Wolf Creek #1: Bloody Trail

By Ford Fargo

Western Fictioneers, September 2012

The town of Wolf Creek is assaulted by a small army of former Confederate guerrillas, who rob the bank and leave dead innocents in their wake. Sheriff G.W. Satterlee and his posse must overtake the outlaws before they reach Indian Territory but the chase is complicated by the secret pasts of several posse members.

As most will know Western Fictioneers is an organisation made up of published western writers and this series is a group effort. Each author writes from the perspective of his or her own unique character, blended together into a single novel. 

Appearing as Ford Fargo in this volume: Clay More, James J. Griffin, Troy D. Smith, James Reasoner, L. J. Martin, & Cheryl Pierson.

Before beginning this book I did wonder whether it would flow together or seem like a number of short stories told by different authors about the same place and characters. Yes, the different writers styles are evident but the plot has been carefully thought out and each authors’ work joins together seamlessly.

Authors have two chapters in which to tell their part of the tale. A couple use one of them to flesh out the background of their characters, and Clay More, who opens the book, also explains the history of Wolf Creek. Clay More’s second chapter then moves up a gear in the action stakes as the town is attacked and you have to wonder if there will be anyone left alive by the end of chapter two.

The story then becomes a chase tale but this is complicated by the secrets of the posse members and animosities due to some having ridden for opposite sides during the Civil War. Some of the authors resolve these problems and reveal the secrets, others hint at them and leave things hanging for further novels.

And talking of the next books, I’ve been informed that book 2 is almost ready to be published, and books 3 and 4 are in development. On the strength of Bloody Trail I for one am eagerly looking forward to discovering the fates of the people of Wolf Creek.

If you’d like to find out more about the authors, their characters, and the town of Wolf Creek then you can do so here.

Available as paperback and ebook.

The Blackwell Claim

By Troy D. Smith

A Western Trail Blazer Dime Novel 

December 2010

GOLD... Seeking a fortune from a pile of rocks or out of a streambed. Men from all walks of life are digging and panning for gold in the West and the Blackwell brothers are no different. But along with gold mining comes rough towns like Grizzly Gulch, fighting the elements, and those pesky claim jumpers. Raised tough in the hills of Tennessee, are the Blackwell brothers up to the challenges of prospecting?

This is a short story of around 5,000 words that features the Blackwell brothers who also appear in four other similar length tales too. I haven’t read the others and am not sure where this one fits in with them, but my enjoyment of this wasn’t hindered in any way by not having read about them before.

Troy D. Smith has planned this story well, introduces the reader to the brothers and other characters that will play major roles in this tale of panning for gold and claim jumping. Descriptions and dialogue are well handled and the situation the brothers find themselves in is believable. The story is expertly paced building to its final fight that resolves the problems the brothers are having with a group of ex-soldiers (deserters) who are working the opposite side of the river to where they have their claim.

As I said, this is a short story so therefore is a quick read. I found it entertaining and a good introduction to Troy D. Smith’s writing and it left me eager to try some of his full-length novels.

Western Fiction News

One of Western Fiction Review's favourite authors, David Whitehead, has been busy making some of his books available for Kindle. The following four are out now:

The Doug Thorne books are written with one of Germany's top western authors, Alfred Wallon.

Hang 'Em All is the first in the Judge and Jury series.

Sometime during the next week or so the following three books will be available:

The Silver Trail is the first in the Carter O'Brien series. The Wilde Boys is the first in the Wilde Boys series. Apacheria is the first in the Sam Lockwood series.

Soon after David will make available:

Rattler Creek is the first in the Jim Allison series. It is hoped that the following two titles will become available at this time too: Gunsmoke Legend, the first Ash Colter book, and Heller, the first in the Heller series.

If you like to read other genres too, then you should consider these two books that are both out now:

The latest issue of Black Horse Extra is out and, as usual, contains a great mix of western reading. 

New Black Horse author Lee Clinton looks at the book True Grit in depth and discusses just why it works so well.

Jack Martin offers thoughts on writing hardboiled westerns.

And there's plenty of other articles to enjoy too.

And just in case you missed them here are some links to some other great western posts on other blogs:

Troy D. Smith has written a great article at Western Fictioneers that looks at Western Comics.

Jory Sherman has appeared in two interviews recently and these can be found here and here.

An interview with Robert Randisi can be found here.

An interview with Peter Brandvold can be found here.

And if you enjoy watching some of the more obscure and unknown western films, David Robbins, has been posting about some here. These include Johnny Depp in Dead Man, Brad Hunt in The Journeyman, and Sam Shepard in Purgatory.