SOLDIER'S SONG

CANYON O’GRADY

Number 11 of 25

By Jon Sharpe

Cover art by Jerome Podwil

Signet, January 1991

Canyon O’Grady was wearing the uniform of a full-bird colonel. This masquerade was part of the big redheaded U.S. special agent’s mission to find out what was going wrong with the Fourth Cavalry Regiment in Texas.

Someone was giving the rampaging Comanches government-issue guns…somebody was giving the troopers a bloody taste of hell…and somebody was going to pay full price for murder when O’Grady found his target and pulled the trigger….

The gun problem is just one plot thread in this fast-paced read. Another being the health of the Colonel Colton, commander of Fort Johnson and the Fourth Cavalry – O’Grady’s assignment being to discover if Colton is fit enough to remain in charge. Colton has ambitions to become a General, and believes he has to prove himself by leading his men into battle to make this happen. Unfortunately, he’s been making some rash decisions or none at all, and these could prove to be fatal to both him and his men.

There are some terrific battle sequences in this tale, both with the Comanches and the gunrunners. Most of the story, though, revolves around O’Grady’s investigation, his attempts to discover who is selling the army’s guns and also trying to find out who is plotting to assassinate Colonel Colton. The Canyon O’Grady series falls under the banner of adult westerns, so there are also some explicit sex scenes too. There is little in the way of surprises as the author makes the reader aware of who is doing what but following O’Grady’s struggle to unveil the truth makes for entertaining reading.

Jon Sharpe is a pseudonym behind which a number of authors wrote, in this case I believe the author to be Chet Cunningham. If you’re a fan of Cunningham’s Pony Soldiers series you might be interested to know that when O’Grady is discussing tactics with Colton, he describes the exact method that Lightning Troop use in the Pony Soldier books.

Comanche Massacre

PONY SOLDIERS

Number 2 of 10

By Chet Cunningham
Cover art by Bruce Minney

Leisure, 1987

The Comanches had been pushed too far by the corrupt government in Washington, driven to anger by the whiskey traders and formed into a deadly fighting force by cold-blooded gunrunners. They were killing mean and vowed to sweep across the territory like a cyclone – murdering, scalping, and raping….

The Pony Soldiers were a dirty, undisciplined rabble, but they were the only chance a thousand settlers had to see another sunrise. They were an unyielding rock in a sea of bloodshed, determined to fight to the last – each man swearing to kill ten Comanche before he died.

This story starts shortly after the events of the first book. Captain Colt Harding using his newly formed Lightning Troop to attack the Comanche whenever he can whilst also searching for his kidnapped daughter. Harding’s hate comes across strongly and he and his troopers’ willingness to kill their enemy sees them committing many similar atrocities to their foe. The opening massacre carried out by the Lightning Troop seeing them slaughter men, women and children without remorse. Seeing how Harding tries to justify this to himself makes for some interesting reading even though readers may not agree with his rationalizing. 

After the opening destruction of the Comanche camp the author mixes a number of different storylines. There’s further training for the Lightning Troop. A man-hungry young lady who doesn’t care if her conquests are married or not, nor for the consequences of her dalliances. Then there’s White Eagle’s band of Comanche and his quest to pregnant a wife with a son. They are also the Comanche who killed Harding’s family and stole his infant daughter, Sadie, now known as Laughing Golden Hair. A fair amount of the book deals with the Comanche way of life. Each of these plotlines slowly entwine and deadly confrontations are inevitable and much blood will be spilled, the death toll high as the soldiers face superior odds.

Chet Cunningham has written a decent, almost episodic, follow up to the first book. It’s very readable, contains some brutal action scenes and a little graphic sex. Harding and White Eagle’s characters are developed further as are other recurring individuals. Not all the storylines come to an end thus ensuring readers will want to pick up the next book, something I hope to do very soon.

I’ve stated this is the second book of ten, which is true of the original paperback series. Many years later Chet Cunningham continued the series, publishing three more stories as ebooks.

Interview: Chet Cunningham

My latest interview is with Chet Cunningham who has had over 300 books published in a variety of different genres. Around half of these have been westerns put out under his own name and a number of pseudonyms. 

When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

In high school we had a test essay type. I didn’t really know the answer, so I wrote all the way around it. Got an A. So I said this writing is a great thing to do.

Did anyone encourage you to be a writer, and if so whom?

No one urged me to be a writer. Just the opposite. When I started college I flunked the English exam and was put in the remedial English class. The HEA of the journalism department said since I was in remedial English I couldn’t be a journalism major. I eventually got in by selling four short articles to the Portland newspapers.

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

Bushwhackers on the Circle K..l968

What appeals to you about the western genre?

I like the historical element in westerns and the research needed.

What is the biggest challenge in writing a western?

Getting the history right and making it work. Then finding new plot ideas that haven’t been done to death.

How much importance do you place on research and how important is historical accuracy in westerns?

If they find mistakes in your history, the reader won’t believe the story.

You wrote the first three books in the Agent Brad Spear series, why didn’t you write anymore of them?

Total disappointment. The editor there thought he was the greatest western writer alive. He completely rewrote all three of the books throwing in western trite parses and characters. It was a three book contract. I didn’t ask to do more.

You’ve written books in a number of series under pseudonyms, such as Arrow & Saber, Canyon O’Grady and Lone Star, are there any of these series you’d have liked to have written more for and why?

At one time I was writing for five different western series at the same time. I did it to earn a living. Yes, I would have liked to have written dozens more for each one. Most folded or cut back and I was not needed.

I believe you wrote a book for the Faraday series called The Owlhoot Express, but Lynx folded before it could be published. Did this story ever appear elsewhere?

The OWL HOOT EXPRESS resides unpublished but writer paid for on boot hill.

When the Spur series first came out three books were published and then the series was launched from number one again, why did this happen?

The publisher never did tell me why they did three and then restarted them over again from number one. It may have been wanting a new logo and a PR sendoff. Just not sure. I did 55 books in that series.

I’ve noticed some of your Pony Soldiers novels have been issued as ebooks, are we likely to see more of these, and/or any of your other books appearing in this form and what do you think about ebooks in general?

Ebook Westerns….just don’t seem to sell. I had the 5 Pony Soldiers on Ebooks for seven years and I think they sold about twenty copies for all five books.  Now they are Nook with Barnes and Nobel. We’ll see how they do.

Ebooks general: I have three new ones out from my own publishing outfit. With Kindle. All three are action adventure. Ebooks take a lot of promotion. The big sellers of ebooks are writers who are already famous and have a known name. Mid level writers will not sell many ebooks. I am a mid list writer.

You’ve recently had a Black Horse Western published, and a couple of others before this, can we expect to see more?

A fourth is now in works and they are looking at a fifth western from me. I expect them to buy it.

Do you prefer writing series books or stand-alones and why?

I much prefer writing series books. You make one sale to the editor for a series and then do 3, 6, 10, 18, or 64 books about the same characters. Easier, faster, and they sell more than a stand alone.

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

I’d go with the Pony Soldiers. Now out of print but available used on Amazon.com for two or three dollars each. Some of my best writing, and my best plots. Also the Seal Team Seven series. l8 books, some are now being re-released. Others used on Amazon.

What do you think of the western genre today and what do you think the future holds for the western?

The TV series of westerns sparked huge numbers of paperback Western Series. Must have been thirty or forty of them. Now there is almost no market for the western. A few publishers bring out a few Westerns. But the market is really low and slow. There will always be western novels. But in the future they will be longer, more complicated plots and they will delve into more historical areas.

As well as westerns you write in the action adventure genre, which books should readers be looking out for here?

Afore mentioned SEAL TEAM SEVEN books.. Also three Ebooks from Kindle Amazon…NORTH KOREAN BLOWUP, RADIATION WIPEOUT, and DIRTY BOMB TERROR. on line for only $4.99.

You’ve also written a number of non-fiction books, can you please tell us something about them.

Fifteen books. Most of them are in the medical field: SCIATICA, IRRiTAL BOWEL SYNDROME, MACULAR DEGENERATION. Like that. All are aimed at the ordinary person, not a medal person. Two non fiction books about motorcycles and cars. Two military books: HELL WOULDN’T STOP, (Wake Island battle and prisoners) and FROGMEN OF WORLD WAR II.

You created the Read-4-Fun program and founded the San Diego Book Awards Association. Could you please tell us something about them.

We got book donations for kids in the fifth grade level. If the kid in class read 200 pages of a chapter type book, he could select a free book from the 4-Fun shelf. For some it was the first book they had ever owned.

What is your favourite western movie and why?

TRUE GRIT….Why? The story line, the setting and the fact of Big John Wayne. This is the first one made, not the second one.

Finally what do you read for pleasure?

Very little. I have macular degeneration and when writing fiction I do it in 22 point bold type on the screen. This I am in 18 point but still need a magnifying glass to be sure I get the words right. Even large print books are in 16 point, so I need an 8 to 10 power magnifier to read a few words at a time. Slow, grinding work and no fun.  I’d rather check out the Cowboy channel from Encore. They have westerns on 24 hours a day, every day.

Pony Soldiers #1

SLAUGHTER AT BUFFALO CREEK
by Chet Cunningham
Leisure, 1987

White Eagle was on the warpath, killing, looting and raping his way across the territory. No one was safe – not even Captain Colt Harding’s wife and son. They were killed and mutilated; his four-year-old daughter was captured by the fierce Comanche warrior.

Burning with hatred, and thirsting for revenge, Harding mounted up his men and began a long and bloody trek that would continue until he had seen White Eagle’s corpse rotting in the desert sun – until he rescued his daughter from brutal Indian slavery.

Having read a few of the later books in this series I was looking forward to reading this, to find out how it all began.

Chet Cunningham cleverly combines two plot threads that both emerge from the slaughter that takes the lives of Harding’s wife and son. There’s the kidnapping of Harding’s young daughter, Sadie, and then there’s the investigation into the money that goes missing from the stricken wagons, which can only have been stolen by the soldiers who arrive in time to bury the dead.

Chet Cunningham tells his story through chapters that alternate between Hardin and his quest to find his daughter, the hunt for the thief and that persons plans to escape with the money, and Sadie’s life in the Comanche camp; how she’s adopted by a childless woman and taught the way of the Comanche. This latter part providing some fascinating insights into the everyday life of the Comanche.

As the story races to its conclusion it soon becomes evident that Chet Cunningham will not be able to resolve both plotlines before books end, and this is obviously his intention; thus ensuring the reader will have to buy the next book in the series if they want to find out if Hardin ever frees his daughter. I know for sure I’ll soon be picking up the next book to find out.