Man Killer

By Thom Nicholson

Signet, July 2006

Out of the ashes of Confederate defeat, soldier Martin Keller heads west for a new life as a rancher. But hard times like these call for a more practical means of survival – such as riding posse alongside the Texas Rangers. It’s not a job that comes without risk or enemies, as Keller discovers the hard way when his family is brutally murdered.

Hopped up on rage and burning for revenge, Keller severs ties with the Rangers, tracks the cutthroats into the Indian Nations, and restyles himself as an unforgiving bounty hunter with no rules of remorse. To good citizens and desperadoes alike he’s known as Man Killer. And he’s not giving up until the men who murdered his family are planted in boot hill…. 

This is the second book in the four book series featuring Marty Keller, the first, Ride the Red Sun Down was published a year earlier. Strangely, Man Killer tells of events that take place and lead up to those that take place in the first book, and that book also contains a recount of what happens in Man Killer. Perhaps the publishers mixed up the order they put them out in? Whatever the reason let me stress that to get the most from these two books you need to read them the opposite way around to their publishing dates. 

Seeing the changes in Keller makes for some fascinating reading. The transformation from a tough Texas Ranger and loving family man to a colder, determined killer is the core storyline of this tale.

Thom Nicholson doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to describing violence. It’s graphic and brutal, especially the killing of Keller’s family. 

Nicholson tells the story from a variety of viewpoints and switches fairly regularly between the main characters, these being Keller and the men he is hunting. Having the outlaws split up makes Keller’s task virtually impossible. In fact, there are times that Keller is at a total loss with how to find the men he desperately wants to kill. Lack of finance to fund his quest sees Keller having to take other jobs and this is how he becomes a bounty hunter.

Keller stands out from nearly all the other characters due to his speech; he is a very well-spoken person whereas all the others use slang and some western lingo. 

If you’ve read Ride the Sun Down first, as I did, you’ll have some idea as to how the story will end for certain characters which did spoil this book a little for me. Still it was interesting to see how this happened. 

Hopefully the next published book is really the third in the series. I guess I’ll find out soon enough as I’m looking forward to reading it in the very near future. 

Ride the Red Sun Down

by Thom Nicholson

Signet, May 2005

Martin Keller wasn’t always a bounty hunter whose infamy reached from Colorado Territory to Mexico. Only after the soulless Al Hulett murdered Keller’s wife and son did he turn to tracking killers. And any bounty he collects goes towards finding Hulett – and exacting some long-overdue vengeance….

When a wound holds Keller up, he must rely on the mercy of the townsfolk of Cimarron. For once, he can remove the blinders and take in the welcome sight of Caroline Thompson, the young widow nursing him back to health. After hearing how a black-hearted backshooter killed her man, Keller vows to find her enemy as well as his own – little knowing how close the two deadly trails will come….

Unlike many books that have a hero hunting for the killers of his family, this book doesn’t begin with those deaths, it begins with the wounded Keller riding into town and being chased out by a young lawman out to prove himself, who, like many others, sees bounty hunters as less than desirable people to have in his town. In fact this theme is touched on a number of times during the story.

Keller doesn’t come across as smart as might be expected for a hero, he is easily tricked by Caroline into tracking her husbands’ killers, falling for her feminine wiles.

In fact it’s Nicholson’s character studies that are the standout parts of this book, the fact that Keller isn’t the invincible hero that some westerns have as their lead character makes him easy to relate too. Keller also needs other people to help in his quest and here he teams up with one of Caroline’s ranch hands, JB, an ex-tracker for the Army.

The book can almost be divided into three parts, that of the recovery of Keller and the introductions to the main players in the story. This is follow by the middle part that sees Keller and JB hunting down Caroline’s husband’s killer which provides the link to the men Keller is after. The final part could easily be a book in itself, telling the story of Keller and JB finding out that his quarry has joined a bandit gang in Mexico, and of their help in defeating this small army and defending a Mexican ranch. It’s here Keller meets another woman, Isobel, who competes for his love against the memories of Caroline who he knows is waiting for his return.

There’s plenty of action, especially in the final part of the book, as the story moves in increasing pace to its end where all the loose threads are neatly tied up, leaving me looking forward to reading the further adventures of Martin Keller.