Longarm #390

Longarm and the Bloody Relic

By Tabor Evans

Jove, May 2011

If you are intending to read this book then please skip the second paragraph below, which is the blurb from the book, and in my opinion gives away too much of the plot. Tells you the secret of the Star of Father Cristobal, a secret the author doesn’t reveal until near the end of the story.

When someone steals the Star of Father Cristobal from a mission in San Antonio, Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long is called on to recover the religious relic. But with no witnesses to the theft, it’s gonna take a miracle to get it back.

Turns out the Star may hold the key to finding a legendary treasure. But the one man who can decode its ancient clues has been kidnapped by a ruthless French fortune hunter. After a sexy Mexican dancer saves Longarm from getting bushwhacked, he’s hot on a trail that may lead to a lost city – and a lot of lost lives…

Right from the opening chapter this book piles action upon action. There’s gunfights, chases, and a little bed-room fun, and mystery, as Longarm attempts to find the Star of Father Cristobal and discover why it was taken, and by whom. If that’s not enough then there’s the kidnapping to add further intrigue. And then there’s Longarm’s desire for revenge – his need to kill a couple of bad-guys for murdering an innocent girl.

So, as I said, this is an action packed book, that starts fast and keeps upping the pace until the secret of the Star is solved and a final showdown takes place, resulting in a just death for the main bad-guy.

Great to see Jessica Starbuck get a few mentions too. As does her final adventure in the Lone Star series – I can’t say more than that without giving away part of this story.

When I tell you the author writing behind the pseudonym of Tabor Evans this time is James Reasoner, I’m sure many western readers will realise that they are going to get a quality read from this book. In fact I’d say this is one of James’ best entries in the series, and he’s written a fair few of them since his first appeared way back in October 1993. Sadly it seems this will be his last, and if that does turn out to be true then it’s definitely a great book to finish with. Let’s just hope James returns to writing Longarm books further down the trail.

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.

Rogue Lawman #6

GALLOWS EXPRESS

By Peter Brandvold

Berkley, May 2011

Brazos got off lucky this time. His pa, Blue Tierney, saved him from receiving due justice at the hands of a hangman in Trinity Ridge. Which means the Tierney’s and their gang are continuing to roam free, spreading their terror…

What this town needs is a temporary lawman who exhibits little diplomacy when it comes to doling out justice – and Gideon Hawk is that man. Not everyone is sure of him though, especially a hard-nosed yet fetching schoolteacher and some shady businessmen…

Like most hardened outlaws, the Tierney’s don’t take kindly to getting pushed out of their territory, and they put up a damned good fight. But Hawk won’t back down until he has them strung up from the gallows they once escaped…

Once more Peter Brandvold comes up with the goods. This is a tough, violent, and very fast moving story that throws up a couple of surprises for fans of this series. The first being Hawk’s promise to a dead lawman to see the Tierney’s hang, rather than dish out his usual form of justice – killing them on sight. The other surprise comes at the end where we see Hawk considering settling down and getting married! That’s sure left me wanting to see another Rogue Lawman book come out as soon as possible so I can find out if this happens.

The book is filled with hard-hitting action, that builds in savagery towards an exciting and brutal final gunfight that Hawk is luck to walk away from. There’s plenty of cracking dialogue too, often laced with touches of humour. The story also sees the return of Saradee, the girl who kills as easily and proficiently as Hawk.

For fans of the Rogue Lawman series, and Peter Brandvold’s work – this is a book not to be missed.

Gallows Express should hit the shelves any day now if it hasn’t already. Definitely a book all westerns fans should enjoy. 

The Secret of Devil's Canyon

By I.J. Parnham

A Black Horse Western from Hale, April 2011

When Mayor Maxwell and his daughter are brutally murdered, feelings in Bear Creek run high. Even when the killer is caught and sentenced to life in prison, the townsfolk demand a lynching. So sheriff Bryce calls in Nathaniel McBain to spirit the killer away through Devil’s Canyon to Beaver Ridge jail.

At first, Nathaniel manages to stay one step ahead of the pursuing mob; but as he loses ground, he realizes he faces an even bigger problem: his prisoner may be innocent after all….

A dark secret about what really happened is buried in Devil’s Canyon. Will Nathaniel be able to uncover the truth before the mob reaches him?

I.J. Parnham presents the reader with a book that starts off like a straight-forward storyline but with the introduction of more and more characters, such as the bone-hunter Jim Dragon and his enemy Pierre Dulaine, and Emily Chambers who is searching for her missing father, all of whom seem to be involved in different threads to the story, it isn’t long before the plot throws up twist after twist that makes this book impossible to put down until the reader discovers how everything is resolved.

It’s the plots twists and turns that make I.J. Parnham’s books so appealing to me. Every time I think I know what is going on, what will happen next, Ian throws in another twist to completely throw me off track. Descriptions are kept to a minimum, just enough to allow the reader to visualise what the people, landscapes, and towns look like. Ian tells his story’s at a fast pace, uses believable dialogue, and ties everything up neatly by the end.

The Secret of Devil’s Canyon is a very entertaining read that, once more, leaves me looking forward to his next BHW. This book is available now from the usual Internet sources. 

A Way in the Wilderness

By Paula L. Silici

Moonlight Mesa Associates, May 2011

Left by a buffalo hunter on the doorstep of a brothel after her parents are massacred by Indians, young Meg Finn grows up to loathe her life as the cleaning woman at Dodge City’s notorious Black Boots Inn. When she is tricked by the madam into thinking she’s been sold for one night’s pleasure to mysterious rancher Nathan Barris, her world is turned upside down. So begins Meg’s adventure farther west to search for her Uncle Sean. Little does she know that fate will bring her face to face with Nate Barris again. Will the secrets she harbors keep her from finding love and acceptance in his arms at last, or will those secrets completely destroy them both?

I picked this book with some trepidation, as it’s not my usual reading choice, for this book is billed as a western romance. Now I’ve not read any out and out romance books before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. What I did find out very quickly is that Paula L. Silici knows how to write, knows how to create believable characters that capture the imagination from the opening scenes, knows how to keep her readers turning the pages.

This is a book that deals with the happiness and fear that falling in love brings forth within people and hidden secrets that could rip apart their dreams – and in this case it’s not just Meg’s story but there’s a secondary romance thread that follows the fortunes of Holly, a girl who leaves the Black Boots Inn along with Meg. Holly has to deal with a cowboy who knows what she did for a living and seems determined to destroy any hope of her starting afresh. How Roy Lunt will be dealt with was one of the storylines that kept me eager to keep reading.

There’s also another thread to this tale. This involves three orphan children that are rescued from being sold as slaves by Meg and her friends. Taking these children with them adds another enemy that wants these children back so must be confronted at some point. At first this storyline is kept to the sidelines, simmering just under the surface before it rears its ugly head and leads to a final shootout and ultimately leads to repairing damage done to other relationships within this fast moving story.

As Shirely Johnson, senior reviewer for the MidWest Book Review says, “This is a wonderful romantic read laced with adventure, mystery, and western flair.” And I don’t think I could sum it up any better than that.

Dakota Rage

By Jake Douglas

A Black Horse Western from Hale, April 2011

Chance Lawton lived with his best friend, Ishna-Kobay, amongst a Lakota Sioux tribe in the Black Hills of Dakota. They hunted and broke mustangs – until a fake army patrol ambushed them, stole their belongings and killed Ishna-Kobay.

Lawton usually liked to steer clear of trouble, but avenging his friend’s murder was no trouble: the way he saw it, it was his bounden duty. And if duty meant facing ‘Captain’ Brodie Hall’s guns, then so be it….

This book is filled with fast moving action from almost the first word. Lawton’s desire for revenge seemingly the only storyline, and that would be enough for most authors. But Jake Douglas further complicates matters with the discovery of hidden gold nuggets that Lawton cleverly uses to draw his enemy to where he wants him.

The final showdown between Lawton and McCracken – the actual killer of Ishna-Kobay - is an exciting one on one without guns that is told brutally. This fight carried out under Indian rules. In fact a band of Sioux play a major role to the outcome of Lawton’s quest for vengeance and the other plot threads.

Dakota Rage is a well-written book that moves forwards at a tremendous pace as it builds to its excellent ending. But then again I’d expect nothing more from this writer: Jake Douglas being non other than the highly regarded western author Keith Hetherington.

Dakota Rage has an official release date of April 29^th but is available now.

The Outlaw Marshal

Many of you will already be aware that Edward A. Grainger's latest Cash Laramie has recently appeared at The Flash Fiction Offensive but just in case there's some of you that haven't read it yet then please click the link and read this excellent short story that shows the darker side of Cash Laramie. (I've only got around to posting about this now as I've been away for a few days)