TEXAS TRIGGERS

THE TRAILSMAN

Book 136 of 398 plus 7 Giant Editions

TEXAS TRIGGERS

By Jon Sharpe

Cover art by Hiram Richardson

Signet, April 1993

The four cowpunchers that Skye Fargo ran into on the Texas trail were well-hung in the worst way. Their bullet-ridden bodies swung in the wind at the end of ropes. That was the Trailsman’s first hint of what to expect when he hit Deadwood…a town where the sheriff laid down the law of the gun…where men massed for all-out war against a cattle king who ruled the range in a tyranny of terror…where his wickedly beautiful wife was a dangerous as she was desirable…and where Skye Fargo had to choose sides in a fight where the only thing he could trust was his own trigger finger….

The opening scene where Fargo discovers the four hanging men has the Trailsman asking questions, and before he has the answers, he finds himself in more situations that add to the intrigue of just what is going on. Then there’s the message Fargo has been asked to deliver to the cattle king, Owen Tate, and no-one else – a message that doesn’t seem to make any sense. Contacting the man becomes a problem of its own as he hasn’t been seen by anyone for a while. There is a surprise for the Trailsman when finds out he has met the cattle king’s wife, Faith, before. Faith promises Fargo that he’ll get his meeting with Tate as soon as possible, but the Trailsman begins to suspect she is stalling. Why would she be doing this adds to the puzzles Fargo has to solve.

As I’d expect from a Trailsman book, Texas Triggers is full of violent action, tough characters and deadly situations. There’s a couple of explicit sex scenes too. The plot moves forwards at terrific speed and is full of twists and turns, making this a hard to put down read. There was one incident that stretched my belief a little involving Fargo’s horse as I’m not sure it would have done what it did, but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this book.

I’m not sure who wrote this entertaining entry into the long-running series but would suggest it is either Jon Messmann or J.B. Keller.  

If you’re looking to read this book, then please be aware that a later entry into The Trailsman series, book 328, has the same title. They are both completely different stories.

GOLDEN BULLETS

THE TRAILSMAN

Book 142 of 398 + seven giant editions

By Jon Sharpe

Signet, October 1993

Skye Fargo knocked on the door of the Black Hills Mining Company looking for the missing father of a beautiful girl he couldn’t say no to. The door was opened by Linda Ayler, the luscious lady who ran the operation – and Skye was in the kind of trouble he couldn’t get out of even if wanted to. He had two women to satisfy in very different ways, a string of murders that kept getting longer, a labyrinth of lies with death waiting for him at every twist of the truth, and a mine shaft that seemed to go down to hell itself. It would take Skye a lot of digging to uncover the truth about who killed who and why – and a lot of shooting to keep him from being buried with it….

This book is action all the way, from the opening scene of Fargo walking into his hotel room to find five men and a bound woman occupying it, to the final exchange of lead and capture of a murderer. In between there’s loads more deadly situations and lots of verbal fencing that could bring about Fargo’s death if he says or does the wrong thing. 

Twist after twist, suspicion and bluff all ensured that I kept reading as ideas came into my head about just what was going on, and who was behind it, only for these thoughts to be swiftly cast aside as the author skilfully wove misleading information and hints of the truth into the plot.

Character studies are superbly done, especially those of the two main female leads, Bess Darby and Linda Ayler, who soon have Fargo’s head in a spin. Two prospective buyers of the Ayler mine proved to be very amusing as they battled to better each other with their offers. These people, and others, all making it extremely difficult for Fargo to discover the truth about Bess’s father’s disappearance and who was responsible for this and the murders. 

With the Trailsman series being classed as adult reads the book does contain some graphic sex. I was surprised to find that none of this took place until I was at least half-way through the story, the author using the first half to weave his enthralling plot and hook his readers into his fast-flowing tale.

I’m not sure who wrote this entry into the Trailsman series, but I think it was more than likely Jon Messmann, and he once again has come up with an entertaining read that explains why I keep coming back to the series, time and time again.

I also believe the cover art was done by Hiram Richardson.