it used. Unfortunately, I was let down as this never happened.

The story has a fast pace, building well to its final showdown. There’s plenty of gunplay along the way and a couple of robberies. The book includes a particularly tense scene depicting the escape of a young woman from her captor’s home. 

Overall, this was a readable story but not one that will make me hunt through my collection for the other Vance Tillman book I have yet to read. 

Late for Gettysburg was the third and last book Robert Hale Ltd put out under their Black Horse Westerns banner from the author named as Vance Tillman. 

THE LONESOME DEATH OF JOE SAVAGE

 

THE LONESOME DEATH OF JOE SAVAGE
By C.J. Sommers
Cover Art by Prieto Muriana
Robert Hale, November 2012

A sense of family duty led Tracy Keyes to search for his cousin, the notorious Wyoming bad man, Joe Savage. His mother wished to know if he was dead or alive – and so did half the lawmen and bounty hunters in the North County.

Tracy hadn’t seen Savage since they were boys and wasn’t sure he’d even recognize his criminal cousin if they met face to face. Carrying the onus of being related to the infamous Savage made things no easier for him, nor did the bounty hunters who dogged his trail, believing that Tracy could lead them to the outlaw. By the end of the long journey, Tracy was convinced that he was only following Joe Savage into his own grave….

C.J. Sommers doesn’t believe in giving his hero an easy time of it. Tracy will be on the wrong end of fists and have plenty of lead slung at him. He soon realizes he can’t trust anyone, and nearly everyone he meets tells him Savage is dead, and good riddance. If he is dead, then where is his grave? This question, and plenty of others such as who owns the land that Savage had bought now that he is dead add some strong mystery elements to this fast-moving tale. It's difficult to say anything else about the plot without including spoilers. 

There’s not as much action in this book as others I have read by this author, but it really doesn’t need it as it’s Tracy’s attempts to unravel the mysteries he’s presented with that easily kept my attention, so much so that I hadn’t realized there hadn’t been as much gunplay as I might have expected until I thought about it. 

I’ve read quite a few Black Horse Westerns written by C.J. Sommers and have found them all to be gripping reads and The Lonesome Death of Joe Savage also falls into that category. C.J. Sommers is just one of three pseudonyms Paul Lederer used for his BHWs; the other two pen-names being Logan Winters and Owen G. Irons and I’ve read many of his stories under those names too and I have yet to be disappointed by any of his books. Lederer didn’t just write westerns for Robert Hale Ltd., he also wrote for some of the American publishers too under a variety of names.

American readers can get a copy here.

UK readers can get a copy here.

HELL PASS

 

HELL PASS
By Lance Howard
Cover art by Sebastià Boada
Linford Edition, 2008
First published by Robert Hale, April 2007 as A Black Horse Western

The circus comes to the town of Angel Pass, but does it bring simple pleasure for the hard-working cowboys and wide-eyed children of the community – or something more sinister?

Fresh from a mission to discover the fate of his lovely partner’s long-lost brother and faced with a series of bizarre kidnappings and jewel robberies, ex-manhunter Hannigan endeavours to find out. But will the secrets of the past prove more disturbing than the revelations of the present?

This is the fifth book of seven that Lance Howard wrote about Jim Hannigan. You don’t need to have read any of the others to get full-enjoyment out of this one as it reads like a stand-alone novel. As far as I could tell, there wasn’t any mention of Hannigan’s previous adventures. 

Lance Howard fills this book with fascinating characters – how could you not when having the plot revolve around a circus that sees dwarves, snake dancers, strong men, fortune tellers and more play important roles in the story. A circus into which Hannigan’s partner, Angela del Pelado, will go undercover to try and find trace of the stolen children.

The story contains a flash-back to Angela’s life as a small child going fishing with her brother, Alejandro. It is he who goes missing later. After Angela and Hannigan try to find him, Angela gives up on the hope of ever seeing him again. But we, as readers, know what happened to him and one of the gripping storylines this book contains is wanting to know how Angela will react when she finally comes face to face with him.

Another story-thread that hooked me was the mystery of the missing children. Where were they? Why were they being stolen? 

Although Hannigan is billed as the main character it is Angela who seems to have the larger role in this fast-moving tale. Her need to find her brother. Her desire to be more than a partner in righting wrongs with Hannigan, she wants to be his lover. These, and more, are main features of the plot, as is the horror she will surely have to face by the end of the book.

Howard’s writing is smooth-flowing and easy to read. His plot moves forward at an ever-increasing pace. There’s plenty of action that includes gunplay and assassination attempts. There’s emotional turmoil that makes you share his characters feelings. There are different storylines that are on a collision course, and when everything comes together Howard brings it all to a satisfying conclusion. 

Lance Howard is a pseudonym used by Howard Hopkins, an author whose work I’ve always enjoyed. Hell Pass proved to be another very entertaining read which left me wondering why I’ve left it so long since I last read a book by him.

BULL'S EYE STAGE COACH

BULL’S EYE STAGE COACH

By Billy Hall

Robert Hale, March 2013

Marshal Dwight Stern and his posse are overseeing the loading of a shipment of gold onto a heavily armoured stage coach when they are ambushed in a surprise attack.

With Stern’s fiancée held in the grip of one of the attackers and a double-barrelled shotgun pointing at her head, there’s no time to play nice. With his hand on his gun and a prayer for the gunman to make a mistake and move the gun from Belinda’s head, all he needs is a split second….

The story starts some time before the incident the blurb outlines. We witness Stern laying the law down in his town and also share his concerns about a number of strangers who are arriving and looking for jobs, especially when one of the tries to befriend Belinda. Then there’s another stranger who implies he’s on Stern’s side, but in what, and can he be trusted?

It isn’t long before the robbery takes place and the outlaws get away with the gold and take Belinda with them. Stern races to save her but will he get to her before she’s ravished and killed? 

Billy Hall was the name Billy Hallsted used for his Black Horse Westerns. He had 39 published before he passed in May 2015. I read quite a few of his books and have always enjoyed them. Bull’s Eye Stage Coach proved to be another entertaining read.

Hallsted paced the story beautifully, moving from one tense scene to another making for some suspenseful reading. There’s plenty of gunplay in this tale too. The stranger who says he’s there to help Stern allowed the author to add some mysterious intrigue into the plot. All this combines to make this a difficult book to put down before I discovered how it all played out.

Luckily for me, I have a few more BHWs by Billy Hall in my collection that I’ve yet to read. On the strength of this one, I’m sure it won’t be too long before I pick up another.

American readers can get a copy here.

British readers can get a copy here.

BAD NIGHT AT THE CRAZY BULL

 

BAD NIGHT AT THE CRAZY BULL
By John Dyson
Hale, February 2015

After a night of gambling and hooch-spiked drinking at the Crazy Bull Hotel, young rancher Glen Stone wakes up to find himself in bed with Katrina, one of the hotel’s gaudy-girls, who informs him that he has won her as his lawful wedded wife (courtesy of a local judge) on the previous evening.

With Katrina protesting volubly that she has no desire to perform the chores expected of a rancher’s wife, the pair set off for Glen’s spread along the banks of the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming. There he has to face the bitter reproaches of his long-time intended, young Susan Cousins, and the wrath of her rancher father, Abe.

Katrina’s presence at the ranch attracts the attentions of some of her old admirers, among them some roaming Comancheros, and Zane Hollister, an ageing road agent who hope to set up as a roadhouse owner on his ill-gotten loot. He, in turn, is being pursued by tough old Sheriff Matt Alison, a lawman who tends to shoot and then wish he’d asked some questions first.

Will the arrival of horse preacher Repentance Rathbone, man of God but also very much a man of the world, vanquish the mayhem and restore harmony to the lives of the ranchers in Wyoming?

This book starts in a humorous tone giving the impression that it could be a comedy western, but as the story progresses the amusing conversations and scenes fade into the background – they don’t disappear completely – and the book becomes a more action-packed read. 

There’s a fine mix of characters, from the good although flawed Stone, the one you’ll feel sorry for (Susan), those you’ll love to hate (Katrina), the out and out bad guys with Hollister being the man on the top of the heap here, the man of intrigue (Rathbone), and others such as the old lawman Alison and a slimy lawyer, Levick. All their lives will combine as the story races towards its final showdown.

I’d class this book as a traditional western that is predictable in how it plays out, although Dyson does have a small twist that emerges near the end. Dyson being an English author writing westerns for an English publisher does include a number of British terms which will jar a bit with those of us who are used to reading American authors. I was also surprised at how much erotic (not explicit) imagery Dyson wrote into this story as that is usually something I don’t expect to find in Black Horse Westerns. 

John Dyson wrote around fifty westerns for Hale, which includes the Black Pete Bowen series, mainly under his own name but also used the pseudonym of Henry Remington. I’ve read a handful of his books and find him a bit hit or miss. Bad Night at The Crazy Bull fell into the category of a fun entertaining read but it didn’t make me want to rush out and find another of his books anytime soon.

HELL BOUND FOR SPINDRIFF

HELL BOUND FOR SPINDRIFF

By Dale Graham

The Crowood Press, 2017

When outlaw Denny Blake betrayed the Arizona Raiders during a bank robbery in the town of Spindriff, he little realized the storm he would unleash. Sentenced to twenty years in Arizona’s notorious Yuma prison, gang leader Smokin’ Joe McCabe has vowed to kill Blake and burn the town to the ground, renaming it Hellfire.

Escaping after only two years, McCabe amasses a new gang and heads for Spindriff. On the trail he encounters another prodigal who has run foul of the town’s spineless officials. Red Spot Rick Norton has his own reasons for seeking vengeance and refuses to join up with McCabe. A clash between right and wrong is inevitable. But who will emerge victorious? Harsh accusations and hot lead will fly thick and fast before the final showdown.

It's been a while since I read a book by Dale Graham, who also wrote Black Horse Westerns as Ethan Flagg, so I thought it was time to give him another try. 

Hell Bound for Spindriff is a fast-moving story that combines a couple of different plots that soon had me wondering how everything would be resolved. I’m going to be a bit vague with the reasons for Norton’s return to Spindriff, but will reveal that one of them is a woman, a young lady he intended to marry but finds she is now engaged to someone else and she has nothing but hate for him. 

Dale Graham creates an impending sense of doom over the town and its citizens. These townsfolk won’t be any match for McCabe and his gang. Will Norton help them? Why should he though as nearly everyone wants him out of town. It seems Norton’s only friend is the retired lawman, Cody Saggart and he’s beginning to doubt Norton. 

The author includes plenty of action and a couple of twists before the story comes to a satisfying conclusion. 

American readers can get a copy here

British readers can get a copy here

TEACHER WITH A TIN STAR

TEACHER WITH A TIN STAR

By Harriet Cade

Hale, March 2015

Mark Brown is hoping to become a minister of the church, but for now he is teaching the elementary school in the little town of Barker’s Crossing in Wyoming.

When a local landowner begins to terrorize the homesteaders around Barker’s Crossing, Brown realizes that it is time to act. He has not always been a teacher; in fact, he was a lawman for over ten years.

Now, before he can fulfil his ambition of becoming a minister, he must take up his gun one last time and fight to defend the helpless.

This is the first book I’ve read written under the penname of Harriet Cade, but it’s not the first I’ve read by the author behind that nom de plume, whose real name is Simon Webb. Webb wrote for the Black Horse line of westerns under 10 pseudonyms plus his own name, which I’ll list at the end of this review.

Simon Webb’s plots move forward at a fast clip and usually contain a twist or two. This book is no exception and in this one it’s how some of the main characters die that took me by surprise. Overall, though, the storyline is very straightforward and it’s easy to predict how everything will turn out – except for one or two of the deaths as I’ve already mentioned. 

Brown’s mask of being a teacher and wannabe minister is easily seen through by his elderly landlady, and it’s through her urging that he straps on his gun again. Brown finds that the majority of the men in Barker’s Crossing won’t stand by him as he faces the rancher and his hired guns. Brown is only backed by a young kid and an old-timer, which is typical of many westerns. Everything comes to a neat ending, if predictable, and even offers a nick-of-time rescue.

Webb does have a writing style of his own, which can take a little getting used to. This is mainly in the speech. Here’s an example: “I see a mort of dust being kicked up over yonder. Less’n I’m greatly mistook.” 

Simon Webb’s Black Horse Westerns aren’t those I pick out that often to read from the many I’ve got. But if I want a quick easy to read traditional western then he is someone I’ll consider.

Here's the list of pseudonyms Simon Webb wrote Black Horse Westerns as:

Clyde Baker

Harriet Cade

Bill Cartwright

Jay Clanton

Ethan Harker

Jethro Kyle

Brent Larssen

Ed Roberts

Fenton Sadler

Jack Tregarth

He also wrote BHW’s under his own name.

HUNTER'S MOON

HUNTER’S MOON

By Ty Walker

Cover art by Prieto Muriana

The Crowood Press, November 2017

Hunter Lane Chandler returns to Rattlesnake Valley with fresh game to sell to the townsfolk only to discover the town is seemingly empty. In the sheriff’s office, he finds the veteran lawman has been killed. Then in the livery stable he finds the slaughtered body of the blacksmith.

Soon he finds that a deadly bunch of outlaws known as Corbin’s Raiders have not only killed several of the townsfolk, but have also taken schoolteacher Molly Drew with them.

Chandler sets out to rescue Molly. But he soon finds out that hunting men is far more dangerous than hunting animals.

Ty Walker is one of a number of pseudonyms used by author Michael D. George, his most famous perhaps being Rory Black, the name he uses for his Iron Eyes series. Under his own name and his aliases, he wrote over 100 Black Horse Westerns, most of which are series books. George also wrote a fistful of stand-alone titles and Hunter’s Moon is one of those.

George writes in a stylistic and visual way that brings to mind the gritty, harsh violent spaghetti westerns. Men, and women, kill without giving it a second thought. His stories often delve into the darker side of human nature and this one certainly does that. To say more about this aspect of the tale would be a major spoiler. All I will say is that it is fairly shocking.

Chandler makes for an interesting hero. He’s repulsed by what has happened to many of the townsfolk of Rattlesnake Valley and when he finds out Molly Drew has been taken – the girl he secretly loves – he swears to get her back and kill those responsible, even though he has never taken the life of a human being. Will he be able to squeeze the trigger when the time comes?

The author brings the book to a dramatic finale that takes place in the eerie red light of a blood moon giving the ending an almost surreal feel.

Specific Black Horse Westerns can be hard to track down these days, as they were produced for the library market rather than book stores, but they do turn up second-hand regularly. If you’d like to read this one you’ll find it easier to get a copy if you don’t mind reading ebooks, as The Crowood Press made most of those they published available in electronic as well as paper form.  

British readers can get a copy here

THE MAN WHO SHOT JESSE SAWYER

By Scott Connor

A Black Horse Western from The Crowood Press, April 2018

When Sheriff Cornelius Doyle is killed, his estranged son Kane sets out to find the culprit, hoping to reconcile with a family that doesn’t want to know him – but he soon discovers that his father’s apparently honourable life was a lie.

The sheriff had become a legend when he killed the notorious outlaw Jesse Sawyer, but Kane discovers that the facts are at odds with the legend as Jesse is still alive. With the sheriff’s murder apparently being connected to the events of ten years ago, Kane hopes that Jesse can lead him to the killer. Instead, he uncovers a dark secret that will not only put his life in peril, but could make it impossible for his family to ever accept him.

Right from the opening scenes, the author had me hooked into his fast-moving story that is filled with intrigue. Twists and turns come at breakneck speed as Kane’s hunt for his father’s killer brings more mysteries out into the open. How Kane hopes to win his family over into accepting him seems impossible as their hatred for him grows.

Kane’s brother is also a lawman, and he warns Kane off, doesn’t want him looking for their father’s murderer, but that doesn’t stop Kane. This brings the brothers into conflict with each other, as much as Kane tries to avoid this. Kane teams up with a couple of ranch hands who bring their own troubles to the plot, as they owe a large amount of money to someone, and that man wants it back or he’ll kill them. Jesse Sawyer wants to kill Kane too, so the story soon has multiple sides helping, hindering, and fighting each other. There is plenty of action, from well described fist fights to lighting fast gunplay.

I’ve read a number of Scott Connor’s westerns and I’ve always found them enjoyable. His twisting plots always keep me guessing, and like many of his other books, I couldn’t work out what was going on and was often surprised when truths were revealed. Everything built up to a great climax that had some shocks waiting in store for those who had survived to the end. 

VALLEY OF THUNDER

By Sam Clancy

The Crowood Press, February 2017

Josh Ford was the best man the Marshal Service had, so when the Governor of Montana needed someone to look into the disappearance of wagon trains in the Bitterroots, Ford was the man they chose. What he found was a brutal autocrat who ruled with such terror, the like of which had never been seen by Ford. 

From Helena, Montana, to the Bitterroot Mountains, then on to Seattle, Ford fights for his life and the lives of others against a maniac and his small army. When a final twist puts it all in jeopardy, Ford realizes that the badge he wears may be the difference between law and justice.

This is the first of four books about United States Marshal Josh Ford, a very capable lawman who prefers to work alone and doesn’t always follow the rules. This often infuriates his father, Bass Reeves, and the Marshal Service. It soon becomes obvious that Ford and Reeves don’t get along with each other very well at all. 

The book is a fast paced read, filled with well-crafted characters and exciting action scenes. The author really stacks the odds against Ford, be they men or animal. It doesn’t take Ford long to discover what has been happening to the wagon trains, trouble is it leads to his capture and a desperate escape bid. Ford also rides with an unusual posse to take out the small army he faces.

But the story doesn’t end there. The men Ford really wants are on the run. Tracking them down leads to a vicious final shootout that should satisfy all western fans.

Sam Clancy is a pseudonym used by Australian author Brent Towns. Brent is well known for his action-packed page turner reads. Brent’s descriptive passages are very visual giving his tales a cinematic feel and his plots grab your attention from the opening words and don’t loosen their grip until the end. If you’ve never tried any of Brent Towns’ books, then do yourself a favour and do so at your earliest opportunity. 

THE TOMB OF IRON EYES

IRON EYES

Number 22 of 31

By Rory Black

Hale, 2015

Infamous bounty hunter Iron Eyes has the scent of his prey in his flared nostrils and is determined to add yet another notch to the gun grip of his famed Navy Colt.

Iron Eyes never quits even when the odds are stacked against him.

Yet the closer he gets to where he knows the outlaw is holed up, the more guns are turned upon him. Refusing to submit to the lethal lead of the men paid to stop his progress, Iron Eyes forges on toward Cheyenne Falls and the fate he knows awaits him.

This is a fairly straight-forward track them down and kill them story. Having some gunmen waiting in Cheyenne Falls to take out Iron Eyes ensures there’s plenty of opportunity for some lively gunplay. There is also a twist in that someone has hired a professional gunfighter, Drako, to come to town and kill the bounty hunter and the author keeps the reason for this a secret from Iron Eyes and the reader until he is good and ready to reveal it.

Rory Black writes in a visual way, his words playing out like images on the silver screen, more in a spaghetti western style than those of John Ford. Black’s stories are as brutal as those European westerns, bleak, savage and full of stylish scenes. Iron Eyes isn’t a particularly likeable character, but he does command attention and you will want to know what happens to him next. Followers of this series will also be aware of Squirrel Sally, the girl who follows Iron Eyes and calls him her betrothed, even though Iron Eyes does his best to get rid of her. Sally has a part to play in this tale too and provides the occasional lighter moment to the story. 

Like the other books in the series, The Tomb of Iron Eyes is a quick and entertaining read and left me wanting to read more.

This beautifully produced hardback book might be hard to find these days as they were aimed at libraries and rarely made it onto the shelves of bookstores. They do turn up second-hand though. Piccadilly Publishing are putting this series out as ebooks, and The Tomb of Iron Eyes is number 21 in their run, for reasons unknown they’ve skipped a book. 

Rory Black is a pseudonym used by Michael D. George. 

The cover art doesn’t illustrate anything that happens in the story. Hale tended to use generic art for the majority of their westerns, something I always thought was a shame as they had hundreds of paintings to choose from.

THE FEUD AT BROKEN MAN

By Frank Callan

The Crowood Press, January 2018

Lord Harry Lacey, the youngest son of an English aristocrat, has run away from debts at home to start a new life in America, using his skills with horses and guns to make a living as he journeys west to Colorado. Then he decides to give up his guns and start a new life as a public speaker in the new settlements where he believes people will be keen to experience culture.

However, arriving in Broken Man en route for Denver, Lord Harry witnesses a young girl being badly wounded in crossfire and quickly learns that the town is being torn apart by a feud. Seeing an opportunity to do something useful, he tries to influence local leaders to resolve the situation – and finds that some disputes can only be settled with a gun.

Frank Callan’s first Black Horse Western is filled with interesting people that play out the events in this slow burning tale. There’s not a lot of gunplay, something that should be expected as the main character, Lord Harry Lacey, doesn’t carry a gun. Violence is simmering under the surface though as the plot develops and backstories are revealed.

There’s a lot of bickering and internal politics, especially from the group of people who’ve brought Lacey to town to speak to them. Mixed into this is the main theme of revenge that the title of the book refers too. It isn’t long before someone else has their own desire for vengeance lit. Jealousy also fuels others, pushing them towards violence. Murder soon has the townsfolk reacting in anger. All these plot threads soon entwine as the author moves the story forward to it’s inevitable conclusion which see an unarmed Lacey trying to keep the townsfolk safe from a small army intent on killing. The final gunfight didn’t play out as I expected, although I did guess how it might end for one of the major players. 

The author certainly has his own style, and the story had a very English feel at times, mainly due to words and phrases used. I found the book to be an easy, quick read that held my attention but I would have liked a bit more action to satisfy my wants from western fiction. 

GOODBYE BLACK HORSE WESTERNS

The close of another month, November 2020, and the close of a long-running line of westerns too. Robert Hale Ltd started publishing westerns in the U.K. in 1936. Since the mid ‘80’s they put them out under the Black Horse Western banner. Their books were produced for the library market but there were also a few for sale elsewhere. In 2015 Robert Hale and their imprint of Black Horse Westerns became part of The Crowood Press who continued to produce these hardback books. Unfortunately, they are no-longer viable and Crowood have made the decision to stop publishing them. Their back catalogue will still be available to purchase whilst stocks last.

As well as publishing work from new authors, Hale also put out work from established authors from various parts of the world. These were both reprints of old classic tales and brand-new stories. At their height, Hale were putting out ten new western books a month, more than any of the American publishers. Most were stand-alone novels, but series books appeared too. Crowood introduced ebook versions for a while and experimented with softback copies as well.

For many years Hale sent me all their Black Horse Westerns, often before they would appear in the libraries, so I could review some of them on Western Fiction Review. When Crowood took on the line they continued to supply me with review copies. I discovered many new authors to me, lots of whom became favourite writers with some becoming good friends. I can’t begin to think how many hundreds of these beautifully produced books I have in my collection. 

As these books become part of publishing history, gone but never forgotten, I can’t help but feel a little sad that there won’t be any new ones to read and that they will slowly disappear from library shelves. 

ANIMAL INSTINCT

By Lee Clinton

The Crowood Press, November 2020

It was the perfect hold-up, conducted with military precision by four men who calmly walked out of the Ozark Branch of the First National Bank with close to $50,000. Then it all went wrong. One unfortunate shot hits their leader Frank Jerome as he rides away. What to do? Take the risk and try to ride out the 250 miles back to the mighty Mississippi? Or let the other three escape without being slowed by a wounded man? Frank didn't hesitate. In a selfless act he stayed to face a prison sentence and an uncertain future. Now, years later on release, his companions have all disappeared along with the money, and it is going to take more than luck to untangle the lies, deceit and secrets that have been left behind. It is going to take animal instinct.

The book begins with the bank raid that results in Frank going to prison. Then moves forward to his release and the challenge that faces Frank in finding his partners in crime. Here we also get some backstory that reveals how the robbery came about and that there are more people involved than just the four who held-up the bank.

As it becomes apparent to Frank that his fellow bank robbers have been killed, Frank sets out to find out by who and what became of the money. He is determined to get his share no matter what. As other people become involved in Frank’s quest so the plot takes on more twists. 

This story held my attention from the opening scenes to its exciting ending. The action is at times brutal, especially when Frank has to fight for his life on a train. The final showdown is frantic, desperate and nail-biting. The final lines have a great touch of humour to them and closed the book superbly.

Lee Clinton is a pseudonym used by Australian author Leigh Alver and Animal Instinct is his 10th Black Horse Western. I’ve enjoyed every one of his books and would recommend any or all of them to western fans. 

DIVINE WIND

By Lee Clinton

The Crowood Press, October 2020

Robert Brodie was always a practical man. It helped him survive the war as a Texan Confederate - as a miner in Death Valley - and now as a muleskinner hauling borax across one of the most inhospitable places on the earth's surface. So, when an old Indian bestows the Divine Wind upon him from Tanka the Great Spirit, it is accepted with both bewilderment and scepticism. Especially, as Brodie is trapped under a four-ton borax wagon at the time and expecting to die of thirst...

The opening scenes of this book provide some excellent, tense reading that results in Brodie becoming trapped beneath the borax wagon. The arrival of the old Indian adds an extra element to the story. Is he real or just a figment of Brodie’s mind? From then on, the tale edges into the supernatural as strange events shape Brodie’s future, events that have no rational explanation. It’s these storylines that shape the rest of the tale as Brodie struggles to comprehend these twists of fate.

Amid all the strangeness there is plenty of action as Brodie finds himself helping a young lady deal out God’s justice as they track four killers. There are some particularly gruesome deaths, one killing done by the girl that will make all male readers shudder. The bond between Brodie and the girl becomes stronger and they begin to fall in love, but can this really work as Brodie is quite a lot older than Chastity? 

I’ve got to mention the two mules, Sergeant Smith and Corporal Jones, whose antics at times had me laughing. Brodie’s relationship with these two animals being one of the many highlights of this book. 

I’ve read and enjoyed all of Lee Clinton’s previous Black Horse Westerns. One of the things that I really like about his books is that they all have very different storylines and this one certainly keeps that trend going. The supernatural elements, real or not, taking this tale down a totally different trail to any of his others. Not being able to predict where the next Clinton plot will take me is one of the reasons that I always look forward to his next release. 

Lee Clinton is a pseudonym used by Australian author Leigh Alver.

Divine Wind is released on October 23rd but is available for pre-order now.

The Way of the Gun

By Ralph Hayes

The Crowood Press, March 2018

Fired from the Provost ranch and humiliated in front of the whole bunkhouse, Duke Latham swears vengeance on the owner Maynard Provost. Pursuing a life of crime and violence at the head of a small gang of outlaws, six months later Latham kidnaps Provost’s beloved daughter Dulcie.

Provost’s ranch hands scour the country searching for the girl, but in vain. Then fate throws them, and Provost himself, into the path of notorious bounty hunter Wesley Sumner, known as ‘Certainty’ because of his countrywide reputation for never failing to find and kill his man. Sumner is persuaded by the desperate father to take up the search for Duke Latham and his kidnapped prisoner.

This is the second of three books to feature bounty hunter Certainty Sumner from author Ralph Hayes who wrote the popular Buffalo Hunter series that first appeared in 1971. Hayes would later add four more books to that series published under the Black Horse Western banner, the last of which appeared in 2016. The following year the first of the Certainty Sumner books was published.

Unfortunately for me I had already read the third book in this series so knew how part of this tale would end as the books do have some continuity to them. Having said that, it was great to be able to find out what had happened that lead to the relationships that are further developed in that third book. Each book can easily be read as a standalone novel as the author includes just enough background information to explain what has happened before, but readers yet to discover these stories may prefer to read them in order.

Certainty Sumner is an excellent lead character, although in this book he doesn’t appear for quite a while. He’s more than capable of taking on odds that should see him on the losing end but his ability with a gun seems unbeatable. In this story he meets someone who may just get through his tough exterior. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that this person is a young woman, the very one he has been hired to rescue.

Duke Latham is another well-drawn character, who’s driven by hate. An all consuming desire to hurt Maynard Provost in the worst way possible, something that all his gang members don’t quite agree with and this provides some conflict of interests within the outlaw gang that you can never be sure of how it will turn out.

Dulcie’s infatuation with her rescuer adds another element to the tale and you have to wonder if Sumner will be able to resist her charms. 

Mix all this together and you have another great read from Ralph Hayes that fans of his work, or western readers in general, will not want to miss. 

Battle Mountain

By Matt Cole

The Crowood Press, March 2018

Clay Parker and his cohorts are what is left of the once-infamous Tulley gang. They have waited five years to get the money they stole from a bank, which they believe has been hidden by one of their own – and he has just been released from prison. Now Hugh Donahoe is meeting up with his daughter Mena in the town of Battle Mountain. When his old gang mates confront him, he is killed. The money is not found, however, and the gang suspects that Mena has hidden it in a trunk, which is being carried across the Nevada plains and on its way to Oregon. Parker devises a plan to attack the mule train to get to the stolen money. But Parker is unprepared for the grit of Glen Maddox and his freighters. 

Filled with colourful and strong characters of both sexes, this tale gallops along. The author regularly switches between the different groups of people before bringing most of them together for a tense final fight that involves some blood and whiskey thirsty Paiute warriors too.

Maddox and his crew, along with Mena Donahoe and some of her fellow travellers have no idea there might be money hidden amongst the freight. The author doesn’t reveal its whereabouts until near the end, but for the reader it doesn’t take much working out as to where it is hidden. This doesn’t lessen the enjoyment of this fast-paced tale and I’m now looking forward to picking up another of Matt Cole’s books soon.

As he does in some of his other books, Matt Cole begins this one with a poem. This time he’s chosen Dreams by Helen Hunt Jackson from 1886. You can easily find this and in-depth analysis of it on the internet. Beginning his westerns this way makes them somewhat unique in the Black Horse Western line as I can’t think of any others that begin in this way.

A Man Called Crow

By Chris Adam Smith

The Crowood Press

Paperback edition, November 2018

Hardback edition, January 2016

Old time lawman Charlie Crow finds peace and tranquillity in Wyoming, but before he can settle down with the woman he loves, he must face a distant and dangerous past. 

The long forgotten trail leads back to the lawless Texas borderlands and a date with destiny. Old ghosts, graves and range wars; greed and double cross mark the long trail back to his youth.

His quick gun is wanted one last time if the town of Carol Creek is to survive the threatened chaos. From behind a county badge, Crow tries desperately to ride out the storm and return to Cheyenne, and the woman he left behind. Young gunfighter Billy Joe Watts rides hard on the lawman’s trail, determined to kill the one man he fears.

It is a long, hard ride for a man named Crow. . . .

I’ve read quite a few Black Horse Westerns by Chris Adam Smith, under his own name or pseudonyms, and have yet to be disappointed by any of them, and this one is right up there with his very best.

Crow is an engaging hero and he’s supported by a variety of characters equally as well-drawn as he is, especially Billy Joe Watts. The author uses flashbacks to fill us in on Crow and Watts' background, they used to ride together and separated with much animosity.  The tale revolves around their inevitable meeting, especially as Watts has been hired to kill Crow. 

The threat from the arrival of Watts isn’t all Crow has to deal with.  There are soon others eager to blast Crow into eternity. Then there’s a growing attraction to a woman much younger than himself that Crow has to ignore – at least he tells himself he has to as he has a lady waiting for him back in Wyoming.

Chris Adam Smith tells the majority of the story from a first person point-of-view through Crow, although he occasionally switches to the third person when the plot needs carrying forward through others. There is also a nod to the horse owned and ridden by singer and actor Roy Rogers that put a smile on my face, as it should any fan of westerns.

Packed with action that is graphically described, this story races through a number of twists and turns before it reaches its bloody climax. But does it have a happy ending for our aging hero Charlie Crow? I guess you’ll just have to read it to find out and hopefully you’ll enjoy making that discovery as much as I did. 

Available in hardback, paperback and ebook.

Fortress Iron Eyes

IRON EYES

number 24 of 30 to date

By Rory Black

The Crowood Press

Hardback, January 2016

Paperback, November 2018

Cover art by Salvador Faba

Tracking outlaws Dobie Miller and Waldo Schmitt into a deadly desert, the notorious bounty hunter Iron Eyes is closing the distance between them with every beat of his determined heart.

Yet the magnificent palomino stallion beneath his ornate saddle is starting to suffer. For years the deadly Iron Eyes has never been concerned about his horses, but since acquiring the powerful stallion, his attitude has changed.

Iron Eyes knows that the horse has saved his life many times, due to its remarkable strength, but now it needs water badly. Every instinct tells the bounty hunter to stop his relentless hunt for the wanted outlaws, but then his steely eyes spot something out in the sickening heat-haze. It is a towering fortress. Iron Eyes presses on.

Once again Rory Black has his hero up against far superior odds, for the abandoned fortress that lures Iron Eyes is already inhabited, not only by the two outlaws he is pursuing, but also by a band of men ready to trade with the Indians who inhabit the desert. These vicious men aren’t the only problems facing the bounty hunter for the two wanted men have gunned down some of the Indians and they want revenge and are planning an assault on the fortress. 

The author creates an air of tension well, his prose often dark in tone as Iron Eyes rides into more danger than expected. There is plenty of violent action before all the well-drawn characters come together for the bloody conclusion which sees Iron Eyes having to act fast to escape with his life.

Fans of this series will know that Iron Eyes is the object of unwanted affection from Squirrel Sally who follows him everywhere in her stagecoach. This time she arrives at the fortress ahead of the bounty hunter and her presence adds further complications to the deadly situation Iron Eyes finds himself in. Squirrel Sally also provides some moments of welcome humour to the otherwise vicious storyline.

Rory Black is one of the pseudonyms used by Michael D. George, an author who never fails to entertain and Iron Eyes is probably his best-known character. If you’ve never tried any of his work, then this could be the perfect place to start.

Black Horse Westerns are usually only available as hardbacks, now The Crowood Press are putting some out as paperbacks of similar size. The paperback versions are virtually half the price of the hardbacks. A lot of Black Horse Westerns have also been released in ebook format.