THE VULTURE

 

THE BADGE
Book 17 of 24
THE VULTURE
By Bill Reno
Cover art by Shannon Stirnweis
Bantam Books, June 1990

To a violent land, a frontier yet untamed, came a man who wore a badge of law and order. He faced the myriad dangers and paid the price in blood to become one of the most enduring heroic figures of the Old West.

Victorio “the Vulture” Condor is the vicious bandito who has stained the Pecos red with blood. Yet no one has felt the full force of his brutality…until now. As vultures circle hungrily over the bodies of his dead brothers, Victorio declares war on the Texas Rangers – and on Lieutenant Mark Gray, the man who strung them up. One by one, the Rangers will fall before his guns: but not the shrewd Lieutenant. For Gray is a hard man to kill, and as hunter turns to hunted, Victorio will find he’s an even harder man to escape.

The Badge books are about different lawmen, although a few do appear in more than one entry in the series. All the books can be read as stand-alone novels so there is no need to read them in order. 

Even though Lieutenant Mark Gray is the hero of this story the author spends as much time, if not more, telling the reader what Victorio is doing, painting a savage picture of this man and his gang. It seems that Gray and the Texas Rangers are no match for this bandit as the body count grows.

I would hazard a guess that the author, Lew A. Lacy writing as Bill Reno, had some fun coming up with all the different ways Victorio deals out death. The Vulture doesn’t want his targets to die quickly, he wants them to suffer for killing his brothers. Victorio takes great pleasure in sending the Ranger Captain Terrell Sears the badges of his dead men along with a black vulture feather. It’s not just Rangers who are marked to die, there’s a judge and a couple of lawmen too. 

The book doesn’t have a complicated plot, it is a straight-forward tale of revenge that is fairly brutal at times. From reading other books in this series, I couldn’t begin to guess how it would end as the author will kill off the main characters to add lasting impact to his tales. Would that happen in this one? It certainly seemed to be heading down that trail. 

I did feel the final confrontation was drawn out a bit too long, but the final scenes will definitely stay in my mind for a long time and provided a fitting end to this excellent story. For me, The Vulture is one of the best entries I’ve read in this series and I’m looking forward to reading book 18 soon.

CANNON'S GRAVE

 

THE BADGE
Book 16 of 24
CANNON’S GRAVE
By Bill Reno
Cover art by Shannon Stirnweis
Bantam Books, April 1990

Emmett Kolfax is as vicious an outlaw as the West has ever seen. Hard as nails and ugly as a bulldog, he hides behind a bandanna and a hail of bullets, leading his gang on bloody killing sprees. But not even Kolfax can hide from the law – when the lawman is United States Marshal Joshua B. Cannon. Fast with a Colt .45, Cannon’s brought down dozens of cutthroats, and figures Kolfax will be just one more…until Kolfax hits on a plan to lure Cannon to his grave, one that puts the woman Cannon loves at the mercy of the ruthless desperado.

Most of the books in The Badge series are only linked by the fact that the main character wears a badge of some kind. One or two of these lawmen do feature in more than one book, but generally they are stand-alone titles, and Cannon’s Grave is one of those.

We’re introduced to Cannon and his abilities in the first chapter. The method he uses to take down some outlaws is something that I haven’t read that often, if at all, in a western and I had to wonder if this skill would be used again to bring Kolfax to justice.

The author switches between his characters regularly so he can reveal just how brutal Kolfax is. Kolfax also treats his own men harshly and it’s impossible to know when his temper will overflow in violence. This man, and his gang, are surely going to be difficult for Cannon to bring down.

Some of the story plays out like many other westerns, such as Cannon going undercover as an outlaw into the Hole-in-the-Wall to get close to Kolfax. Someone there recognizes Cannon but can’t place him. You know this man will remember who Cannon is at some point and this adds some good tension to this part of the book.

Reno does have a few surprises in store though, such as where the title of the book comes from. This is the reason Kolfax heads for the Hole-in-the-Wall only to find he isn’t top dog there and he gets a taste of his own medicine from the man who rules the roost.

The book is paced well, contains a lot of action including a couple of savage fistfights, and throws in a couple of neat plot twist before good triumphs over bad as expected. Cannon’s Grave isn’t my favourite book in the series but it certainly kept me entertained and left me looking forward to reading the next book soon. 

Bill Reno is a pseudonym used by Lew A. Lacy.

FARRELL'S WAR

THE BADGE

Book 15 of 24

FARRELL’S WAR

By Bill Reno

Cover art by Shannon Stirnweis

Bantam Books, February 1990

Sheriff Tug Farrell’s put twenty-nine men in their graves, and he’s about to push the count even higher. A vicious bank robber named Devlin has invaded his territory, taking down two banks in Denver County – and killing Farrell’s father. As rage and revenge war with his lawman’s honor, Farrell hits the trail. But Devlin’s not the only killer up ahead. Raven Morrow, a deadly vixen from Farrell’s past, is waiting with gun cocked. But it’s Morrow and her blood-hungry bunch who’d better be prepared to die. For Tug Farrell has just declared war…and he hates to lose.

The Badge series is mainly a collection of stories that are only connected by the fact that one of the main characters in each book wears a badge of some kind. Occasionally the author would bring back one of those lawmen for another tale, and Farrell’s War is one of those cases. I’d suggest you read the earlier book which introduced readers to Tug Farrell before this one, as book 11: Dark Canyon tells of Farrell’s battle to bring down Raven Morrow. Farrell’s War does explain what happened before, in some detail, and certainly contains spoilers that will take away any of the surprises that Dark Canyon contains and it will definitely ruin the ending of that book.

In Farrell’s War, Tug is offered the chance to become an U.S. Marshal, but he turns that position down as his father has come to live with him. Whilst out investigating whether Raven is dead or not, the Devlin gang hit town and kill Farrell’s father. Now Farrell can accept the U.S. Marshal badge but he has to ask himself if he wants it as something to hide behind whilst he carries out his own kind of justice, revenge, or that of the law. As expected, trailing Devlin see’s the outlaw meeting Raven and her gang, but not as I expected. The kidnapping of a young boy brings Farrell into contact with the youngster’s mother and she triggers a very human emotion within Farrell. Could he be falling in love?

Bill Reno is a pseudonym for author Lew A. Lacy, and he once again has written a fast-moving tale packed with action and tense situations. Devlin and Raven, especially the latter, are excellent adversaries for Farrell and at no time could I be sure Farrell would catch up with them, never mind bring them to justice.  Farrell’s War is definitely a worthy follow-up to Dark Canyon and left me eager to read the next book in the series.

Mention must also be made of Shannon Stirnweis’ excellent cover art which illustrates a scene from the story perfectly.

THE GALLOWS

THE BADGE

Number 14 of 24

By Bill Reno

Cover art by Shannon Stirnweis

Bantam Books, December 1989

The desert town of Raton, New Mexico, metes out justice swift and severe. When respected Marshal Dan Washburn is gunned down in cold blood, the townsfolk exact their own brand of revenge with a hangman’s rope. But U.S. Marshal Ben Bryce thinks they hanged the wrong man, and he’s the one lawman bold enough to stand up to the town and tough enough to go after the real killer – someone who has a score to settle with the whole Washburn clan. Bryce has only one weakness: he’s fallen in love with Dan Washburn’s pretty young daughter. And now, as the buzzards circle, he alone stands between her and the bloodlust of a crazed killer.

Each book in this series is a stand-alone novel, all that links them is that the main character wears a badge of some kind. The Gallows is one of the best books in the series as far as I’m concerned.

The book starts with a hanging that doesn’t quite go as planned. This leads to the people of Raton deciding they need purpose-built gallows rather than using a horse and a tree. Soon after the this, the incident depicted on the book cover takes place and U.S. Marshal Ben Bryce rescues the daughter of Dan Washburn from three outlaws. Bryce is wounded during this and remains in town to recover, and it’s whilst being tended to by Washburn’s daughter, Lisa, that they begin to fall in love, much to the disgust of Washburn’s deputy, Ned Mills, who believes Lisa is going to marry him.

The author introduces many characters, fleshing them out well, making the reader care about their futures, their hopes, their dreams. Not everyone is quite as likeable though, and some of these make threats against Washburn. Others smoulder with their own hatred and this could explode into violence at any time. The author increases tensions extremely well and when Washburn is gunned down by a killer unknown the reader will have many suspicions as to who might have done it and why, and this is where the problems lie, as there are many possible culprits. Bryce tries to work out who the killer is, yet clues are thin on the ground. Then the bodies really begin to pile up as more of the Washburn’s meet violent ends. Trying to work out who the killer was, is what really hooked me, drew me deep into this gripping tale.

Bill Reno is pseudonym used by Lew A. Lacy and I’ve yet to read a book by him I haven’t enjoyed. His tales often contain many twists and turns, and that is the case in this story. I’ve found you can never be sure who will survive, be they main characters or secondary and that certainly applies to this book. The ending was both shocking and surprising and produced an ending I shall remember for a long time and left me looking forward to reading the next book in the series as soon as I can. 

THE OUTCAST

THE BADGE

Number 13 of 24

By Bill Reno

Cover art by Shannon Stirnweis

Bantam Books, October 1989

Long Shadow. The Cheyenne called him a traitor for saving a white man’s life and banished him from his people forever. Now, the man he rescued, Marshal Boyd Dollar, calls him “son,” the townspeople of Cheyenne Crossing call him deputy marshal, and one disgruntled rancher calls him dead. Swift with his fists and lightning fast with a revolver, Long Shadow stands for law and order. But when one of the most feared man-killers in the West puts the deputy in his gunsights, Long Shadow will fight hard and mean to survive.

The Badge books are a series of standalone novels united by the fact that the lead character wears a badge of some kind, so you don’t have to read the books in order. 

This story takes place over a number of years and begins with the funeral of Long Shadow’s mother. Events of that day see the fourteen-year-old nearly being hung as a horse thief, before he saves the life of Marshal Dollar which sees him banished from his tribe…and having to face never seeing the girl, April Dawn, he has promised himself to, again. April Dawn is as equally heartbroken as he is. 

Finding a missing white girl, Sally Easton, and returning her to Cheyenne Crossing leads to Long Shadow being adopted by Boyd Dollar. Sally falls head-over-heels in love with Long Shadow, yet he cannot return the feelings as he believes he will be reunited with April Dawn one day. There are people in town who aren’t ready to accept a Cheyenne living with them, and the hatred gets stronger when he becomes a lawman and plots are put into motion to get rid of him, permanently.

As well as being an action western, this is also a love story and for me it’s the latter that made this book so readable as I had to find out who Long Shadow would end up with, if indeed he did. The reported death of April Dawn opens up the possibility of marriage to Sally, but April Dawn isn’t dead. Will she track down Long Shadow before he marries? If she does will Long Shadow choose April Dawn or Sally? During the affairs of the heart, there is lots of gunplay as Long Shadow has to prove himself worthy of wearing a badge against bullies and outlaws in a number of exciting shootouts.

One thing I like about this author’s work, is that you can never be sure how his stories will conclude, and that includes predicting who will still be alive at the end, lead characters or not or whether there will be a happy ending for anyone. 

Bill Reno is a pseudonym used by Lew A. Lacy and I have yet to read a book by him that I haven’t enjoyed, and his stories always leave me keen to read another one as soon as I can. 

DEATH LIST

THE BADGE

Book 12 of 24

By Bill Reno

Cover art by Shannon Stirnweis

Bantam Books, August 1989

Rancher Bruce Ringle is a man to be reckoned with – and those who don’t usually live to regret it. He is the leader of the Stockmen’s Association, a ring of wealthy Wyoming ranchers bent on taking control of the cattle range, and he’s hired a ruthless band of vigilantes called the Regulators to carry his brutal message to the independent ranchers: either join the association or join the dead.

At the top of the Regulators’ dreaded death list is the name of the newly appointed sheriff, Will Iron. The legendary lawman has pinned on a dead man’s badge vowing to bring the last sheriff’s killers to justice and law and order back to the town. Ringle and his Regulators figure they have the outgunned sheriff just where they want him. But they’re wrong. For Will Iron is also a man to be reckoned with – and the day of reckoning is here.

This series of books has only been linked, so far, by the fact that the lead character wears a badge of some kind. Death List is the first to see the author bring back one of the earlier lawmen for a second outing, in this case Will Iron who first appeared in book four, Powder River.

After the brutal killings that open the book, the author slows the pace down whilst introducing his readers to the various people that will play major parts in this story. For those who haven’t met Will Iron before, the author includes plenty of information regarding his background. 

Once Iron arrives in the town of Casper, he soon starts stirring up trouble for those breaking the law and the pace of the story really picks up. A band of rustlers soon adds Iron to their own death list, and Ringle sets out to hire a professional killer to take Iron out. The body count rises impressively as everyone attempts to take control of Casper and the surrounding county.

Bill Reno includes a couple of excellent female roles too, one is Iron’s wife, Vanessa, and the other being Nora Bramley who seems to be hiding a dark secret. 

Even though Iron soon figures out who is behind the Regulators, there’s the matter of proving it, and that is the main problem that Iron struggles with. Whilst trying to get the proof he needs, Iron will find himself taking on impressive odds, sometimes by himself, other times with the backing of those that live in or around Casper. The final showdown sees Iron facing his own death as he stands alone against far superior odds.

Perhaps not my favourite book in the series so far, but Death List was readable and enjoyable and I’m certain it won’t be long before I read the next one.

Bill Reno is a pseudonym used by Lew A. Lacy.

DARK CANYON

 

THE BADGE

book 11 of 24

By Bill Reno

cover art by Shannon Stirnweis

Bantam Books, June 1989

Sheriff Tug Farrell discovers that young, healthy, able-bodied men – from ranchers to railroad workers to Indian braves – all across the country are being abducted. Destination: an illicit gold mine where the prisoners are forced to work as slaves under the most brutal and inhuman conditions. And no one, not even the guards, is allowed to see the face of the mine owner, Mr. Raven, who never leaves his cabin. Farrell knows that it will take an ingenious and daring rescue to free those prisoners, and he wastes no time planning his first move. Then the woman he loves is kidnapped and taken to the mine. Suddenly there’s no time for a plan, or a posse, or a prayer. Farrell’s going in alone – he only hopes he’ll come out alive.

A series of largely stand-alone novels linked by the fact that each stars a lawman of some kind. Having said that, some of these men who wear the badge do appear in more than one book.

Like many of the previous books, this one has quite a dark theme. Here it’s the total disregard for human life as the slaves are worked to death, gunned down if they try to escape, or put to death for trying to stand-up for themselves – the penalty for the latter being dealt out by whip, fist, knife, or if you’re lucky, a quick bullet to the head.

As Farrell struggles to locate the mine he has to deal with other problems too, such as vengeance seeking brothers out to avenge the death of their father at the lawman’s hands. Falling in love further complicates matters for Farrell. 

The author, Lew A. Lacy, writing as Bill Reno, switches from character to character regularly, weaving sub-plots into the main storyline. Each of these threads eventually tying together for the final showdown that has a terrifying ending for some of the main characters. One aspect of Lacy’s storytelling that I really like is that you can never be sure who will survive the tale, be they good or bad. 

Plot twists and plenty of gunplay make this a lively read. The identity of Mr. Raven wasn’t hard to work out, but seeing how the other characters would react once this was revealed was something that also kept me turning the pages. So, for me, this was another very good entry into The Badge series and I look forward to reading another very soon.

EL DORADO

STAGECOACH STATION

Number 28 of 52

By Hank Mitchum

Cover art by Guy Deel

Bantam Books, March 1987

The stage carrying Andrea King never made it to Placerville. Solomon King, her husband, knew she was somewhere in the Sierra Nevada mountains, but was she alive or dead? With Andrea’s sister Lorraine and the Indian guide Gray Hawk, King began his grim search. 

Then the first storms of winter hit with blinding fury. Accompanied by a lost party of miners carrying gold, King made it to the relay station of El Dorado – only to find that someone in the party wanted all the gold for himself and thought eleven lives was a small price to pay. 

The snows made them prisoners of El Dorado, and one by one they died. King had to find the killer before the killer found him – and ended his desperate search for his wife.

The Stagecoach Station series of books are stand-alone novels that are linked by having a story that revolves around a stagecoach or stagecoach station. One or two books do see returning characters, so those tales probably need reading in order, but generally you can dip into this series anywhere and enjoy each book for what it is.

Hank Mitchum is a pseudonym behind which 14 authors wrote. The writer of this entry is Lew A. Lacy and he wrote more books in this series than anyone else.

As well as being a western, this is a murder mystery tale too. The author keeps the reader in suspense as to who the killer is until the end. Of course, as the victims fall the list of suspects gets smaller. Lew A. Lacy writes the growing sense of fear well, and his characters become more and more on edge with each death. Accusations fly and friendships crumble. No-one trusts anyone and being trapped in a snow bound stage station doesn’t help.

This is a well told story that had me on the edge of my seat a number of times. The characters are all engaging and the desperation to discover who the killer is provides some great tension to the story. Being murdered isn’t the only threat to the trapped people’s lives, dying of starvation is another fear.

Lew A. Lacy also keeps the fate of Andrea a secret too. This only to be discovered after the murderer is unmasked and dealt with. Lacy also has a couple of twists waiting to surprise the reader which added to my enjoyment of this story.

This book proved to be a very entertaining read and I’m sure it won’t be long before I read another by Lew A. Lacy, or try one or two of the other books in this series as there are some great authors  behind the pen-name of Hank Mitchum. 

Blood Trail

THE BADGE

number 10 of 24

By Bill Reno

Bantam, April 1989

Cover art by Shannon Stirnweiss

“Mad Dog” Duke Malone has some scores to settle, and he likes killing – a lot. When he breaks out of a Texas prison hell-bent on revenge, a lot of folks stand a good chance of dying. Chief among them is Sheriff Colby Tucker, who arrested the outlaw and put him away. But Mad Dog guns down Tucker’s son by mistake, and then leaves a trail of blood clear across the state as he goes to dig up the loot from a previous holdup. Tucker sets out to avenge his son and bring Mad Dog to justice. The lawman had planned on retiring, and this hunt will be his last act as sheriff. It might be his last act – period.

This is another very good entry in what, for me, has been an excellent series so far. It’s a series you can dip in to anywhere as each book is a standalone novel featuring different people. The books are linked by the fact the one of the lead characters wears a badge of some kind. Having said that, there are a couple of lawmen who appear in more than one book.

Mad Dog rides with a couple of ex-prison guards who helped him escape. They’ve been promised a share of the hidden loot for their reward. These two men begin to have second thoughts as they witness brutal killings carried out by Malone, and are shocked at his total disregard for human life, guilt or innocent.

The mistaken killing of Sheriff Colby’s son is handled well by the author, and the reason for this happening is totally plausible. The heartbreak of this incident is moving and this is the kind of scene Bill Reno excels at. 

The author regularly switches between Mad Dog and the pursuing lawman. As the death toll mounts you do have to wonder if Colby will catch up with Malone before he kills all those on his hit list. Colby is joined on the trail by his other son, who’s also a lawman, and soon matters are further complicated as a young woman, the only survivor of a Mad Dog massacre, insists on riding with them too. She could be a major problem as she is Malone’s daughter. The final showdown makes for some exciting reading and is as savage as all that has gone before it.  

I’ve always enjoyed the dark tones that some of the previous books have had, but this one doesn’t match them in that sense. This story is more of a straight-forward gritty read that includes a lot of bloody hard-hitting action. I found Blood Trail to be a very entertaining tale and I look forward to reading the next book very soon.

Bill Reno is a pen-name of Lew A. Lacy who has written many other westerns under his own name and other pseudonyms.

Backlash

THE BADGE #9

By Bill Reno

Bantam, February 1989

Marshal Wesley Clarke was a fast-draw, tough-as-steel lawman who met force with force, bullet with bullet. That was why gambling king Tip Ruckman wanted him out of the fast-growing Idaho town of Rock Falls, dead or alive. Ruckman had secretly brought in hired gunslingers to help him shoot his way to a bloody takeover of Rock Falls, lock, stock and barrel. But first the cunning gambler had to discredit Clarke and get the marshal’s badge pinned on one of his own men. Pretty, prim and proper Jeannine DeGarmo fit right in with Ruckman’s scheme, and now Clarke was heading for a showdown that could cost him his honor . . . or her life. 

Marshal Clarke is an excellent character, his belief that the only way to punish outlaws is to see them killed by either bullet or a hangman’s rope to ensure they won’t commit a crime again, forms one of the main story threads of this very fast-moving tale. Clarke’s methods of dealing with the criminal element soon sees him banging heads with newly arrived Jeannine DeGarmo who thinks the way of the Eastern cities is the only way to bring justice to the lawless towns of the West and that’s by trial and prison sentences. Both views are effectively represented by the author and will certainly make the reader think.

Even though Clarke and DeGarmo’s differing opinions cause them to clash every time they come into contact, there is an underlying tension, an attraction neither will admit to, both denying it to themselves. These feelings add another layer of depth to the story.

There is plenty of action too, as Ruckman puts his plan into operation, that will ultimately force DeGarmo to realize everything isn’t quite as black-and-white as she thinks it is. Then there’s other law-breaking people who Clarke has to deal with and this often leads to hard-hitting deaths, one of which is both tragic and horrific – and it’s this that is superbly portrayed on the books cover by artist Shannon Stirweiss. 

One of the strengths of the author behind The Badge series, is that you can never be sure whether good will win over evil completely or that the hero will get the girl. Bill Reno (real name Lew A. Lacy) often makes his characters suffer emotionally as well as physically and this, for me anyway, is something I welcome in my reading. So, does Clarke’s methods of upholding the law win the day? Does he get the girl? I guess you’ll just have to read the book to find out, and in doing so will hopefully enjoy it as much as I did. 

The Stranger

THE BADGE #8

By Bill Reno

Bantam Books, December 1988

When Denzel Murdoch was sent to the gallows for strangling a young woman, he shouted that he was innocent and vowed he would come back from the grave and take revenge on the judge, the six jurors and the marshal and deputy who had arrested him. And now it’s happening – Green River’s marshal is discovered in a freshly dug grave with the initials D.M. carved on his brow – and there are more deaths to follow. The townspeople are terrified. They can only turn to the man they call John Stranger – a mysterious drifter they found in the Green River cemetery after a shoot-out that left three bank robbers dead – a man who can’t remember his own identity after being grazed by one of the robbers’ bullets. All people know about him is that he’s faster with a gun than anyone they’ve ever seen before – and that’s enough.

This is another strong entry in what, for me, has been a superb series so far. Each book is a stand-alone title linked by the fact that one, or more, of the main characters wears a badge of some kind. 

Like the previous books this story has a fairly dark content and the author is very good at describing the grip of fear that begins to motive many of the characters as they try to convince themselves that Denzel Murdoch’s ghost has not risen from the grave to kill those he holds responsible for his death. But what other explanation is there? As terror brings forth desperate acts, can the lawman and John Stranger keep control before mob rule will see more innocents put to death?

And what of John Stranger himself? Who is he? A robber? A killer? A lawman? Where is he from and why is he in Green River? Bonnie Bodine, the murdered marshal’s sister, convinces herself that Stranger is a good man and the two begin to fall in love. But is Stranger already married? Are they setting themselves up for the agonizing pain of heartbreak if Stranger does indeed have a wife, a family?

Bill Reno packs this story with questions and mysteries that become more and more tangled as the death toll rises. Once you think you may have some idea as to what is going on the author springs more twists to the tale. One of my suspicions did turn out to be correct, kind of, as to the identity of the killer, but Reno had a major surprise in store where that person is concerned that provides another excellent twist that I doubt anyone will see coming.

Does Stranger get his memory back? Is he the kind of man who Bonnie would want to spend the rest of her life with? Is he married? Are either, or both of them alive by the end? The quest for Stranger to discover his identity keeps throwing up surprise after surprise – and that is all I can say without ruining this story.

Bill Reno is a pseudonym for Lew A. Lacy who once again presents the reader with a hard-hitting, at times brutal tale that is a gripping read. On finishing this book I find myself eager to pick up the next one in the series and to try some of the other westerns he has written, such as a number of entries in the Stagecoach Station series as Hank Mitchum. 

The Impostor

THE BADGE #7

By Bill Reno

Bantam, October 1988

Outlaw Jack Decker and his gang are in Dodge City, and they’re out for blood – gunfighter Johnny Valentine’s blood. When Decker makes the mistake of gunning down Valentine’s brother instead, Johnny vows to find Decker and make him pay. Valentine dons the badge of a U.S. marshal and heads out onto the range, looking for Decker’s murderous gang. But he finds more trouble than he bargains for: a killer tornado, a renegade pack of bloodthirsty Kiowas, and a scorned woman who has vowed to find Johnny Valentine and put a bullet between his eyes.

The Badge is a series of 24 books that are linked only by the fact that their heroes wear a badge of some kind, although I believe one or two characters do appear in more than one story. Each book, therefore is a stand-alone tale.

Bill Reno is a pseudonym used by Lew A. Lacy and he is an author that knows how to write page-turners that capture the readers’ imagination easily through excellent characterization, visual descriptions of both landscape and action, and with gripping story-lines that twist and turn and offer surprising outcomes for some of his characters, both good and bad.

The Impostor has as its main theme the desire for revenge and this drives a number of different people, including Suzanne Lane, whose need for vengeance is as just as that of Johnny Valentine’s. When Valentine takes on the identity of a dead lawman it isn’t long before he’s riding alongside the unsuspecting Suzanne, and the story builds to the moment Suzanne discovers his deception superbly. The need to find out how she reacts to this discovery, especially as she’s falling in love with this fake lawman, the man she’s vowed to kill, is what makes this book so hard to put down.

The Badge books are hard-hitting, action-packed and often quite dark in tone. You can never be sure who will be left alive at the end either. All this adds up to compelling reading that leaves me eager to pick up the next in the series straight away. 

The Showdown

THE BADGE #6

By Bill Reno

Bantam, August 1988

Comanche County’s sheriff Clint Wilson is a legend among lawmen, lightning fast with his guns, feared by every outlaw from Tulsa all the way to Tombstone. When Jed Bratton and his boys brutalize Wilson’s wife and daughter, the sheriff vows to hunt them down like wild animals and make them pay for their sins. In a blind rage of blood-vengeance and blazing gunfire, he sends Jed straight to hell. But he also sacrifices something dearer to him than his own life, and he turns to whiskey to numb the pain. Jed Bratton’s boy Luke, renowned throughout the West for the notches on his gun, is headed for Comanche County to kill the man who killed his father. Clint Wilson must battle the bottle and recover his own lost pride – or face a final showdown in the dust.

This book explores some very dark themes and it’s no wonder Wilson tries to find solace in a bottle. The story is hard-hitting, brutal at times, although the most horrific acts aren’t described in detail as they happen, it’s the struggle to survive afterwards that hammers-home the savagery of the Bratton’s actions.

And when you think Clint Wilson can’t take any more heartache then Bill Reno hits his hero even harder…

Bill Reno is a pseudonym used by Lew A. Lacy, and in The Badge series he certainly came up with some terrific stories, and this entry is as powerful as any I’ve read. The strain on Wilson’s mind and heart is very memorable and will stay with me for a long time. But it’s not all despair, even though Wilson gives up to the bottle and others write him off, there are friends who battle to save him, urge him to stand-up again, particularly when it becomes common-knowledge that Luke Bratton is riding in for a showdown.

I know it’s an often used term, but this book really is a difficult to put down read. The writing captures the imagination and builds in both pace and tension as that final showdown draws ever closer and you do have to wonder if Wilson will survive that due to the tone of the story.

Most of The Badge series are stand-alone titles linked by the fact that each one is about a lawman. The series ran for 24 books and on the strength of this one I’m really looking forward to reading the rest.

The Badge #5

LONDON’S REVENGE

as by Bill Reno

Bantam, June 1988

To a violent land, a frontier yet untamed, came a man who wore a badge of law and order. He faced the myriad dangers and paid the price in blood to become one of the most enduring heroic figures of the old west.

When the government forces the Van Horn clan to sell a large part of their hard-won ranch to the Crow Indians, the Van Horn’s don’t like it one bit. They take matters into their own hands to avenge their “honor” and save their failing ranch by stealing a federal payroll. Sheriff Matt London wrestles the situation under control when he captures Barth, patriarch of the treacherous Van Horn gang. But the younger Van Horns won’t sit still for that. They are trouble-hungry enough to kill the son of the local Crow chief, take London’s wife hostage, and force London to decide between his duty as a lawman and the life of the woman he loves.

Bill Reno packs a lot into this book. Each incident seeming to lead to two more dangerous, and often tragic, problems for Sheriff Matt London to deal with. Most of these involve the Van Horn family in one-way or another, some of whom relish killing others for the hell of it. Then there is the forbidden love between Holly Van Horn and London’s deputy, Bill Baker, which proves to be just as dangerous as anything else.

The characters are well drawn, be they good, bad or indifferent. Some of the Van Horn’s, in a way pushed into their desperate actions by events they are powerless to control, struggle to accept what is happening to their family, and Bill Reno creates some excellent tensions between them, particularly when a prank goes horribly wrong. Just how strong is the bond of family love between them?

The action comes thick and fast and is well described, as are the descriptions of people and land. With so much happening the pace of the story is breath-taking. Even though the twist at the end was a bit to easy to forecast it didn’t in any way dampen my enjoyment of this book.

The Badge series ran for twenty-four books, and the author writing behind the pseudonym of Bill Reno is Lew A. Lacy. If all the books are as entertaining as this one then I’m really going to enjoy reading this series.

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The Badge #4

POWDER RIVER

as by Bill Reno

Bantam, April 1988

Powder River’s new marshal is shot in the back by a bushwhacker when he tries to put a stop to the bloody feud going on between the town’s two biggest ranchers: John Brunner’s Diamond B and Rake McCanna’s Box M. Nobody can name the culprit but, whoever he is, he’s hell-bent to get a full-scale range war started. Time to bring in Will Iron – a lawman who lives upto his name, as fast with a gun as he is with his rock-hard fists.

When the son of Rake McCanna is shot dead, and the son of John Brunner is found stabbed in a deep gully, tempers are set to explode as each rancher prepares for war. Can Iron track down the killer and put an end to the bloodshed before Powder River becomes a battleground?

Bill Reno (really author Lew A. Lacy) believes in putting his heroes into difficult situations, and in Powder River, not only does Iron have to try to stop a war erupting, he finds the problem is made more difficult after discovering that one of the feuding sides is his father and brothers, making him question his loyalty to family or the law. Not only this, but Iron finds himself falling for the beautiful Abby, who may or may-not be hiding some secrets, whilst the equally attractive Vanessa competes for his attention.

The book is filled with action-packed confrontations that will have the reader wondering how Iron can possibly bring them to peaceful conclusions, and then the murders happen and it seems that Iron has an impossible situation to control.

As events finally seem to be leading to a satisfying ending for Iron and the people of Powder River, Reno brings his hero down to earth – hard! Iron finds himself with the toughest decision of his life that will tear him apart emotionally, thus providing a powerful ending to this gripping read.

Each Badge book is about different characters – although two or three of them do appear in more than one book – the series being linked by each story being about a man who wears a badge.