The Gunsmith #26

EAGLE’S GAP

as by J. R. Roberts

Charter March ’84

Bank robberies are common in the Idaho territory. But when the Wido bank is robbed, and a deputy found dead with a strange puncture wound, that is unusual. For once, Clint Adams vows not to get involved as he moves on with his traveling gunsmith shop.

But when the Gunsmith meets a beautiful young girl who is fleeing for her life, all his resolve vanishes. The girl has a bizarre tale to tell about a circus run by an Italian master criminal. And before he knows it, the Gunsmith is up against the strangest band of outlaws the West has ever seen!

An early entry into this long running series sees Clint Adams, The Gunsmith, portrayed as a much harder character than now days. Quick with his gun, and quick to use it, this book is filled with action, more or less non-stop and quite graphic in places.

Here the Gunsmith finds himself battling a circus full of criminals who have an ingenious way of carrying out robberies that leaves no tracks. The criminals are made up of a strange mix of people including an aborigine, complete with boomerang, lion tamer and Italian acrobats. The final chase and showdown takes place on modes of transport not often read about in westerns.

The book, like most of the series, is easy to read and moves along at great pace. If you’re a Gunsmith fan, or just have a passing interest in the series, you should enjoy this one.

The Ranger

as by Dan Mason

Harper, December 1990

A cryptic note sends ranger Lex Cranshaw deep into Texas on the trail of the brutal killer behind a series of horrific and unexplained hangings. The murderous trail leads him to a town choked with stark fear, dark secrets – and warnings in hot lead. Cranshaw has vowed to stop at nothing to exact justice for the victims, whose numbers are still growing…and the next number up could be his own.

Dan Mason sure believes in staking the odds against his hero. Nobody in this story has time for the Ranger, in fact most would rather see him gone – or better yet, dead.

The story is told in a hard-boiled style and has some memorable dialogue exchanges, particularly at the end of the opening chapter.

Mason also keeps the reader guessing as to who is carrying out the killings and why, although the mysterious start to the tale soon becomes a traditional western plotline.

Cranshaw is an interesting character, his failing perhaps being his driving need to see the job through, and to do this without any help; a need that gets him into all kinds of dangerous situations.

This is a fast moving, tough tale, that includes a couple of mysteries along the way, that proved to be a satisfying read, which means I will be picking up the next book in the series sometime soon.

Dan Mason is a pseudonym for Charley McDade.

Adam Steele #20

WANTED FOR MURDER

as by George G. Gilman

NEL, April 1979

Adam Steele’s gun was still smoking as the Chinese girl uttered his name with her dying breath. The real killer had escaped and now Steele was on the run with a murder charge on his head.

Steele needed help. Martha Craig and the two Mexican outlaws could provide that if he agreed to assassinate a Mexican government official. To accept would make him a murderer. To refuse would put his neck in the noose for the Chinese girl’s killing. Either way he was in very deep trouble.

George G. Gilman (Terry Harknett) has written a terrific story in Wanted For Murder. His two plotlines twist together in what seems to be an impossible situation for Adam Steele to escape from a free man – or even with his life.

There is plenty of time for Steele to reflect upon his reasons for taking another’s life, as he can relate to the need for vengeance, even though he remains coldly indifferent to the agonizing story behind the assassination attempt. And it’s the fact he only kills to satisfy his own need for revenge, or if he’s in a life or death confrontation, that provides the fascination of this story, that keeps the reader turning the pages to see if Adam Steele can talk, or fight, his way out of having to pull the trigger.

George G. Gilman has a reputation for writing books filled with death and gruesome scenes of descriptive killing, and rightly so in many cases – particularly in his earlier work. The death toll isn’t high in this book, Steele only killing one person - although that’s not the only death within the story. The book is filled with a number of brutal scenes as the tough characters, of both sexes, engage in a gripping battle of wits and nerve. There are a couple of superbly written, tension filled, chase sequences, that’ll keep the reader turning the pages.

If you’re a fan of tough, gritty westerns then this is a book not to be missed.

I must also give credit to Tony Masero, for painting such a superb cover for this book, probably my favourite of the entire Adam Steele series.

Once A Renegade

by Peter Brandvold

Berkley, June 2002

Why half-breed Shambeau killed a couple of men and scalped another wasn’t important to some. Now Sheriff Ben Stillman has a murder case on his hands and as the law prescribes, he must hunt down and hang the renegade. But nobody knows the land better than Shambeau and bringing him in isn’t going to be easy. And with the Sheriff away from town tracking Shambeau, another group of outlaws sees it as the ideal opportunity to rob the bank.

This is the fifth book to feature Sheriff Stillman and Peter Brandvold gives the reader a twist to the posse hunting outlaw plot, by having the hero being part of the posse being killed off brutally one by one by the outlaw, and at anytime Stillman could become one of the victims. This adds some terrific suspense to the hunt.

Also Stillman, knowing he must do as the law says, sympathizes somewhat with the man he is tracking, as both he and Shambeau are relics from a west where revenge was accepted - and that was why Shambeau had killed wasn’t it?

Having Stillman away from town, Peter Brandvold inserts a great subplot with the bank robbery that allows him to bring the townspeople into the story, characters already familiar to readers of this series. But can they succeed in stopping the vicious band of outlaws from getting away with robbery?

This book once more proves that Peter Brandvold can tell a gripping story and I would urge all fans of westerns to check him out if you haven’t already done so.

The Fourth Horseman

 as by Martin Bishop

A Black Horse Western from Hale, 1989

A mystery rider has appeared and like a phantom he doesn’t leave tracks. Then the killings begin. Sheriff Hall begins putting the pieces together and soon the jigsaw is almost complete. When Talbot is shot the sheriff has reason to believe his theory is correct but then a stranger hits town. A cowboy with his silver decorated saddle and an entourage of bodyguards; he makes quite an impression on the folk of Bannonville. He makes an impression on the sheriff too, but an altogether different one...

Martin Bishop is one of the many pseudonyms used by Lauran Paine and here he starts the book off well with the mystery of the phantom rider. Plenty of questions about this horseman and the ensuing killings pulled me into the story.

Unfortunately I didn’t think Paine kept the mysterious elements going long enough. Shortly into the book the sheriff, and the reader, begin to figure out the plot and this is all to readily revealed in the storyline and all to soon the book falls into a familiar western tale.

The book is written well enough and proves an entertaining read that builds well to its straight forward, no twists, ending. Unfortunately I couldn’t help feeling cheated somewhat as the beginning promised so much.

The Spanish Bit Saga #12

 THE MEDICINE KNIFE

by Don Coldsmith

Bantam, October 1989

Sky-Eyes was once a French soldier, now he lives with the People and has a wife, Pale Star. Because he speaks the language of the “hairfaces” he leads a small party on a trading mission, to exchange pelts for iron items with the Spanish at Santa Fe. Once there Sky-Eyes is accused of spying while Pale Star attracts the unwanted attention of a Hairface. To get out alive Sky-Eyes must combine his white man’s skills at political maneuvering and his newly learned ways of the people.

Another good entry in this excellent series that sees Don Coldsmith catch the reader’s attention early on with skilled telling of the Peoples way of life, and their beliefs - and Sky-Eyes acceptance of them, even though they go against his teachings.

The description of the journey to Santa Fe builds with tension that explodes with the accusations leveled at Sky-Eyes, leading to an exciting climax.

Maybe not the best entry in the series, but well worth a look as it tells of an interesting time, first trading, in the development of the People.

The Trailsman #6

DAKOTA WILD

as by Jon Sharpe

Signet, May 1981

Hired by prim schoolteacher Karen Fisher to guide her two wagons of students through one of the most violent territories in the West, it wasn’t long before Fargo learned the truth about the twelve youngsters. Soon it wasn’t just them that posed problems as an army of vicious buffalo hunters saw them as easy pickings. And if they survived that there was a double-cross waiting at their destination...

For anyone wanting to find out about Fargo’s past then this book contains lots of information. It tells how Fargo came to be called Skye Fargo and of his quest for revenge.

Fargo is portrayed as a tough character who doesn’t pull the punches to spare anyone’s feelings. We also find out that Fargo has a mean streak in him as vicious as any of the badmen he comes up against. Surprisingly for an early entry into the series it’s sixty odd pages before Fargo indulges in any adult entertainment.

The book moves at a fast pace and offers all the action expected from a Trailsman book although the mystery elements, that many books in this series contain, are almost non-existent.

Somewhat predictable but still worth a look.