The Trailsman #328

 TEXAS TRIGGERS
as by Jon Sharpe
Signet – February 2009

Skye Fargo is high, dry, and about to die in the heart of Apache country when he stumbles on a ramshackle ranch worked by a family of hardheaded hill folk who own the most valuable thing in the sunbaked hell of west Texas: a water spring. But if they want to hold on to it, they’re going to need more than cold liquid. They’ll need the Trailsman’s hot lead.

If you like tough characters of both sexes then this book is full of them, all out to get what they want with total disregard for others in the desperate struggle for life-giving water. Not only do we have the hill folk and the cattle rancher and his crew but there’s also the added complication of the Apaches.

Jon Sharpe – in this case David Robbins – provides the reader with a very fast paced book filled with action and a number of surprising twists which can only make you wonder as to who will be left alive at the end.

To balance the more brutal scenes in the book David Robbins includes some excellent, humorous, dialogue. The names of the three daughters also produced a big grin from me.

For fans of The Trailsman series and/or David Robbins work this is a must read, and for those who like fast moving, action filled, westerns, then I’d say you won’t be disappointed with this book either.

Utah Hit

as by Charles Langley Hayes

A Black Horse Western from Hale, 1995

Butch Cassidy had become the most wanted outlaw in the whole West. The governors of four states wanted his hide. But he and his Wild Bunch are holed up in a remote part of Utah: Robbers Roost, a natural fortress with armed guards overlooking the few limited entry passes, unapproachable, unassailable. So the marshal, sent by the governors, figured there was only one way to handle Cassidy - hire a long-shooting hit-man - then find some bait to lure the outlaw out of his sanctuary...

Charles Langley Hayes (really author B.J. Holmes) provides his readers with a book that begins with a train robbery then builds gently, and grippingly, to its exciting conclusion. Amoungst the action there are plenty of humourous moments too and the characters - both fictional and real - are presented well.

I found Cassidy’s fascination with an archaeological dig - and Sundance’s dismissal of it - made for some of the most entertaining reading of the story.

And does the book offer us another take on what happened to Cassidy and the Sundance Kid? Well that’s something you’ll have to find out for yourselves. All I can say is the book comes to a satisfying ending.

B.J. Holmes writing as Charles Langley Hayes - or indeed under any of his other pseudonyms - is fast becoming one of my favourite western authors, and I’d suggest going to the trouble to find his books will be well worth your time.

Slocum #107

SIXGUNS AT SILVERADO
as by Jake Logan
Berkley, November 1987

Guns and fear ruled Silverado. The miners that couldn’t be scared into handing over their claims died quick. ‘Cause one man, drunk with greed, would keep on killing until he owned it all. But Slocum aims to see justice done, even if it means looking down the gun barrels of a hired army. And in a mining town set to explode, Slocum’s just the man to light the fuse…

It’s been a while since I’ve read a Slocum book and I picked this one out due to having a note that Jake Logan, in this case, is Jory Sherman. There are certainly many poetic descriptions throughout the fast moving story that would indicate that he did indeed write the book.

In fact it was these portrayals of landscape and weather that provided the most memorable strengths of the story. The opening scenes of Slocum struggling for survival in a blizzard painted some vivid imagery in my mind and had me shivering along with him.

Even though the bad guys are known from the beginning, the author keeps the reader guessing as to how Slocum would finally win the day. Many of the gunfights take place out in the snow and this adds its own dangers to that of flying bullets. There’s also an excellent method of escape, when Slocum is trying to reach Silverado after leaving a cave, that stands out as I can’t remember reading anything like it in any other western.

I’ve read quite a few Slocum books and they’ve fallen into the good, the bad and the downright ugly categories with ease. Sixguns at Silverado is filled with exciting confrontations, tough characters and situations, there’s not as much sex as I expected from an adult western published in the 1980’s, so this entry into the series definitely makes it into the top category.

Comment Moderation

Like many other blogs this one has been hit by multi-spam posts, 19 in all, which I've now deleted. I've now switched on Comment Moderation in an attempt to remove them before they appear on the blog.

.45-Caliber Fury

 by Peter Brandvold

Berkley, February 2005

Cuno Massey thought he had escaped a life behind the gun. He avenged the murder of his father and found peace in the arms of his new wife. Then his dark past found him, and stole the life of his young, expectant bride. Now Cuno realizes his fate – and, with his .45 in hand, he’s going to make certain the killers realize theirs. Because if there’s one thing Cuno has come to thirst for, it’s the bittersweet taste of revenge…

Ever since reading .45-Caliber Revenge I’ve been looking forward to reading this, the second book featuring Peter Brandvold’s young hero Cuno Massey. So does this book match up to my expectations after the excellence of the first book in this series?

The story begins with Cuno and his new, expectant bride, July, making ago of a small farmstead. But it’s not long before a group of bounty hunters arrive, eager for the reward on Massey, and the bullets fly and July dies.

This time I thought Peter Brandvold presented Massey as a colder, more deadly figure, a man who didn’t give a damn about anyone else, a man who only lives to kill his quarry. Even when the chase teams him up with a young woman who is also hunting the killers. They’ve stolen her map showing the location of hidden gold. Massey shows no interest in her or the gold.

Yet Brandvold does not strip Massey of all humanity by totally turning him into an unfeeling killing machine. Massey does not ignore the plight of others, will help them with deadly proficiency.

The violence is graphic and brutal and the characters are very well presented, the story gripping, building to its savage final showdown at a terrific pace.

So did the book match up to my expectations? More than so, in fact I thought this was even better than .45-Calibre Revenge.

Lone Star #18

LONE STAR AND THE GHOST PIRATES

as by Wesley Ellis

Jove, January 1984

Making a mint off a defenceless, sugar-rich nation: that’s what the Baron and his men have in mind when they camouflage a fleet of Starbuck ships sailing from New Orleans to Cuba. But even an obstacle course of explosives, cunning rurales, and the hangman’s noose isn’t enough to throw Jessie and Ki off their trail.

This book makes for a welcome change to the normal land based westerns as quite a lot of it takes place at sea. The first part of the plot revolving around a number of ships that vanish into thin air.

Jessie and Ki – particularly Ki – get into all kinds of trouble as they attempt to solve this mystery and then take down those behind the disappearances. The main plot of trying to control America’s sugar market isn’t something you come across in many, if any other, westerns (at least those I've read), and so gives the reader a pretty unique storyline in a western.

I don’t know who wrote this one but wish I did so I could track down more of his/her work as I found the book to be a fast paced and satisfying read.

The Warhunter #1

 KILLERS’ COUNCIL

by Scott Siegel

Zebra, 1980

Warfield Hunter’s personal vendetta against the Farrel gang led him to the little town of Kimble – just in time to save the sheriff’s life in a shootout with three of those deadly killers. But Hunter knew that Farrel would never stand for this, that Kimble was a doomed town unless everyone backed up the sheriff. What he didn’t know was that certain prominent citizens had decided it was to their advantage for Kimble to be destroyed – and how could even War Hunter save a town that was bent on its own destruction?

Scott Siegel has written a very readable book in Killer’s Council. He fills it with many scheming characters and much of the book is about these people whilst Hunter spends most of his time reminiscing about old times and recalling his childhood with the aging lawman of Kimble, who knew Hunter as a young boy. It’s during these moments that the reader discovers why Hunter is after Farrel.

There are a few burst of action along the way, but most of the story is used to build up the suspense of waiting for Farrel and his gang to ride into town, and when he finally does Siegel produces a fine final showdown that at times provides some savage reading.

For me though, I was a bit disappointed that Hunter got shot through the back yet still managed to fight as well as if he hadn’t been shot. Personally I think he’d have been out of commission after taking such a hit.

Even though there was a bit too much reminiscing for my taste, and that somewhat unrealistic ability of Hunter to continue fighting after being so badly shot, I’m sure I will be reading the second book in the series soon.