Desert Pearls

by James Gordon White

A Black Horse Western from Hale, 1997

Clay Cameron turns bounty hunter to save his ranch. He tracks outlaw Luke McCann and his woman, Julie Banning, into the California Badlands. In the ensuing gunfight he blinds McCann. Wrestling with guilt, and his attraction for Julie, Cameron is determined to bring McCann in alive.

But Cameron isn’t the only one tracking McCann, five vengeance driven brothers will stop at nothing to kill the outlaw and those with him. As they head deeper into the desert rampaging Apaches join the chase.

Once in the desert Cameron and his two prisoners will meet Floyd Bigelow, an old man on a hunt of his own for an extraordinary prize.

Having read a book by this author a few years back I expected an entertaining read and that’s definitely what I was presented with. The action never let up from the opening line. Bigelow’s quest adds an interesting twist to the tale and comes across as believable, even though I’ve never come across anything like it before. Cameron’s attraction to Julie and her hatred for him provide some great battles of wills, not to mention some erotic imagery.

Are Cameron and Bigelow successful in their missions and does Cameron win the girl’s heart? I guess you’re going to have to find that out for yourselves.

Possibly the best BHW I’ve read to date.

Outcasts

 by Tim McGuire

Leisure, November 2001

The fourth book featuring Clay Cole: The Rainmaker

The Indian Territory was a wild, lawless place, a place not many white men dared enter - unless they had a reason. Clay Cole had a very good reason. He wanted to avoid the law. Cole had a price on his head and bounty hunters on his trail, so he thought it best to keep out of sight. But his plans all changed when he tries to save someone’s life. When the smoke clears he had a Nez Perce baby on his hands, and an obligation born of guilt and honour to find the infant’s people. That meant travel and lots of it - travel through some very dangerous territory...

This is a story that will lift and tear at your emotions as you read the engaging bonding between Cole and the Nez Perce infant, share the ups and downs of Cole’s guilt at how he came to be saddled with the child. Share his sense of loss when the youngster goes missing and his elation at finding her again.

All the above mixed in with the threat of death as the bounty hunters close in, as the truth about who, and what Cole has done, becomes known to the vividly drawn characters that fill this book.

If the ending of this beautifully written book doesn’t bring a lump to your throat, for more than one reason, then you just aint human!

For me, definately Tim McGuire’s best work to date.

The Funeral of Tanner Moody

as by various writers

Leisure Books, July 2004

This was a book I’d been eagerly awaiting the publiction of. Was the wait worth it? Definately.

The Funeral of Tanner Moody is a collaboration of stories from nine different authors. Tanner Moody has passed on and many people gather for his wake, many with tales to tell about the life of Tanner Moody.

Robert Randisi cleverly links the stories by using a reporter. A newspaper man who wants to tell the life of Tanner Moody. And not just any reporter either but a man famous in his own right, Bat Masterson. Other real people appear in some of the links and tales, my favourite being the inclusion of Jack London.

The stand out stories for me are those by Peter Brandvold and Kerry Newcomb. I wondered why? Decided that the only reason must be that I prefer stories written in the third person. I also liked how James Reasoner and L. J. Washburn linked their stories by more than just Tanner Moody.

Excellent book, find it, buy it, read it now!

Me? I’m hoping there will be another along these lines soon.