A NEED FOR VIOLENCE

THE BATTLING HARRIGANS OF THE FRONTIER

A NEED FOR VIOLENCE

By Dusty Richards and Matthew P. Mayo

Pinnacle Books, December 2023

Spring, 1850. After a brutally long winter in the Rockies, Mack Harrigan and his growing family have learned to manage the harsh realities of frontier life. Their new friends, the Shoshone, have taught them the skills they need to survive in this rugged land, from tracking and hunting to fishing and foraging. But the skills they need most are those of the Shoshone warrior, when their camp is attacked by an enemy tribe…. 

Sometimes there is a need for violence. This is one of those times.

The attackers are merciless. They crush the skulls of their victims. Slice off their scalps. And kidnap children as prisoners of war. The Harrigans are horrified by the bloodshed and brutality of the attack – and are determined to fight back alongside the Shoshone. But their mission to save the children will ultimately send the battling Harrigans even deeper into the wild frontier. Farther west than most dare travel. And closer to finding the American dream – if they survive…. 

After only a handful of pages, Matthew P. Mayo plunges the reader into the midst of a vicious battle for survival as the Shoshone camp comes under attack. The Harrigan’s are split up and the author keeps switching between them as they fight frantically to save themselves, each other, and their Shoshone friends. Most of the combat is hand-to-hand, knife-to-knife, club-to-head, and is described graphically. This has to be one of the longest opening battles I’ve read in a western as it continues for around 80 pages, yet never outstays its welcome. Then it’s straight into a desperate chase to track down and rescue the stolen children.

The second part of the book sees the Harrigan’s continue on their journey, heading towards California. As expected, there is plenty of deadly danger waiting to pounce on them. One of my favourite characters from the first book, Bearpaw Jones, makes a very welcome return and it’s through him that one of the Harrigan’s will meet a famous person and get a job offer that is difficult to turn down, but will it be taken? It’s not just humans that pose a threat to the Harrigan’s as a bear has a large part to play and Mayo writes some nail-biting sequences involving this animal. 

The seeds for possible future storylines are also planted, and I can only hope that we don’t have to wait too long before a third book appears. 

American readers can get a copy here
British readers can get a copy here

WESTERNS READ DURING 2023

In 2023 I didn't have as much spare time for reading as I would have liked. Other interests and life in general taking up most of my free time. I also read some none westerns, which meant even less time for my favourite genre. The books listed below cover a broad publishing period, from the late 1950's right up to the current day. To read any review just click on the book number. 

1. Hawk 3: Death’s Bounty by William S. Brady
2. Wolf Stockburn, Railroad Detective 4: One Way to Die by Max O’Hara
3. The Man Who Shot Jesse Sawyer by Scott Connor
4. The Ramseys 2: Ramsey’s Luck by Will McLennan
5. The Trailsman 139: Buffalo Guns by Jon Sharpe
6. Sundance: The Wild Stallions by John Benteen
7. Bloody Joe Mannion 3: Saints and Sinners by Peter Brandvold
8. Fort Misery by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone
9. Longarm and the Golden Death (178) by Tabor Evans
10. Slattery 2: Bullet Welcome for Slattery by Steven C. Lawrence
11. The Battling Harrigans of the Frontier 1: Westbound by Dusty Richards and Matthew P. Mayo
12. Western Adventure, Vol. 3 No. 4, October 1958
13. Slocum 171: Powder River Massacre by Jake Logan
14. Abilene 9: The Tracker by Justin Ladd
15. Will Tanner 2: A Stranger in Town by William W. Johnstone with J.A. Johnstone
16. Jeremiah Halstead 3: The Revengers by Terrence McCauley
17. Morgan Kane 15: Between Life and Death by Louis Masterson
18. A Town Called Bastard by William Terry
19. The Carey Blood by Irving A. Greenfield
20. Gunn 5: Winter Hell by Jory Sherman
21. Devil’s Gulch by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone
22. Longarm and the Golden Lady (32) by Tabor Evans
23. Captain Tom Skinner 1: Ride a Fast Horse by Kevin Warren
24. Hunter’s Moon by Ty Walker
25. Trail Boss from Texas by Barry Cord
26. Stranger in Town by Clifton Adams
27. Carson Stone 2: A Short Rope for a Tall Man by Nate Morgan
28. Jubal Cade 6: The Burning Man by Charles R. Pike
29. Buck Trammel 5: This Man Must Die by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone
30. Breed 8: Blood Debt by James A. Muir
31. Cactus Jim Clancy 15: Colt Fever by Stetson Cody
32. Shadow at Noon by Hondo Wells
33. Western Story – January, 1958
34. Holmes on the Range 7: Hunters of the Dead by Steve Hockensmith
35. Easy Company and the Bullwhackers (30) by John Wesley Howard
36. Jeremiah Halstead 4: Born to Hang by Terrence McCauley
37. The Pearl Bothers 1: Trouble on the Smoky Hill by Andrew Weston
38. Devil’s Gulch 2: Shooting Iron by William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone

Review of book read a few years ago and other items
1. The Gunsmith 33: The Posse by J.R. Roberts
2. Slocum by Jake Logan series Bibliography

SHOOTING IRON

DEVIL’S GULCH 2

SHOOTING IRON

By William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone

Pinnacle Books, November 2023

One of the deadliest, crime-infested towns in Colorado Territory, Devil’s Gulch needed more than a sheriff. They needed a gunslinger. So, they pinned a badge on hardcase lawman John Holt. And the rest is history….

As the town’s new sheriff, John Holt achieved the impossible: He drove the devil out of Devil’s Gulch. Corrupt, cutthroat rancher Joe Mullen – who ruled the land with an iron fist – is finally behind bars, all thanks to Sheriff Holt. But the tables are turned when Mullen manages to overturn his prison wagon and make his escape – with an army of prisoners, outlaws, and lowlifes to do his bidding.

It doesn’t take long for the streets of Devil’s Gulch to run red with blood. Again. Or for John Holt to be marked for death. Again. But this time, the sheriff’s up against more than a hundred men – all of them gunning for him – and his only allies are an all-too-young deputy, an all-too-angry farmer, and a wayward wagon cook. With odds this bad, Holt is sure of only one thing: When you shoot at the devil, it’s best not to miss.

Picking up shortly after the first book ended, this story sees Holt once again battling against Joe Mullen. Mullen wants revenge, particularly against his wife who betrayed him. That desire gets stronger when Mullen finds out she is seeing another man. Mullen soon sets in motion a plan to satisfy his need for vengeance and to clear his name – and he doesn’t care who he has to kill to achieve his aims. Town politics will also have a part to play and this throws a few twists into the story. Many of the characters from the previous books have parts to play in this one, as do some great new people, such as the cook, Bob, who isn’t all he seems. 

The plot is gripping, and offers some excellent bursts of violent gunplay. The author also takes time to develop his main characters too, exploring their thoughts regarding the situations they find themselves in and how they can use these circumstances to further their greed for power and fortune. New relationships are formed that could cause more problems for John Holt, although not all of these team-ups are wanted by all the parties involved.

Shooting Iron offers a great combination of western action and intriguing political wrangling that easily held my attention throughout and left me eagerly looking forward to the next book in the series.

American readers can get a copy here

British readers can get a copy here

THE POSSE

THE GUNSMITH

Book 33 of 486 to date + 19 Giant Editions

THE POSSE

By J.R. Roberts

Speaking Volumes, January 2014

Originally published by Charter, October 1984

What kind of men would trample a little girl to death? Only the worse kind of low-down, subhuman varmints – and that’s why Clint Adams agrees to join a posse to track down the gang of murdering bank robbers. But with a posse made up of a resentful deputy and merchants who don’t know one end of a gun from another, the Gunsmith is in for a lot more trouble than he bargained for – especially when he realizes the gang is heading for the one town in the West no lawman has ever entered!

Perhaps one of the more gruesome opening scenes to a Gunsmith book I’ve read and it’s no wonder Adams decides to join the posse.

All the main participants are well drawn – the robbers being portrayed as a bunch of double-crossing, savagely evil characters that had me urging Adams on to deal out some western justice.

The story is fast moving and is very readable. There are lots of references to previous Gunsmith books and this helps create a past for Clint Adams, fleshing out his character well.

The plot builds superbly and sees Adams and his companions facing certain death with no foreseeable way of escape. The method used to ensure Adams survives came across as a little unbelievable to me. A number of real people from America’s history arrive in the nick of time to save the day. Still, this provided an exciting and entertaining finale to the book that overall is a very enjoyable read.

American readers can get a copy here
British readers can get a copy here

TROUBLE ON THE SMOKY HILL TRAIL

A PEARL BROTHERS WESTERN

Book 1 of 4 currently

TROUBLE ON THE SMOKY HILL TRAIL

By Andrew Weston

Independently published, June 2023

A Cheyenne raiding party turns the quiet community of Elder Grove, Kansas, upside down, resulting in the death of a mother and father, and the abduction of their teenage daughters.

All seems lost.

But the Cheyenne didn’t reckon on the leaders of Elder Grove, Jacob and Noah Pearl. Two men with a remarkable shared history, who are a force of nature when roused.

And as the Cheyenne are about to discover, they’re also the kind of men who will do anything to see justice done, even if it means getting their hands dirty.

This is Andrew Weston’s first western and a fine entry into the genre it is. The opening chapter grabbed my attention immediately and had me eagerly turning the pages to see how events developed. Could Jacob and Noah, along with their friend Sam, track the small band of Cheyenne who had kidnapped the two girls and free them?

The author kept switching the narrative between the pursuers and pursued, and occasionally other secondary characters. This allows the reader to witness the deadly situation the two girls find themselves in. How Astrid tries to leave a trail for those she believes are searching for her and her sister to follow and her resolve to survive are some of the highlights of this book.

There is plenty of action too as bands of Indians slaughter various groups of white people, attempting to clear the land of the encroaching white man. Andrew Weston tells his story against this backdrop of rising tensions caused by the US Army’s attempts to supress the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Comanche with the 7th Cavalry and Custer being mentioned a few times. 

The story is a straight-forward pursuit tale, filled with well crafted characters. Attention to character development being another strength of this book. There are one or two surprises that add a shock element to the story and the violence can be hard-hitting at times. Everything came to a fast and violent end that left me looking forward to reading more about the surviving characters.

If you’re looking for a new author to try, then I’d recommend you consider this book by Andrew Weston. 

American readers can get a copy here
British readers can get a copy here

EASY COMPANY AND THE BULLWHACKERS

EASY COMPANY AND THE BULLWHACKERS

Book 30 of 31

By John Wesley Howard

Jove, July 1983

The army’s been paying a pretty penny to haul government freight across the dusty plains, but now the quartermaster has a new plan: turn Easy Company into hard-driving teamsters…

So, while Second Lt. Taylor sets out to train his soldiers to be bullwhackers, angry teamsters plot sabotage. In the meantime, Lt. Matt Kincaid has an even bigger problem: someone’s selling army guns to hostile Indians, and Easy Company is taking the blame!

I don’t know who wrote behind the pseudonym of John Wesley Howard this time around, but it more than matches the quality of this overall excellent series. The author includes all the main characters we’ve come to know throughout the series. This book follows two plots, each as gripping as the other, with the author switching between them regularly. 

There are a couple of extra minor storylines too. The first of which sees a couple of soldiers trying to sell goods that have been thrown out by the army to the friendly Indians that live by Outpost Number 9. The other, features Four Eyes Bradshaw and his desire to get married. Both these story threads add some humorous moments to contrast with the more serious tone of the main problems facing Easy Company.

There’s not a lot of gunplay in this book, but there really doesn’t need to be as the main storylines easily kept me turning the pages to find out whether some of the soldiers of Easy Company would become bullwhackers and to discover who was selling the guns to the Indians, that latter of which hooked me with its mystery elements. 

You can jump into this series anywhere as there aren’t any plots that move from book to book, it’s just the soldiers that link the series together. Easy Company is an adult series, so you will find some explicit sex in the stories but there wasn’t that much of it in this book.

The closing scene left me with a big grin on my face and the feeling of having been thoroughly entertained, adding to the many warm memories of the Easy Company series I have as I’ve now read all thirty-one books. If you enjoy army verses Indian stories, and don’t mind a bit of sex in your reading matter, then I’d recommend searching this series out.

BORN TO HANG

JEREMIAH HALSTEAD

BORN TO HANG

By Terrence McCauley

Pinnacle Books, October 2023

Warrants have been issued for the arrest of Jeremiah Halstead and he’s forced into hiding in the harsh Montana wilderness. Alone, desperate and hunted like an animal, Deputy U.S. Marshal Jeremiah Halstead is about to face his day of judgment. But he won’t do it alone. His deputy will side him and they will greet that fateful day with blood and agony.

Terrence McCauley sure piles the odds against Halstead in this book. Short of supplies the outlawed lawman has to fight off bounty hunting trappers before heading into the only town in the region and take his chances against being recognized. Of course, that doesn’t happen and it isn’t long before everyone in Barren Pines knows who he is. Some townsfolk befriend him, but can he trust them? Halsted takes some serious punishment. How can he take on superior odds and survive when he can hardly stand or see straight?

Elsewhere, Aaron Mackey, Halstead’s boss, is attempting to get the warrant rescinded, but that seems to be a difficult political battle. If he’s successful, will it be in time? Joshua Sandborne, Halstead’s deputy, is searching for Halstead in the hope of being able to help him. Emil Riker is also tracking town Halstead, but not to help him, but to kill him in the name of vengeance, and he’s got a pack of killers to back him.

The story switches regularly between the various characters as the author builds the tensions and brings the book towards its inevitable bloody conclusion. There’s plenty of gunplay as the tale moves forward in ever increasing pace. McCauley will soon have you wondering if Halstead is going to survive, especially when you take into account that the publisher Pinnacle seems to end series after only four books these days, and this is the fourth Jeremiah Halstead novel.

For me, Terrence McCauley has written another hard to put down tale. From the gripping opening scenes, he captured my imagination easily, had me eagerly turning the pages to find out what happened next. The excellent ending finished the story in a very satisfactory way and confirmed my belief that Terrence McCauley is right up there with the best western writers being published today. I can only hope that it isn’t too long before we see his name on the front of another western very soon.

American readers can get a copy here
British readers can get a copy here