Hell on Wheels

SHERIFF STILLMAN 8

By Peter Brandvold

Berkley, September 2006

When Sheriff Ben Stillman accompanies Judge John Bannon and friends to a wedding in Sulfur, Montana Territory, he aims to have a nice long weekend of rest and respite from gunslinging. But Angus Whateley has other plans. He’s just been released from prison, and he’s out to avenge the hanging of his cattle-rustling sons – hangings ordered by Bannon.

Backed by a gang of the most violent and vicious members of his family, Whateley strikes when the judge takes the stagecoach back home. Soon, Stillman finds himself fighting a wheel-bound war against a clan of killers out for bloody revenge…

Peter Brandvold puts Sheriff Stillman into the middle of a fight not of his making in this excellent entry in the series. With his wife accompanying him and other friends too, the lawman really has no choice but to take on the outlaws.

There is plenty of bloody violent gunplay to be found in this book, a lot of which is described in all its gory horror, just witness a couple of brutal killings at the stage station to see what I mean. 

Those who’ve followed this series will be aware of Stillman’s medical issues, and here they get worse, striking him down at the worst moments possible, adding extra tension to his frantic struggles to protect the stagecoach occupants. 

The author switches between the various groups of characters at regular intervals. This allows him time to fill in the backstory of what happened to make Whateley so intent on killing Bannon. We also discover secrets about one of the other stage passengers that adds more depth to the story. 

As the passengers are forced to split up so Stillman’s attempts to save them all become more desperate. As some of Stillman’s friends fall into the clutches of the Whateley clan it seems as if they are doomed to die.

I’ve always enjoyed the Sheriff Stillman novels, they are certainly some of my favourites of Peter Brandvold’s many series. Filled with tough, resourceful characters of both sexes, plots that hit as hard as a .45 bullet and nerve-tearing action scenes, I find these books extremely difficult to put down and this one is right up there with the very best that this series has to offer.

Unfortunately Berkley didn’t publish anymore books in this series, but Peter Brandvold didn’t let that stop him putting out more Stillman stories. Through self-publishing and then with Wolfpack Publishing (who’ve also made all the old books available again) Sheriff Stillman continues to battle the lawless and the series has now reached its fourteenth book, and I’m very much looking forward to reading them all as soon as I can.

Once Late with a .38

SHERIFF BEN STILLMAN

number 7 of 8 *

By Peter Brandvold

Berkley, October 2003

Sheriff Ben Stillman has enough of a hard time keeping peace in the town of Clantick without having to worry about the likes of Matt Parish. Since his father died, Matt has been responsible for the Circle P Ranch – and his hot-headed streak has been responsible for a lot of trouble with the other ranchers . . . including his future father-in-law, Tom Suthern. 

Despite failing health and loss of profits, Tom refuses to sell his spread to Matt, even if he is marrying his daughter. So, when Matt is discovered in the presence of Tom’s bullet-riddled corpse, people naturally assume he murdered the old man. Now, it’s up to Ben Stillman to protect Matt from a trigger-happy posse and find the real killer – before it’s too late . . . 

Sheriff Ben Stillman has always been one of my favourite characters to come from the pen of Peter Brandvold, perhaps because reading the first Stillman book was the one that introduced me to the authors writing and I’ve been a fan ever since. 

Peter Brandvold’s work can often be very graphic when he describes the violent scenes in his stories and the intimate moments between male and female characters. Language can be very colourful too, but in this book all these elements are kept to a minimum.

A number of other people from the town of Clantick have parts to play in this fast-moving story that sees Doc Evans taking a central role. In this series Stillman often tracks known outlaws but this time he has to become a detective, questioning suspects (and there’s a fair few of them) before the pieces of the jigsaw come together. Even as they do the plot thickens with twists and turns as double-cross and triple-cross further complicate the situation. 

The story regularly switches between a variety of characters as the violence escalates. Stillman eventually blundering into a situation that it seems he cannot possibly escape. Tension mounts as surprising revelations come one after the other leading to a thrilling conclusion. 

Once Late with a .38 is another excellent entry into the Sheriff Ben Stillman series and I’m certain it won’t be long before I read the next book.

* I’ve indicated at the top of this review that Once Late with a .38 is book seven of eight, which is true if we look at the original run of the series published by Berkley. Some eight years after book eight appeared Peter Brandvold started writing the series again. There are now 14 and they are all available through Wolfpack Publishing.