Review: Silver Shot

Silver Shot by Gary McCarthy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Gary McCarthy has written scores of Westerns and work-for-hire novels. This is the seventh novel in his Derby Man series, and the only one that I have read. As you may have guessed, the protagonist in this series wears a Derby style hat. Darby Buckingham is also a former boxer and circus sideshow strongman, now a writer of Western Dime Novels. Here Darby travels to a mining town and is soon followed by love interest Dolly, and a couple of comedic type sidekicks, where he gets involved with a corrupt stockbroker and con man who is duping the town, and Dolly into investing in a mining stock scheme. He’s also predictably a fine boxer and adversary for Darby in fisticuffs. So a few fistfights, some confusing stock trading, a murder or two, and some romance and jealousy ensue. Darby is an interesting character and worthy of a series. The writing, pacing, and dialog are solid, the plotting kind of seems like the author is making it up as he goes, which is fine, although some devices seemed far-fetched and unnecessary. I liked the writing and the character and would be interested in reading others in the series. I give this one three stars.

Recently republished by Wolfpack Publishing, including an omnibus of the entire series.

Review: The Night It Rained Bullets

The Night It Rained Bullets by Brian Wynne (Brian Garfield)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Prolific and talented author Brian Garfield, writing as Brian Wynne, wrote several Westerns taking place in the fictional town of Spanish Flat starring hard-boiled Marshal Jeremy Six. Here the town is invaded by three exceedingly psychotic and brutal outlaws during a winter snowstorm, The arrival of a gambler with a gunslinger reputation, and a drunken rich gambling troublemaker add to the explosive situation which soon escalates out of control resulting in Six having to make some hard decisions and resort to some serious violence. I tend to like stories that take place in confined locations due to conditions that the characters don’t have control of, storms, hurricanes, etc. Tarantino’s Hateful Eight comes to mind. A single day compressed timeline ramps up the tension to a blistering pace making this difficult to put down. A fine novel and an easy four stars. 

Here's scan of it. (if you don't mind reading yellowed images in a comic reader)

Review: Dark Trail

Dark Trail by Ed Gorman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Leo Guild, the damaged and heroic bounty hunter, finds himself pulled into two intersecting love triangles that both seem to be headed for hell. The five characters drawn into this mess are exceptionally well drawn with dialog that sparkles and shines, and a plot that is wholly original and cinematic in scope. If I was a film producer I would buy the rights and film this damn thing. As you may have noticed I loved this short novel. The late Ed Gorman was a terrific writer, his Guild books are exceptional, and this is now my favorite one. Five stars.

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Review: Under the Sweetwater Rim

Under the Sweetwater Rim by Louis L'Amour
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Set in 1863 Wyoming, this 1971 L'Amour western begins with the aftermath of a wagon train massacre. Although the point of view is omniscient and shifts around frequently, it mostly sticks with Tenadore Brian, ex-mercenary, but now a Lieutenant in the Cavalry. The renegades are led by Reuben Kelsey, a mad-skilled villain. Complications abound. Brian and Kelsey knew each other as boys when they survived a wagon train massacre together. One of the women in the wagon train is the daughter of the Cavalry Major tracking down the renegades. There's missing US Military payroll, in gold. With the stakes set sufficiently high, L'Amour launches into a chase and escape driven plot as Kelsey's renegades pursue a wagon, led by Brian, that escaped with the gold and the Major's daughter. Pretty much non-stop action and gun battles for 150 pages to the end, with occasional character analysis in service of the cat and mouse plot, as each character is trying to figure out what the other will do. I'd place this in the upper tier of L'Amour's books.

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Review: The Greenback Trail

The Greenback Trail by Jon Sharpe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A gorgeous young woman and her elderly father are aided by Skye Fargo not knowing that they are counterfeiters with a map to dig up a long buried cache of millions of dollars of counterfeit bills. Of course Pop spilled the beans in prison and a band of outlaws are in hot pursuit looking to get the map and the moola. Fargo ends up in the middle of this mess and has to use his investigative skills to figure out what everyone is after and why. So yeah, like most Adult Westerns its a detective novel set in the Old West with a couple of sex scenes thrown in. The writing, dialog, and plot are all great and, although there is no author name attributed The Trailsman novels were written by some of the most respected work-for-hire authors in the business at the time. I’ve enjoyed all of ‘em so far.

Plenty of The Trailsman reviews at Steve Myall's Western Fiction Review blog.

Review: Desire in the Dust

Desire in the Dust by Harry Whittington
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The characters are all stock and by the time they are introduced in the first few chapters you will already know what is going to happen. I read on in the hope of being surprised in the way that so many of these Gold Medal books do with plot twists and off-the-rails character behavior. Unfortunately, that did not happen in this one. Everything I thought would happen did, including the big reveal that was guessed at back on about page 10. In the meantime I had to endure long stretches of expository dialog. The characters are well-drawn and the plot nicely ordered, but this is all so familiar and predictable. First published in 1956, so maybe it gets a pass because reading it now, after several generations of TV and movies have followed this formula, I shouldn't be surprised that it seems familiar. However, this one is completely formulaic in a way that is unlike most of Whittington's other novels.

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Lone Star and the Master of Death

Lone Star and the Master of Death by Wesley Ellis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Old pro Paul Lederer, author of 250+ novels, contributed this one and he loads up the story with gunfights, corruption, race riots, silver robberies, explosions, plus Ki’s teacher and master from Japan is in town to kill him for deflowering his granddaughter! Lederer is a fine writer and his prose and dialogue are pitch perfect for the established characters, the tough-as-nails Jessie Starbuck and her faithful protector Ki, the Japanese Samurai and martial arts expert. The premise behind the Lone Star novels, the strong partnership and friendship between Jessie and Ki, distinguishes itself from most other Adult Western series which typically involve a lone male gunslinger type. I really like this. This is a terrific entry in an entertaining and fun series. I can find no faults with this novel, even the often superfluous and puerile obligatory sex scenes are well integrated into the story and well written. Five stars.

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Review: Longarm and the Outlaw Empress

Longarm and the Outlaw Empress by Tabor Evans
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Longarm Giant novels are about 50% longer than the traditional Longarm series books which gives author James Reasoner, writing as Tabor Evans, some breathing room to pen a team-up that includes Longarm plus Jessie and Ki from the LONE STAR series of Adult Westerns. The protagonists are unaware that they are both following clues from unrelated crimes that are leading them to a Nevada ghost town called Zamora that has been secretly repurposed into a haven for outlaws by a beautiful and wealthy Prussian outlaw, the titular Empress. The author nicely weaves the two narratives into a cohesive story with a terrific climax when the team-up culminates in Zamora. Reasoner is a dependably adept and entertaining writer providing some fine prose, plotting, and dialog. The only thing that I didn’t care for much was the intrusive obligatory sex scenes, although even those were written pretty well. I really enjoyed the novel and give it five stars.

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 Haiku: The Devil's Dooryard

 

The Devil's Dooryard

by Wilbur Coleman Tuttle

 

  

 

Action and Chuckles
Hashknife and Sleepy style.
Bullets and Rustlers collide.

Now in the public Domain

Review: Eve of Evil

Eve of Evil by George G. Gilman
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars 

A Christmas story in this ultra-violent Western series seems incongruent but Brit Terry Harknett, writing as George Gilman, pulls it off in this light-hearted short novel. The writer churns out outrageous coincidences in Edge’s adventure related to the biblical story of the birth of Jesus that had me smiling. The story has to do with Edge accompanying a young couple, Joseph and Maria, to a stable before Maria gives birth. Harknett’s writing is solid and the Preacher and his “daughter” characters stand out. Edge is uncharacteristically less violent and more thoughtful than usual which I welcome. Sometimes his brutality is distasteful to me. Still a high body count and clearly the most violent Christmas story that I’ve ever read. An entertaining and fast moving read. I liked it. Three and a half stars.

Review: New Gun For Kingdom City

New Gun For Kingdom City by Ray Hogan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Hogan was a prolific writer of Westerns, a contemporary of, and perhaps overshadowed by, Louis L’Amour in the 1960s and ‘70s. The 100 or so pages of Ace Double novelettes seem to be the optimal length for Hogan’s fast-paced and action-packed stories. This one tells the story of a hard-boiled and somewhat shady loner seeking vengeance for his brother’s murder in Kingdom City, a town run by a corrupt and lawless family. Hogan interjects an adversarial US Marshall who is tracking bank robbers and duped mail order bride into the mix and the result is a terrific and lean thriller without an ounce of fat or padding. Hogan’s tales never disappoint and this is a really good one. Four stars.

Review: Quick-Trigger Country

Quick-Trigger Country by Clem Colt
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Clem colt was a pseudonym for Nelson K. Nye. I haven't read anything else by him so don't know how typical this is of his writing. Although there are plenty of action scenes the plot proceeds either by coincidence or non sequitur, in other words it makes no damn sense. The narration at times reads as if it were copied from old newspaper articles or tourist brochures celebrating the good old days of Tombstone. We even have a Wyatt Earp sighting. The dialog is hokey and it was like listening to Billy Crystal and Jake Palance in the movie City Slickers - minus the humor. Did I mention it has plenty of action scenes? I didn't say they were great action scenes. The lead character's name is Turkey. Totally fits this book. Not recommended.

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Review: Old Dogs

Old Dogs by Ron Schwab
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Old Dogs in the title refer to Jack and Rudy, a pair of aging and retired Texas Rangers now ranchers, and Thor, a loyal and much loved dog. A young woman claiming to be Jack’s granddaughter shows up out of the blue asking Jack to help recover her herd of horses that that been rustled by hostile Comancheros. Jack, unaware that he even has any offspring, is at first shocked and then inspired to come out of retirement for one last dangerous mission to recover the stolen horses. This mission drives the plot but is really secondary to the themes of growing old and love of family, friends, and dog. Truly a wonderful book that packs an emotional punch, especially I think, for men of a certain age - like me. One of the best Westerns that I’ve read in a while and highly recommended. Five stars.

Available as an inexpensive ebook.

Review: Longarm on the Humboldt

Longarm on the Humboldt by Harry Whittington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Longarm novels, and Adult Westerns in general, don’t seem to get much respect even though they were written by talented work-for-hire authors like Lou Cameron, Frank Roderus, James Reasoner, Pete Brandvold, and of course Harry Whittington who wrote this one, the 28th book in the series. Whittington would go on to write five more Longarm novels over the next couple of years, and although I have all of them, this is the first one that I’ve read. Whittington’s take on US Marshall Custis Long clearly pegs him as a hard-boiled detective, and the familiar tropes are here, getting beat up, captured, escaping, getting laid, etc. The story consists of two investigations, an assignment from the US Government, and another at the behest of a beautiful young blind woman who is seeking revenge. Some may say that Whittingtons best days were behind him in the 1970s, but I don’t think that's true. His descriptive prose is elegant without being wordy, the dialog crackles with authenticity and humor, and the plotting is, not surprisingly, exceptional. There is a Mormon subplot, which was entertaining enough, that smelled of padding that could have easily been cut to really make this a taut 200 pager, but only a minor quibble. Four stars.

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Review: The Key-Lock Man

The Key-Lock Man by Louis L'Amour
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another of the first L'Amour books I read back in junior high (it's like a reading time capsule!). Cat and mouse plot with a lot of great descriptions of the Utah and Arizona deserts. Omniscient POV, and L'Amour makes full use of it, roving in and out of every character's head to provide a complete picture of the pursued and the pursuers. Saves the climax until the last couple of pages, so this is a page turner to the very end.

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Review: Dawson's Run

Dawson's Run by Tim McCloud
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A good example of "don't judge a book by its cover" as the cover art and blurb have nothing to do with the story. This is a straight-ahead western. Ben Dawson is the marshall of Piney Flats and inserts himself in the middle of a feud between two neighboring ranches, one of which borders his own spread. When Dawson's ranch is raided - cattle stolen, buildings burned, ranch hands killed, and his daughter kidnapped - Dawson goes all out to find the killers and his daughter. Some of the transitions are abrupt and there are quite a few cliches and some hokey western dialogue, but this book is non-stop action with almost continuous shoot-outs and hardly any filler in between. A fast, fun, and frenetic read for sure. Does a have a couple of explicit sex scenes, which is rare for 1960s era westerns, and that makes it a nice vintage sleaze collectible, particularly with the cover art.

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Review: Nevada Death Trap

Nevada Death Trap by J.R. Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Robert Randisi, writer of all 470+ Gunsmith books, is a consistently entertaining teller of dialogue driven, easy to read stories. The Gunsmith books can be read in a sitting or two and are perfect escapist summer reading. Here Clint Adams befriends a family of Gypsies and helps them get to town to repair their wagon. A bigoted rancher, and the townsfolk in general, want the Gypsies driven out and Clint is forced to protect them. This is an Adult western so naturally there is a beautiful Gypsy woman and the rancher’s horny daughter for Clint to have explicit sex with. I have a box full of Gunsmith books and can pick any one of them out randomly and know exactly what I’m in store for - a reliably amusing story well told.

Digital ebook available from Amazon.

Review: Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek

Shoot-Out at Sugar Creek by Mickey Spillane and Max Allan Collins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The popular Spillane/Collins team-ups have proven to be terrific books and the Caleb York novels that take place in the Old West are no exception. Every entry in the six book series has been special. Although you may expect York to be Mike Hammer in the Wild West, the lawful Caleb York is actually a much more multidimensional and sympathetic character. Here York's lover Willa Cather gets involved in a range war with a newcomer, the devious female Victoria Drummond. To greatly complicate matters, Willa finds herself on the wrong side of the law which York, now a Marshall, has vowed to protect. As the range war escalates York, finding himself in an extremely thorny situation, goes full-on Hammer with some drunkenness and brutality showing a side of York that we haven’t seen before. The last third of the book is nearly impossible to put down as the tension and violence ramps up, steering the narrative to a highly satisfying conclusion. It’s been a real pleasure visiting with York and the denizens of Trinity once again and I’m hoping for more Caleb York stories from Spillane/Collins.

Now available in print and ebook.

Review: Ralph Compton Frontier Medicine

Ralph Compton Frontier Medicine by Robert J. Randisi
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Deceased author Ralph Compton’s legacy lives on as a house name, and his publisher has recruited stellar writers to byline his recent releases. Robert Randisi, the writer here, is a terrific storyteller with a gift for creating compelling characters that are fleshed out in the third person by spirited conversations and dialogue. Descriptive prose is light and there is plenty of action. Page one starts with a little girl on a train choking on a bullet and the action and dialogue never let up, making it a difficult book to put down. The characters really shine here with the earnest young doctor, the cantankerous old doctor, and several female characters bringing rich personas to life. There are no sex, gore, or cussing making this suitable for all readers. I liked it a lot. Recommended.

I bought the paperback as a Walmart exclusive, however I see it on Amazon now too.

Review: Legacy of the Slash M

Legacy of the Slash M by Ray Hogan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ray Hogan was one of a slew of great authors who were writing Westerns in the shadow of the spectacularly popular Louis L’Amour in the 1960-70s. Sadly most of them are forgotten. Hogan’s works are tightly plotted with terse prose and plenty of action. I really like his Ace Double novellas which are just the right length to showcase his skills. Here Hogan tells the story of Jess Holloway who is summoned by a dying friend to take over his ranch since his family was ill-equipped to do so and they vehemently resent his intrusion. Not surprisingly a range war is on the verge of exploding too. Nothing groundbreaking here, although Hogan does a nice job keeping the story fresh with some interesting characters and dialog. A solid and entertaining 106 pages.

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