THROUGH WESTERN STORMS

THROUGH WESTERN STORMS

Edited by Richard Prosch

Independently published, August 2024

Crashing thunder! Pelting sand! The whirl of confusion and the winds of madness.

Join 13 unsurpassed storytellers to journey through Western storms with tales of perseverance, grit, and courage as vast as the 19th-century American landscape.

This is an excellent collection of well-written short stories that either feature characters battling against the elements or emotions. You’ll find tales that are heart-breaking, those that find humour in desperate situations, and everything in between. There are stories that feature real people such as Nannita Daisey and Oscar Wilde. There’s one that is about a strange long-necked creature. Others tell tales about soldiers, mechanics, and detectives. Most are about ordinary people struggling through life. 

One of the things that I enjoy about anthologies is discovering new authors and nearly all of these writers are new to me. I’ve only read stories by three of them before. Of course, it’s all subjective to the reader when it comes to picking out favourites, which authors you want to read more of, or singling out stories you aren’t so keen on.

If you pushed me to pick out my favourites, I’d name in the order they appear in the collection, A Death on the Concho, Valiant-For-Truth, White City, and Noah’s Lament as being my top choices. I will quickly add that the others are very good too.

If you want to introduce yourself to the work of some current authors, perhaps discovering some new favourites in the process, then I’d suggest you grab a copy of Through Western Storms as soon as you can. 

Contents

Another Man’s Sea by Vonn McKee

The Lost Diary of Nannita Daisey by Nancy McCabe

Hurricane at Hogg’s Holler by Scott McCrea

Go On by Jim Jones

Windmiller by Jackson Lowry

A Death on the Concho by Jane Little Botkin

A Cowtown Wind by Natalie Cline Bright & Denise F. McAllister

Valiant-For-Truth by Elisabeth Grace Foley

A Newspaper Comes to Cripple Creek by Big Jim Williams

A Death in the Family by W. Michael Farmer

White City by John D. Nesbitt

Noah’s Lament by Preston Lewis

American readers can get a copy here
British readers can get a copy here

Law of the Gun

Edited by Martin H. Greenberg and Russell Davis

Pinnacle, November 2010

It’s an American icon: the Western shootist, living by skill, courage and a willingness to spit in death’s eye. Now, the greatest names in Western literature turn this mythical character upside down, inside out and every way but loose…

Law of the Gun is about journeys, vendettas, standoffs, and legends that end – or sometimes just begin – with the roar of a gun…

Contents:

The Trouble with Dudes by Johnny D. Boggs

Uncle Jeff and the Gunfighter by Elmer Kelton

The Devil Doesn’t Sleep by Deborah Morgan

Destiny’s Gun by Jory Sherman

As Good as the Bad by Ken Hodgson

Inferno by William W. Johnstone, with J.A. Johnstone

Waiting for Mr. Griffith by Tom Carpenter

The First Ride of Monday Happenstance by Russell Davis

Ricochet by Don Coldsmith

Bounty Hunter by John Duncklee

The Wanted Man by Rita Cleary

Dead Man Riding to Tombstone by Andrew J. Fenady

Hap by John D. Nesbitt

Gunfighter’s Lament by Ellen Recknor

Shootout at White Pass by John Jakes

The Long High Noon by Loren D. Estleman

The Two-bit Kill by C. Courtney Joyner

For me, this anthology is filled with tales by a terrific selection of authors, making it virtually impossible to say which story I liked best. If pushed I’d probably choose Loren D. Estleman’s tale, the length of time the story takes place over giving it that little extra appeal. Ask me tomorrow and I’d more than likely single out a different story. Yes, there are a couple I didn’t like as much, but that is to be expected when reading such collections. I’ve read most of these authors before, and of the two I hadn’t, one will certainly have me checking out more of their stories as soon as possible.

Fans of William W. Johnstone / J.A. Johnstone Last Gunfighter stories will be pleased to find that Inferno stars Frank Morgan in a tale set before the first book in that series, The Drifter.

Law of the Gun is definitely a great way to introduce yourself to authors that may be new to you, and for those already familiar with them, make sure you pick up a copy of this book as it contains some excellent stories you won’t want to miss.

Twin Rivers

by John Nesbitt

A Black Horse Western from Hale, October 2010

Originally published 1995

When Clay Westbrook, a cowhand on a Wyoming ranch in the 1890s, sticks up for a Mexican sheepherder, he runs into serious trouble.

But Clay maintains his friendship with the Mexicans, much to the dislike of the bullying rancher Sutton and his gang of thugs. He even develops an ill-advised romantic interest in Tony’s Niece, Guadalupe.

Before long, Clay finds himself without a job and is harassed by Sutton and his men, who burn down his homesteader’s shack and sabotage his outfitting camp. Clay then discovers that Sutton has designs on his homestead and plans to cut a ditch project across his land. It is up to Clay to thwart Sutton … but can he do so in time?

Due to this being a reprint of a paperback novel this Black Horse Western is a much longer read than you’d expect from this line of western books. It contains the same number of pages but has much smaller print and more lines per page. Chapters start a few lines down from the previous chapter end rather than on a new page.

Twin Rivers doesn’t contain as much fighting action as a lot of BHW, and much of what there is done with fists, all well described and very visual. The story is more a study of character, again superbly crafted. John Nesbitt combines a land-grab story and a love story. The latter having an affect on how Westbrook decides to react to Sutton’s attempts to push him off his homestead, that lead to some tense confrontations, one that takes a dramatic turn as Westbrook races to save the life of one of his tormentors who’s been swept away in a river.

The pace of the book is excellent, as Westbrook becomes increasing anxious as to how he will deal with Sutton, and to whether he should carry on with his courting as he’s white and she’s Mexican and he’s concerned as to how others will react to a mixed relationship.

John Nesbitt also includes a lot of information about life during the time period he sets the book in, such as tasks carried out by cowboys, the background to ditch projects, and courting. This all comes over as a natural part of the storyline when it could so easily have come over as an author sounding like a teacher, resulting in parts of the book that many would quickly skip through.

I have read other books by John Nesbitt, and more sit on my shelves and I can see myself picking another up very soon.

This book is available now and selling out quickly.

Western Fiction News

The latest issue of Black Horse Extra is now available. There's some great articles including David Whitehead discussing how to increase interest in the western and another article that looks at back cover blurbs. There's also the second part of Greg Mitchell's look at the artwork of Frederic Remington. Hoofprints, as usual, offers some fascinating observations.

Whilst on the subject of Black Horse Westerns, Hale will be releasing books by a couple of well known American western writers latter this year, namely in September 2010 comes Wade's War by Chet Cunningham, and Twin Rivers by John Nesbitt (a new publication of an old story) in October or November 2010. August 2010 sees Bonito Deputy as by Jack Slade - I wonder who is behind this name?

Finally, for those who enjoy western films, it looks like another John Wayne western is to be remade. It seems Warner Brothers are planning to remake The Cowboys. The original hit the screens in 1972 and came from the book by William Dale Jennings.

Not a Rustler

 by John D. Nesbitt

Leisure, February 2010

With a lot of rustling in the area, tensions are high and rumors are flying fast and furious. Word’s going around that some of the larger ranchers have hired a gunman named Wolf Carlton to stop the rustling and protect their cattle. And now a couple of the smaller ranchers have been found shot to death. Unfortunately for Spencer Prescott, some of the rumors are now about him. Some people think Spencer’s the one killing the competition, not Wolf. Even worse, some folks think Spencer is behind the rustling—and that means trigger-happy Wolf will be looking to put a bullet in his back.

At first this book comes across as slow moving, but as you read on you become aware that this story is more a character study than an action filled western, a story that is driven by dialogue.

John D. Nesbitt takes his time introducing you to the many fascinating people that this tale revolves around, and it’s during this time that he plants the seeds of suspicion on various characters. A fair amount of the story features horses and this adds to the overall entertainment this book provides.

It doesn’t take long for Spencer Prescott to begin to suspect who’s behind the unexplained killings that happen at regular intervals. Problem is he can’t prove anything and soon finds himself being set up as the killer, but by whom? So the book also combines strong elements of mystery to the more traditional plot of rustling.

John D. Nesbitt’s writing style is extremely readable, and the almost gentle opening to the tale proves to be a slow burning fuse that inevitably picks up speed before exploding in violence that ties all the story threads up neatly.

Death at Dark Water

 by John D. Nesbitt

Leisure, February 2008

All Devon Frost was looking for was peace and quiet. An artist, he came to the remote town of Tinaja to draw the local buildings. He didn’t expect to get caught up in a web of lies, accusation…and murder.

The suitor of a ranch owner’s daughter has been found dead, and everyone seems very quick to put the blame on another suitor. But something doesn’t seem right to Devon. He can’t let an innocent man die. And he’s willing to fight the entire town in order to get to the truth.

If you’re expecting a story packed with gunfights and action filled scenes of danger, then this book may not be the right choice for you. If you enjoy well-told stories that build gently through increasing mystery as to the identity of a killer, and to the reasons for that killing, then this could well be the story for you.

John D. Nesbitt spends a lot of time describing the area Frost finds himself in, especially the buildings, depicting every nook and cranny they contain, thus adding great atmosphere to his story.

When not detailing the landscape, Nesbitt writes convincing exchanges of conversation, that along with beautifully observed body language, create the fascinating character studies that fill this well crafted tale of jealousy and murder.

The book is marketed as historical fiction and I think this is, perhaps, the best term for it, as the time period the book is set in is not clear, and it could be much later than that most western readers define as a “western”.

Death at Dark Water was the first book I’ve read by John D. Nesbitt, and it definitely won’t be the last.