Missouri Vigilantes

By Mark Bannerman

Hale, August 2013

General Sherlock has issued an order to exterminate the bandits of Taney County; shoot them like animals and hang all prisoners.

So when sixteen-year-old Billy Stark falls into a trap and attempts to steal an army payroll, the military are hot on his trail. Fleeing for his life and burdened by a wounded companion, Billy faces extreme peril and is lured into a world where lynching, torture and bullets have replaced the law. Striving to maintain his morality, Billy finds himself drawn deeper into a web of evil….

Like in many of Mark Bannerman’s books the author combines fiction with historical truth and in this story Bannerman’s hero finds himself riding with the Bald Knobbers, a masked gang of vigilantes who don’t need much of an excuse to drive people out of Taney County, and if they don’t go, kill them without a second thought. Of course there is opposition to them in the form of the Anti-Bald Knobbers who seem to take pleasure in ambushing and killing the vigilantes at any opportunity.

If this isn’t enough of a deadly situation for Billy Stark to find himself in, he’s also being hunted by the army, struggles to find anyone he can trust, and is falling in love….

Unusually for a Black Horse Western this story is told in the first person, through Billy Stark. Bannerman writes in an easy to read style that never lets up in pace, and springs surprises along the way. There’s plenty of action as Billy finds himself reluctantly carrying out missions for the Bald Knobbers.

Does Billy escape the clutches of the Bald Knobbers, free himself from the pursuit of the army, and get the girl? Can a story of this type really have a happy ending? Of course I can’t reveal any of the answers here but will say that the closing pages will stick in my mind for a long time.

Missouri Vigilantes is a thoroughly entertaining book that has left me looking forward to Mark Bannerman’s next book, Journey into Jeopardy, published in December. Sadly this may be the last as the author behind the pseudonym of Mark Bannerman, Anthony Lewing, passed away in June of this year.

The Head Hunters

By Mark Bannerman

Hale, December 2012

Elmer Carrington, former Captain of the Texas Rangers, is the victim of a horrendous crime committed by the Mexican bandit, Mateo.

Accompanied by Daniel Ramos, another victim of Mateo, he sets off in pursuit of the man they hate. With the trail leading them deep into Mexico, through dangerous mountains and blistering desert, they encounter terrifying hazards and unforeseen enemies. But nothing has prepared them for the treachery and torture that awaits them when Carrington is given a hideous task. Failure to carry it out threatens death for both him and Daniel Ramos….

Mark Bannerman has long been a popular author of Black Horse Westerns and this book should help keep that reputation alive. His writing style easily pulls the reader into the story and his method of switching from character to character scene-by-scene or chapter to chapter, often leaving them in trouble, ensures the reader will continue turning the pages.

There’s plenty of action, some of it quiet savage – after all the title refers to bringing back the heads of those hunted as proof of their deaths. There’s also the added fear of catching the plague as Mateo is holed up in a town rife with it.

Let’s hope that the name of Mark Bannerman (a pseudonym used by Anthony Lewing) continues to appear on BHWs for a long time to come, as I for one look forward to each new book.

The Head Hunters is officially released on December 30th, but is available now from the usual Internet booksellers.

Shadow of Guilt

By Mark Bannerman

Hale, August 2012

It starts out as a simple mission to trace his kid brother, but Brad Caulderfield rides into a heap of trouble when he kills the brother of Marshal Seth Blevins.

Charged with murder and pursued by the embittered lawman, Brad has no alternative but to run for his life. He faces further complications from Stella Goodnight who is out for blood when he fails to return her affections. When his brother reappears bearing bitter resentments from the past, he is looking headlong into the face of his nemesis….

This is the first Black Horse Western from Mark Bannerman for some time, his last appeared in 2007.

Mark Bannerman throws plenty of problems at his hero, Brad Caulderfield, such as finding his brother, Lanny, who has sworn to kill both Brad and their father. There are posses hunting them both too. A neighbouring father is also looking for vengeance and is threatening to throw the Caulderfield’s off their rented land if Lanny isn’t returned to pay for his crimes. Then there’s Stella and her baggage that also sees more people wanting to kill Brad. A plague of grasshoppers have an important part to play in the fast moving plot too.

When we first meet Brad he’s having problems with snakes, a confrontation that sees him being bitten, this gives the author the opportunity to add an interesting scene involving one of the new hypodermic syringes.

As the story unfolds it soon becomes clear that the reader can’t second guess on who will be alive at the end, and for those who are the final scenes are played out in a courtroom.

Once again Mark Bannerman has come up with a very entertaining read that has left me looking forward to reading another of his books very soon.

Mark Bannerman is a pseudonym used by Anthony Lewing and you can find an interview I did with him here.

Shadow of Guilt is officially released on August 31st but is available now from the usual Internet book stores.

Interview: Mark Bannerman

Mark Bannerman is the pseudonym used by Tony Lewing. With around twenty books to his name, Tony has found himself unable to produce any new work for sometime, but has agreed to talk to Western Fiction Review, thank-you Tony.

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

I loved writing essays at school, turning most of them into stories. Later on, I took a correspondence course on being a writer and thereafter it became a hobby that incorporated my interest in the American West. I have accumulated a considerable library of reference books about the old frontier and writing in general.

What was the first novel you had published and if this wasn’t a western what was your first western?

The first book I had published was a Western called Grand Valley Feud, a tale of conflict between cattlemen and sheepherders. I originally wrote this in 1959 but it was too long for Hale. In 1995 I shortened it and resubmitted. This time it was accepted. Thereafter, when I retired from the Army, I wrote full time.

Being an Englishman, why did you choose to write westerns instead of any other genre?

I owe my interest in the American West to my grandfather who, when I was a child, took me to see countless cowboy films. I became an avid fan of Hopalong Cassidy, the Lone Ranger & Tonto, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Buck Jones and so on. My grandfather read nothing else but Western books and his enthusiasm for the genre rubbed off on me. More recently I have visited Western America on several occasions. I have ridden the Western trails, visited old Indian strongholds and Army forts, battle sites, ranches and museums. In researching Ride into Destiny, I explored the site of Fort Phil Kearny, walked the trail of Fetterman’s debacle and followed the route taken by John Portugee Phillips as he set forth to carry word of the tragedy to the outside world. I have paid homage at the graves of Fetterman, Red Cloud and Captain Jack.



Which writers influenced you?

In 1951 I read Will Henry’s No Survivors, a brilliant book about Custer, Crazy Horse and Fetterman, and this proved a profound influence. I loved the first person narrative and blend of history and fiction and determined to try my hand in a similar vein, starting with short stories.

Which western writers would you recommend?

Will Henry certainly. Others: Ernest Haycox (Bugles in the Afternoon), Jack Schaefer (Shane), Harvey Fergusson (Grant of Kingdom), A.B. Guthrie (The Big Sky), Wayne D. Overholser (Gunlock), Glendon Swarthout (The Homesman), Elliot Arnold (Blood Brother).

Which past western would you like to see back in print and why is this?

The Earthbreakers by Ernest Haycox – a wonderful book about the early settlers in Oregon, full of characters and the quirks of human nature.

How long did it take you to write a Black Horse Western, and how did you go about it?

Each book takes about eight weeks to write. I like my heroes or heroines to be up to their ears in trouble within the first chapter and thereafter to have the greatest of difficulty in sorting things out, ending in a climax that is not always predictable.

Are all your westerns stand-alone titles or do any of them form a series?

All my novels are stand-alone. My central characters face so much danger that I doubt they could survive a second outing.

You wrote a book called Bender’s Boot, which I enjoyed very much, based on a real killer family. Do any of your other books use real people/events as the main theme of the plot?

Yes.
Frank Riddle – Frontiersman and the large print version The Frontiersman are both reconstructions of the Modoc Indian War 1872-73 with all its real-life characters, and is written through the eyes of interpreter Frank Riddle. I was fortunate enough to travel to the Lava Beds, Northern California, to do my research. I soaked up the atmosphere of the various battle grounds, interviewed Indians and historians and stood at the spot where General Canby was murdered. Many of my other books touch on historical events and people, or are suggested by actual incidents. The Beckoning Noose (the Modoc War), Escape to Purgatory (the meeting between Billy the Kid and Governor Lew Wallace), The Early Lynching (mail order brides), Renegade Rose (the Oregon Trail), Man Without a Yesterday (Custer’s expedition in the Black Hills), Trail to Redemption (Civil War, buffalo hunters etc) Comanchero Rendezvous (post Civil War activities on the Staked Plains of Texas), The Pinkerton Man (Pinkerton Detective Agency), Galvanized Yankee (the battle of Shiloh and the Wagon Box Fight), Railroaded (the building of railroads), Lust to Kill (vigilantes), Blind Trail (Geronimo and the Apache Wars), Gunsmoke at Adobe Walls (The Comanche Wars), The Modoc Kid (Alcatraz), The Mavericks (illegal branding of Texas cattle) and Ride into Destiny (the Fetterman Massacre).

Three further books were character driven: Fury at Troons Ferry, Legacy of Lead and Hog Tied Hero.

Which of your westerns would you recommend to someone who hasn’t read any of your work yet and why?

Comanchero Rendezvous, Blind Trail, The Modoc Kid, Bender’s Boot and Gunsmoke at Adobe Walls. I particularly enjoyed writing these as I did when creating my humorous Western Hog Tied Hero.

You’ve written a few other books with such titles as Short Story World (a how to book), Ride into Destiny, Frank Riddle: Frontiersman, and Under Western Skies, please tell us a little about them.

I have had hundreds of short stories published on many different themes and I tried to pass on my experiences and techniques in Short Story World. Under Western Skies is an anthology of my early Western short stories which were mostly published in International Storyteller. Cornish Woman is a non-western and has proved my most successful book to date. Also published have been two anthologies of non-western short stories. I’ve discussed Ride into Destiny and Frank Riddle above.

Do you think paper produced books will ever be replaced with electronic books?

I think the appeal of paper-produced books will always remain. The attraction of a good cover and the general feel of a well-bound book will not diminish.

What is your favourite western movie and why?

Dances with Wolves is my all-time favourite as it portrayed Native Americans in a very authentic light. Another Kevin Costner film Wyatt Earp was also very good.

What do you read for pleasure?

I’ve read countless Westerns, fiction and non-fiction, and my other recent enjoyable reads have been The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, Alias Grace by Margaret Attwood and Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor. Also Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks and The Forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer.

Finally Tony, you've always been a good Western writer, your fans miss you, is there any chance Mark Bannerman will make a comeback?

Health problems have prevented me from writing recently, but I hope to regain my writing enthusiasm in the not too distant future.

Comanchero Rendezvous

as by Mark Bannerman

A Black Horse Western from Hale, 1999

Major John Willard is sent on a special mission by the president himself. This will take him to the Staked Plains of Texas, a region both repellent and menacing, a land of death inhabited by Indians and outlaws. Well hidden within its wildest depths is the stronghold of an embittered band of ex-Confederates. Even though the Civil War is over they continue to fight on by inciting the Indians to attack the Federal Army. Willard’s mission is to bring peace to the region.

This author (Anthony Lewing writing as Mark Bannerman) doesn’t believe in making life easy for his hero, even before the mission has hardly begun the complications set in. It seems that people other than the president have an interest in the outcome of Willard’s mission, such as Edward Sanderson and his mysterious jade-eyed daughter Lauretta, and soon he’s plunged into a world of dark secrets that make this book compelling reading.

Willard isn’t the perfect hero either; he makes mistakes, bad mistakes, which put both his mission and life on the line more than once. It’s also good to see that the usual hero meets girl and they fall in love and live happily ever after doesn’t turn out that way which adds to the elements of surprise and twists and turns of the story.

Interesting to see that the author includes quite a lot of wildlife in his descriptive paragraphs, such as moths and bats, something that many authors seem to overlook.

Another great read from an author that is fast becoming one of my favourites from the Black Horse stable.

Bender's Boot

as by Mark Bannerman

A Black Horse Western from Hale, 2004

At a remote inn, Conrad McClure, becomes involved with an evil family and, in particular, the she-devil of a daughter who ensnares men in her murderous web of sensuality. McClure, like so many before him, is trapped. Local vigilantes storm the inn, intent on lynching the entire family. But the killers have fled, taking McClure with them. The evidence left buried in the adjacent orchard is totally damning: twelve bodies, naked and brutally mutilated, including a little girl who was clearly buried alive. But where have the murderers gone, and what is the fate of Conroy McClure?

Mark Bannerman (author Anthony Lewing) has come up with a really tough story here. Not just for it’s brutal storyline - based on a real family and events - but also for some of the themes it covers, such as incest. There is also a death near the end that will be hard for some readers to accept, shocking as it is, it does make for a powerful and memorable part of the book.

Bannerman includes a number of red-herrings that had me wondering as to the identity of one of the characters, then after making the reader believe in one thing throws in a twist to completely throw you off track.

The book begins in the present, goes back into the past – two and a half years before the beginning – before catching up to the present again.

For a Black Horse Western the plot even involves a very graphic sex-scene, although this is important to the storyline. Bannerman also includes a couple of rare, in a western, elements: a hot air balloon and some Great White sharks.

This has to rank up there with the best Black Horse Westerns I’ve read and will certainly have me hunting through my collection for the other books I have by this author.