Lone Star and the Hangrope Heritage

By Wesley Ellis

number 23 of 153

Jove, July 1984

Who was the mysterious gunman who burst into Jessie’s room shivering with fear? He had come to talk, to tell everything he knew about the cartel, the mortal enemy of the Starbuck empire. But as he opened his mouth to speak, a well-aimed bullet struck him dead.

Now all Jessie and Ki had to go by was a faded old photograph the gunman claimed was the “key.” It wasn’t much of a clue, but it might unlock the secret plot in time to save Jessie’s life!

This story features Ki more than Jessie, she almost takes a backseat in this fast-paced action-packed episode in the Lone Star series. The Lone Star duo have to do some investigative work to discover who the photograph is of and why it is so important. What it leads to is a devious plot where life is cheap and no-one is safe. Double-cross, hooded riders and sensual women combine in a page-turning read.

The Lone Star books are classed as adult westerns and they do contain explicit sex scenes but don’t let that put you off reading them as these encounters are easy to skip and you’ll be left with a gripping tale of intrigue, gunfights and martial arts – Ki is a martial arts expert and prefers to use his talents in this kind of fighting rather than using traditional western weapons.

I believe the person behind the pseudonym of Wesley Ellis this time around is Jeffery M. Wallmann, who wrote book one in the series along with many others. I usually find this writers’ work to be very entertaining and this book is right up there with his best. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I’m sure I’ll be reading another Lone Star book very soon.

The Lone Star series may long be out of print but they are now available as ebooks.

Lone Star #19

LONE STAR ON THE OWLHOOT TRAIL

as by Wesley Ellis

Jove, February 1984

His real name was Von Eismann. Captured by Ki, sentenced to life for murder and sedition, now the dreaded German has escaped from the hellhole of Yuma Prison. When Eismann’s cronies kidnap Babette, the beautiful chanteuse who is also the warden’s daughter, Jessie and Ki must save the girl and bring the outlaws in.

This was a book I was looking forward to; the return of Von Eismann, the Iceman. An employee of the Cartel who Jessie and Ki had battled with in a number of previous books.

The writer behind the pseudonym of Wesley Ellis this time is Jeffrey M. Wallmann, who, wrote many books in the series including the first one.

Unfortunately this book didn’t live up to the expectations I had for it and Wallmann’s writing. I just didn’t find it very gripping and it came across very much as a formula western. Yes it was entertaining and had moments of exciting reading, especially Ki and Eismann’s fights, but at times it just seemed to plod along. Maybe it was also due to the fact that the two previous Lone Star books I read were so good?

Still this is a must read for those following the confrontations between the Lone Star Duo and The Iceman but if you’re new to the series I’d suggest trying a different one first.

Morgan Kane #26

COYOTEROS!

as by Louis Masterson

Corgi 1974

originally published in Norway in 1969

They murdered. They raped. They terrorized. ‘They’ were the Coyoteros – an outlaw gang of blood-crazy whites, half-breeds and trigger-happy Mexicans who ran rampage on both sides of the border. No lawman had ever attempted to stop them – and they figured no lawman was ever gonna try. But they hadn’t counted on Morgan Kane getting interested in their business…

The ‘business’ concerned was a mighty profitable slave-traffic of Apache children – children who were snatched from the reservation and then dragged over the border to be sold. Everything was going real fine until a wagonload of children arrived accompanied by a black-haired woman, an Apache brave and U.S. Marshal Morgan Kane, aiming to kill…

Here author Louis Masterson (Kjell Hallbing) has Kane hunting down some slave traders, a typical western plot, but this is a Morgan Kane story and as to be expected from this series there’s more to this job than just hunting down the Coyoteros.

This is another tough entry into this often brutal series. A book I read in one sitting as Kane struggles to piece together the clues as to just who is behind the selling of the children and who is buying.

In this story Kane’s usually ice-cold exterior cracks with the involvement of the children and he allows his stunning female companion a brief glimpse of his feelings, but only for a moment, adding yet another layer to his complexed character, leading to more emotional scars for Morgan Kane.

Overlooking the occasional bad translations (by Jeffrey M. Wallmann), that make you wonder as to the meaning of the odd sentence, this is a good entry into the series.

Morgan Kane #32

 SOUTHERN SHOWDOWN

as by Louis Masterson

Corgi, 1976, translated by Jeffery M. Wallman.

First published in Norway in 1969.

Kane has turned his back on being a lawman and has drifted east to Pasedena were he earns a living hunting meat for a local cafe. But when Van Doren hits town Kane finds himself hired to do a different kind of hunting. Paid now by Van Doren, Kane’s job is to kill one of the most notorious gunslingers in the West. But Kane will soon find that even without a badge, he was still a U.S. Marshal and killing a man in cold blood just isn’t going to come easy...

Louis Masterson (Kjell Hallbing) writes a fast moving tale that rotates around the discovery of oil. Greed for the rewards of this discovery being the basic plotline of the book. Yet for Kane there will be a more personal struggle, as he strives to forget a woman, and come to terms with the possibility of killing a man for no other reason than money. And it’s these latter storylines that make this a compelling read.

As Kane struggles with the rights and wrongs of the situation he finds himself in, he will meet a person who will cause more trouble for him in later books.

This is a highly entertaining read, in a series that I recommend.

Lone Star #15

Lone Star and the Mexican Standoff

as by Wesley Ellis

Jove, October 1983

This series features a female lead, Jessica Starbuck and her bodyguard Ki, a series that ran for 153 books. Later on I feel the series became a bit hit and miss in quality but most of the earlier books strike home well, and this one is no exception.

A cutthroat gang is carving out a reign of terror along the Mexican border. And they’re also headed toward Purgatory Gorge with a load of dynamite that’ll blow the Congressional train from Washington sky high. But the renegades don’t know that Jessie Starbuck and her faithful companion, Ki, will be following close behind to snuff out the fireworks and make good on a personal debt that’s long overdue…

In this tale Jessie and Ki become involved with a Mexican rebel army attempting to overthrow President Diaz. Seems the rebels are hiding out in America. Representatives from both Mexico and America are to meet and team up in tackling this problem. Jessie is representing Texas.

The action comes thick and fast from the first page with assassination attempts, two kidnappings and a massacre all happening in the first thirty or so pages. And it doesn’t let up there as Jessie and Ki fight to stop the Congressional train being destroyed and everyone on her killed.

Along with the bandits they have land hungry ranchers and double-cross to deal with in their race against time. Not only that the Cartel is involved too, and a man they thought dead, a man fought a number of times before, is back!

Well worth checking out.

The writer behind the pseudonym of Wesley Ellis this time is Jeffrey M. Wallmann.

Morgan Kane #27

 THE DAY OF DEATH

as by Louis Masterson

Corgi 1975 - originally published in Norway 1969

Translated by Jeffrey Wallmann

Everyone in Mexico City enjoyed the Day of Death…it was a riotous carnival day of devil-costumes and feasting – a day when everybody had themselves a ball – everyone that is except U.S. Marshal Morgan Kane…

Kane had been planted in Mexico as bait for a gun-happy gang of bandits led by a man known as El Largo – the Big One. And El Largo’s gang planned on celebrating the Day of Death by shooting the Mexican President and beginning a revolution. But first they had to get by Morgan Kane – and that wasn’t going to be easy…

Interesting to find Kane back in Mexico City, a city that holds it’s own ghosts for him, a town with good memories too, in particular Zarco, a woman who’d meant a lot to him in the past (see book #2 in the series).

The fiesta, The Day of Death, becomes a promising backdrop for the final showdown, with everyone’s identities being hidden behind fancy dress costumes. The whole book builds up in gripping reading to this final, dramatic, struggle to save the President. Unfortunately that’s where the book went downhill for me, the promised excitement passed over quickly and the showdown at the fiesta didn’t happen, Kane confronting his suspects elsewhere, in a much more ordinary way. Even the identity of El Largo was obvious from early in the story.

So a book that built up well but for me, and the promised grand finale just wasn’t. Worth reading to follow the exploits of Kane and to discover what happens when he’s reunited with Zarco and other people from his past.