TRAIL OF THE DAMNED

TRAIL OF THE DAMNED

By Gil Martin

Cover art by W. Francis Phillips

New English Library, May 1975

Originally published by Robert Hale, 1966

One man dead at Jackie’s feet. Another, bleeding and dusty, lies gasping out his last words. And for Jackie Burrows killing becomes easy.

On the run, from the law and from himself, he changes his name and his women but he cannot change his life and the smoke from his gun hangs heavy on him – thick like blood.

From the moment that first bullet tore into a man there was no turning back – only the beginning of a trail of death for J.B. The Trail of the Damned.

The original hardback published by Hale was put out under the authors name, Martin Overy, as was NEL’s first paperback version in 1968. In America, Berkley put the book out in paperback form in 1967 under the pseudonym of Gil Martin. This was the name used on subsequent NEL publications too. 

Like the other books I’ve read by this author, the story is told in a very hard-boiled style and has a number of dark themes running throughout. Written in the first person we share Jack Burrows bitter observations on life and death, share his emotional turmoil when dealing with women and his desperation to stay away from the law who are hunting him for killing one of their own. 

From the excellent opening paragraphs that immediately pulled me into the story, I found this book difficult to put down. With each person Jack meets tension mounts as he fears he will be recognized, even though he has changed his name to Jess Burgess. Taking a job as ranch foreman for a man he knew back in the Civil War could be the perfect hiding place, until his boss, Frank, takes a new, young, wife. Jack is immediately attracted to her, and it seems the feelings are mutual. This is where the feel of the book becomes more like a crime noir novel, although it never loses its identity as a western, and I began to wonder if this young lady would prove to be a femme fatale. 

Jack is not an easy man to like but this is exactly why he’s such a compelling character. At times he’s harsh, cruel even, to those he finds himself working with and loving. He’s never hit a woman, but tells one there could always be a first time. He’s hardly ever at peace, scared someone will know or discover who he really is. Does Frank’s wife know the truth and if so, why is she keeping it to herself?

In Trail of the Damned, the author has written a gripping, taut tale in which the mental strains Jack struggles to deal with feel very real. Can a man who admits to being a killer ever find happiness or will he get his comeuppance? I can’t reveal that here, but if you do decide to read this book, then I’m sure you’ll enjoy finding out.  

Robert Hale, 1966

New English Library 1968

BAD TIMES COMING

BAD TIMES COMING

By Gil Martin

Cover art by W. Francis Phillips

New English Library, January 1976

Originally published by Berkley Publishing, 1973

Lonnie Brice was travelling alone . . . but not for long. Swept into a savage storm of violence brought on by the notorious Nolan gang, Lonnie is faced with a life-and-death decision. Does he become one of them, a murderer and a rapist, or does he resist?

With the help of Charity, a young girl held captive by the gang, Lonnie stages a dangerous struggle to free himself from the ruthless band of outlaws and from the punishment they have planned for him.

Arriving in a town just in time to be mistaken for a bank robber, Lonnie Brice finds himself in jail, which in turn leads to him killing a deputy to stop the lawman beating one of the outlaw gang to death. Brice escapes with the prisoner he saved and finds himself a reluctant member of the Nolan gang. Riding with them he witnesses the atrocities they commit with obvious relish. Brice is sickened by this, especially how they treat women, but is powerless to stop them. He wants to leave the gang but is told the only way this can happen is when he dies. When a young girl is taken captive, Brice does his best to defend her and this leads to a desperate attempt to get away from the outlaws. But the gang aren’t going to let Brice and the girl escape their clutches easily and set out to kill them both.

Bad Times Coming is a brutal story, told in a hard-boiled style that suits the harshness of the tale perfectly. The story is told in the first person through Lonnie Brice. He has a lot of dark thoughts and struggles to accept the outlaw life he’s fallen into by bad luck. Even though he hates the men he now rides with, he cannot see how he can leave them except in death. The author writes Brice’s feelings of despair extremely well and his descriptions of the violent scenes are hard-hitting and graphic. One of the highlights of the tale is a train robbery which doesn’t go as well as the Nolan gang hope, the aftermath of which is captured beautifully by cover artist W. Francis Phillips. The ending of the story wasn’t quite what I expected but perfectly suited the tone of the tale.

There has been a lot of speculation as to the identity of Gil Martin, and I think it’s safe to say it’s a pseudonym as copyright is assigned to Martin Overy. As far as I know only seven westerns came out under the name Gil Martin, and at least one of them was also published as by Martin Overy. I’ve also seen comments stating that Gil was the name of Overy’s wife but whether this is true I have no idea, nor whether the rumour is right that she wrote the books but they were submitted by her husband to publishers as it was easier for male authors to get westerns accepted for publication than women. Whoever Gil Marin really is matters not to me. All I know is that the two books I’ve read so far by this author are great reads if you like your books to have a dark tone to them, and I’m looking forward to reading another very soon.

Flashflood

By Gil Martin

New English Library, April 1976

Seth Vance was the sheriff who could not be shaken. Hard, tough, firm but fair. Until the time of the two Mexicans. They shot up the stage but for one the only reward was the gallows. Then in a night of searing violence Seth’s sister was brutally slain. And the sheriff’s composure cracked.

Hell-bent on vengeance, Seth sought out the killer, mercilessly handling anyone who crossed his path, treating deputies and the woman he loved with callous cruelty.

And amid the raging elements of a river in torrential flood, Seth came face to face with the truth – a truth that was almost too much to bear.

According to the copyright page of my NEL edition this book was originally published by Robert Hale in Great Britain in 1968 (long before they put their westerns out under the Black Horse Western banner). I’ve also seen Berkley copies dated 1968.

I’ve owned all seven of Gil Martin’s westerns for a long time but have only just got around to reading one. Martin’s style could easily be called hard-boiled, it’s certainly dark at times and the violent scenes are fairly graphic in description. Emotions are well written, especially the confused feelings of attraction between Vance and Dolores. Fear and hate come across strongly too. 

Although the twist ending was easy to work out way before the author reveals it (the who anyway, not the why), the story proved to be a great read and grabbed my imagination from the opening scene to the last savage gunfight. Flashflood is only 104 pages long making this a fast read and it proved to be a very entertaining book indeed. It certainly left me eager to read another of Gil Martin’s westerns very soon.

I must also mention the cover painting done by W. Francis Phillips who’s captured a scene from the story extremely well.