THE FLYING WAGON

FERGAL O’BRIEN 4

By I.J. Parnham

Avalon Books, 2007

The showman Fergal O’Brien and his assistant Randolph McDougal come to the aid of a damsel in distress who has been attacked by the bandit Van Romalli. She pays their kindness by riding off with their display of authentic historical memorabilia.

Now Fergal must find a new way to earn a living. An opportunity arrives when Jim Broughton sells him an attraction called the Treasure of Saint Woody. But all is not as it seems. Jim is really a U.S. Marshal and the only patron he wants Fergal to attract is Van Romalli. Blissfully unaware he is being used a bait, Fergal is starting to rebuild his fortune when Ezekiel T. Montgomery rides into town to promote the wondrous maiden voyage of his flying wagon – a Conestoga dirigible. 

Faced with a seemingly unbeatable competitor, Fergal tries to solve all his problems with a reckless wager, which leaves him facing the greatest challenge ever. He has twenty-four hours to learn how to fly or he’ll lose everything.

I’ve enjoyed many westerns written by I.J. Parnham, especially the Fergal O’Brien series and I couldn’t believe I’ve let ten years slip by since I read the third book in the series, Miss Dempsey’s School for Gunslingers. 

The majority of the main characters are showmen or conmen – sometimes they’re a mixture of both, as is our hero Fergal O’Brien. Once again Fergal and his sidekick, Randolph McDougal, find themselves in a self-made situation that had me wondering how they could possibly come out on top? 

I.J. Parnham is a master at blending western action with a humorous plot and I found myself grinning and laughing out loud many times as I read this book. As twist after twist further complicated the problems Fergal and Randolph faced, I found myself unable to put the book down before I found out how it all ended.

The horse Fergal and Randolph find themselves lumbered with is just one of the very memorable elements of this book. The slowest pursuit of an outlaw ever is another. 

Catching Van Romalli became a small problem compared to the challenge Fergal takes up. A race in a straight line across a lake without touching the water. Fergal has just a day to work out how to make his wagon take-off and fly to beat Montgomery’s flying wagon. The scenes of Fergal’s wagon racing down a slope as it attempts to make enough speed to launch itself into the air with attached wings flapping like mad were so visually written that it felt like I was there, laughing along with the crowd gathered lakeside to watch this historical event.

Did Fergal’s wagon get into the air? Did Montgomery’s for that matter? Who won the race? That is something I can’t reveal here as that really would spoil the ending for anyone planning to read the book. If you want to know, I guess you’ll just have to grab yourself a copy and I’ll sure you’ll have fun finding out the answer.

If you struggle to find these hardback books, and don’t mind reading ebooks, then you’ll be pleased to know that I.J. Parnham has recently made all the Fergal O’Brien novels available in this form.

Miss Dempsey's School for Gunslingers

FERGAL O’BRIEN #3

By I.J. Parnham

Avalon, 2004

When tonic sellers Fergal O’Brien and Randolph McDougal decided to settle in Destiny, they reckoned the new railroad would make Destiny a boomtown, but it only brought an onslaught of surly gunslingers. While Fergal sells his tonic – a universal remedy to cure all ills – Randolph becomes sheriff of the dusty town. Throwing the ruffians in a half-built jail is his solution for dealing with a corrupt mayoral election and ten thousand dollars disappearing from the town coffers.

Her faith in the decency of the town wavering, the schoolteacher, Miss Dempsey, takes it upon herself to clean up Destiny by educating the gunslingers so that they’ll learn the error of their ways! After all, she points out to one of her students, knowing how to read is important if one’s own name should wind up on a wanted poster.

As Randolph wants to win Miss Dempsey’s heart, he grudgingly supports her cause. But Kent Sullivan, his rival for her affections and a showman of homemade historical memorabilia, is always one step ahead of him in providing her school with just the right support. So Randolph turns to his old friend Fergal for help. Can Fergal devise another one of his legendary schemes to resolve all of Randolph’s problems, or will he just get them both killed? Will decency be restored to the town of Destiny through Miss Dempsey’s school, or will the roughest gunslinger of all be named mayor?

Like the previous two books in this excellent series this story is extremely fast moving and includes many how-are-they-going-to-get-out-of-that situations. There are plenty of laughs to be had too, such as the art lesson and the young boy pointing out the faults in Sullivan’s exhibition. Other story threads that left me grinning were the attempts to rig the election and Fergal finding out his story as to the origin of his tonic has been ripped off and this other sellers’ tonic not only cures all ills, it can bring people back from the dead – and it’s proved to do so! 

Ian Parnham has once again come up with a very entertaining read that left me eagerly looking forward to the next book in the series.

The Fergal O’Brien stories are now being made available as ebooks through Amazon.

The Finest Frontier Town in the West

By I.J. Parnham

Avalon, 2003

Tender Valley is a clean, friendly and law-abiding frontier town. In fact, it is such a fine town that an enterprising businessman might just designate it as the official Finest Frontier Town in the West, an award with a thousand-dollar prize.

New Utopia isn’t as fine as Tender Valley, but the townsfolk there are desperate to win the award, and they’re prepared to go to any lengths to succeed. So they hire gunslingers to shoot up Tender Valley and destroy that town’s reputation forever.

In peaceful Tender Valley, the townsfolk are ill-equipped to withstand the gunslingers’ onslaught. They need a hero to ride into town, strap on a gun and stand tall before their tormentors.

But the next man to ride into town is Fergal O’Brien, purveyor of a singularly unsuccessful “universal remedy.” He’s no hero. But for the right price – he does have a plan.

From first wanting to win then wanting to loose as secret agendas are exposed, that might be truths or bluffs, this fast moving tale is filled with twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing to the outcome right to the very end.

Along the way the reader will meet some very memorable characters, not least Fergal O’Brien and his ‘bodyguard’ Randolph McDougal, and as the story develops could Randolph be falling in love? The woman in question being Miss Dempsey, one of the judges for the competition.

Ian Parnham is a very readable writer who mixes action and humour superbly – yes there are a lot of laughs to be found in the Fergal O’Brien series in both dialogue and some of the situations the two main characters find themselves in: O’Brien’s preference being to fast talk their way out of danger, which often results in failure and McDougal then having to step in to do what he does best.

And does O’Brien’s plot help Tender Valley win the award of the Finest Frontier Town in the West? Sorry, I can’t reveal that here, but I will urge you to search out a copy of this book for yourselves, and, as I was, I’m sure you’ll be thoroughly entertained whilst finding out the answer.

The Finest Frontier Town in the West is the second book in the Fergal O’Brien series and I’m very much looking forward to reading the third one very soon.

The Legend of Shamus McGinty's Gold

By I.J. Parnham

Avalon, 2002

There’s enough gold to make you think you can live forever, but Shamus McGinty has hidden it where no one can ever find it. The only way to find the gold is to stop looking, but once you find it, you won’t even realize it. So goes the legend of Shamus McGinty’s gold.

After forty years, Morgan Armstrong thinks he’s close to solving the legend, but he’s at death’s door. He offers a share of the gold to the ruthless outlaw Quinn Rogers in return for finding a cure to save his life. Quinn looks no farther than Fergal O’Brien, purveyor of a “universal remedy” he claims will cure anything and everything. Too bad for Morgan that it hasn’t cured anyone yet, and too bad for Fergal when Quinn finds that out. His ultimatum to Fergal is simple: cure Morgan or die.

To avoid the wrong end of Quinn’s gun, Fergal and his trusty bodyguard, Randolph, must find a way to help Morgan. Their treatment just might be the key to solving the legend of Shamus McGinty’s gold.

Ian Parnham presents the reader with a superb blend of exciting western action and well-timed humour – this latter appearing both in conversation and situations. Fergal O’Brien and his bodyguard Randolph McDougal are a perfect pairing even though McDougal is looking forward to the time he can ride away from his duties as bodyguard and leave Fergal to face the outcomes of his cons himself. The other characters are equally well crafted, Armstrong, Rogers, and a whole host of others O’Brien meets on the trail.

The storyline seems simple enough at the beginning but once the main characters come together in the quest to find McGinty’s gold in soon becomes obvious there’s more going on than first assumed. Ian Parnham soon has the reader hooked with a clever tangle of mystery and hints that all characters aren’t quite who they say they are. Fergal maybe a con artist but is he the only one?

Ian Parnham writes well and provides the reader with a fast moving tale that keeps offering surprises and unexpected twists ensuring the reader will never be sure just how everything will turn out in the end. When the final page is reached I believe any reader will have been thoroughly entertained, but be warned, the climax will leave you wanting to read the next in the series: The Finest Frontier Town in the West.