This is a western tale about the evil of one man and how it can penetrate the air surrounding a good man. The good guy was only trying to protect himself and then had to risk his life because it was the right thing to do. A good turn is done but goes unrecognized and taken for weakness. Ralph Cotton tells this story about a good guy Jack Bell who initially looks to the light and something good but has to face the bad and something dark with his cool and steady demeanor.

The story begins with an honest man, Jack Bell, looking over his back trail and recognizing the danger the four men behind him represent. He has left Elk Horn with poker winnings of seven hundred dollars out of the pocket of Early Philpot.  Early being a man who just can’t stand to loose sends his henchmen to take back his money and kill the man who won it fair and square. The plot is initially foiled but one of the survivors doesn’t recognize that his life was saved and only sees weakness.

The story continues with Delbert Hanks spreading his lies about Jack Bell. Hanks lack of a conscience makes him believe his own lies to the point that he totally forgets that Jack saved his life. This small detail pushes Delbert to more outrageous lies and makes him believe he is the fastest gunman around. With Philpot also believing Delbert’s lies he continues to look for more gunmen to protect him with and wipe out this villainous killer by the name of Jack Bell.

This story of Ralph Cotton’s mixes the history of the time with the true dialogue of the time. Cotton’s imagination keeps the reader turning the pages so that they can share in this western episode in the, snow covered mountains. I recommend this book to all western readers as away to get you shot of the old west that is continually being written by excellent writers of our time .

This book clearly describes a story of a trail west covering many dangerous miles through mountains, desert and Indian held lands.  Being a little used passage East or West it had being plotted by the Spanish military going to Los Angeles.  The information about the trail was gotten from the local paper in Santa Fe, New Mexico and sheep herders who had traveled the trail to Los Angeles.

The story began with Don Webb having an offer of cash money for five thousand head of Texas longhorns at thirty dollars a head. The Civil War was coming and money was scares. None of these independent Texans wanted to fight a war they don’t understand or agree with. Their only option as they saw it was to round up the cattle and head for New Mexico. Driving cattle from the plains of Texas to the buyer in New Mexico seems like easy work for the money.  When they got to New Mexico their buyer was dead at the hands of renegades and they have five thousand head of longhorns with no buyer. Not wanting to return to Texas there options were to head for the of gold fields in Colorado or the beef hungry population in California. Needing a big buyer Los Angeles became the destination.  The best way to Los Angeles, California was along a trail called the Old Spanish Trail, a long and dry trail crossing mountains, desert and going through two separate Indian Territories.  On their back trail was the band of renegades that killed their original buyer. All they wanted know was the longhorns, but not the work of driving them on the trail.

This story has all the problems of a trail drive that is traversing a new trail.  Being shadowed by a band of renegades with two hidden revenge killers imbedded in their back trail gave the trail drive unusual problems. The potential of cattle stampedes and running out of water while trying to survive Indian attacks makes this story a page turner with the potential of problems always getting in the way of driving the cattle to Los Angeles.

I recommend this western story to all of the western readers out there who want to experience a historical description of a trail to Los Angeles. Ralph Compton does an excellent job of giving the reader a true flavor of how it would have been to drive cattle west.

Attempted murder is the beginning chapter of this western tale spun by Johnny D. Boggs. Deputy U.S. Marshal Reilly McGilvern is transporting outlaws to the Yuma prison. The prison wagon is attacked on the way by outlaws. Wanting to free a specific prisoner, three guards die in a hail of bullets poured in an ambush. The hated McGilvern is locked in the wagons cage and left to die without food or water. Another outlaw gang who are trying to continue the Civil War surprisingly saves him. Reilly’s problems multiply as the story continues to unfold.

The Civil War outlaw gang is lead by Bloody Jim Pardo. He is working on the assumption that Reilly is a ruthless criminal. This criminal gang has two hostages a mother and daughter that the gang is saving to sell south of the boarder. Needing to play his role perfectly Reilly’s life is open to all kinds of problems.  The problems grow as his trail mixes in with three major factors, which are the gang he is with, the hostages he is trying to save and the potential of running into the gang that tried to kill him in the beginning. Walking the thin line almost gets him killed several times.

Staying on the right side of the law and not getting killed is a major portion of this unique western that causes me to continue turning the pages and pushing toward Reilly’s ultimate solution. How he stops Bloody Jim Pardo and staying alive to free the hostages and eventually bringing retribution to the gang and its members who left him to die in the prison wagon cage.

I will recommend this western with an enthusiastic yes you should read this book. I felt that the story was fresh and gave a new dynamic to the black and white happenings on the western frontier. Johnny D. Boggs is definitely a western writer of distinction.

Western justice is not always as swift as we now think it was but it had its way of reaching the right conclusion in some cases. This story by Elmore Leonard starts out with swift justice gone badly and uses the correction of that misused justice as a western story of rectification of a wrong that is righted.

When Bob Valdez killed Orlando Rincon as his attempt to defuse a stand off. The deputies keeping Orlando in his cabin, by force of over whelming firepower, were not supposed to fire. Valdez was trying to get him to surrender with out having any more shots fired. The plan fell apart as shots were fired as Orlando exposed himself and with the raising of Orlando’s gun Bob could see in his eyes his death would happen next so he had to move swiftly and the death of Orlando was a miscarriage of frontier justice.

The rectification of a wrong is the base for this story. Bob Valdez would suffer many indignities as he personally struggled against the big cattle rancher to correct the wrong. Then final effort to rectify this wrong drives Valdez to desperate measures as he kidnaps the ranchers woman and tries to use her as a bargaining chip to get the rancher to compensate Orlando’s pregnant wife for the loss of his death. The wrongful death of Orlando based on his word was the driving force. The rancher had no give and he would only see what he wanted to see presenting the true problem. As the story develops things change and the complications drive the story to the ultimate drive to right a wrong.

I recommend this western to all the readers of stories that revolve around the complications of people who need the vision of wrongs righted. Read this story and practice what should be done.

This western story involves the survival of, Peter Ormond who has been consistently down trodden and mentally abused by his father during the first part of his life. He takes the opportunity to steal a collection of unique gold coins from his father and then runs away. The ensuing events that make up the story are unique but yet specific to the situation. The main characters exploits will engross and involve the reader into the events that change and mold the life of this young man. The things that happen in his life make him a completely different person.

Helping a friend herd a string of wild mustangs blows up into a potential threat to his life. His friend and surviving companions board a train in the desperate attempt to save their lives and have to join a military force that is part of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Training and the survival of the weather preparing for their attack on the Spanish army in Cuba is the first hurdle in a continuing pectoral of how life can be both helpful and harsh. As the story continues Peter is confronted with the internal view that he could die .  The cowardly actions that he exhibits and the feeling brings out the old feelings of his unworthiness.

After the war and the recovery process from his of wounds of war his life seems to improve. Peter’s life progress’s along the line of making distinct improvements for his future.

I recommend this western to the readers of unusual stories of western events. The author Tim Champlin has done an accurate depiction of the events surrounding the happenings of in the war in Cuba and the involvement of the Rough Riders in this struggle.

The story begins quickly and moves into high gear as Turner is accused of bank robbery. Frank is bringing in the body of a wanted murder unaware of his brothers problems. Returning to McCurdy Frank finds his brother in jail, place there by the County Sheriff, Tom January. The town marshal knew that the arrest wasn’t right but couldn’t buck the County Sheriff. Turner was destined to go to the county seat tomorrow and Frank had made it clear that he was going along to make sure his bother was treated fairly. The story spirals out of control as Turner is shot trying to escape jail.   In anger and frustration Frank goads the sheriff into a gunfight and kills him.    A more pressing problem develops as Frank gets a letter from a friend that helped them at the end of the war.

Before Frank can prove his brothers innocence of bank robbery and his justification on murdering the lawman he has to race off and save his friends ranch down by the Mexican border. Many events revolve around this trip and as a true western things are resolved and the good people overcome the bad. The stories many ups and downs appear to me as being several stories woven in to one to make the length needed to be classified as a story of satisfactory length.

I recommend this story to western readers as one that has a good base but could have used more work on development. Pick up the book at your library or get it on Amazon then read it and determine for yourself if it suites your description of a true stand alone western.

Is there such a thing as a cardsharp who has a conscience? In this western story Frank Derringer is that individual. The story opens up as Frank arrives in the crooked town of Tribune, Kansas attempting to even out a score. His friend was cheated out of money that he had worked hard for. Cheating the cheaters was easier than it initially looked but getting out of town was a much more challenging proposition. Unable to work his escape as he had originally planned Frank was befriended by Martha Jane Canary know affectionately as “Calamity.”

Jane’s nickname lead them both into swarms of lead bees that continued to challenge their very lives. A fellow traveler died and his last words would continue to place both Frank and Jane in renewed exposure to the prospect of dieing. Having to work together to solve their combined problems they struggled and almost succumbed to the lose of their lives. Dealing with multiple wives of their dead traveling companion and fulfilling the terms of  his will made for multiple challenges to an easy way of life.  Many things became impossible to handle as the two travelers joined forces.

The story has many twists and turns that keeps the reader engaged and pulls him into and through each and every twist and turn that the author has planned. More cheaters are uncovered with a very intricate plan and the reader has to keep on his toes to make sure that he doesn’t get lost in the smoke screens.

I recommend this book to western readers for the excitement and need to make sure that the right thing is done and the bad guys are punished and dealt with according to the rules of the time. Read this book and I know that you will enjoy it as much as I did.

“Between  the Arkansas River and the Santa Fe Railroad was the Gateway to the west.  The cattle trail from Texas to Kansas was long, hot, and dangerous.  And by the time cowboys got there, they had the money and means to make a boomtown explode–and make Dodge City a great place to be a defense attorney…as long as you weren’t looking for an innocent man.”

This western story written by Matt Braun tells the tale of a lawyer, Harry Gryden, who spent his time and energy defending the men and women who lived and worked on the opposite side of the law.  Harry could not tolerate the people who placed themselves in a position to set the laws and hand out summary judgment to anyone who opposed the right side of the tracks.  Open opposition and the outward joy of defeating the establishment with their too tight collars thrilled him and kept his vigor for the dark side of the law.

A lawyer who didn’t carry a gun and defended the shady side of the law was always open to attack. He felt that the lives of the people on the opposite side of the law were more interesting than the righteous upstanding citizens who wrote the laws. When you challenged the established norm and won, you were sometimes sought out by those who were in the right and wanted the advantage of your success. It appears from this story that the right side was trying to manipulate and control the dark side with out due process from the law.

I enjoyed the interaction of the characters and personally enjoyed Harry Gryden’s opposition to machine politics as it was played in western Kansas at the time. I recommend this book to western readers and those out there who are interested in a new understanding of how the west really worked. The conclusion of the book has some very insightful dialogue and I would not be surprised if the thoughts and speeches spoken would not have really happened. You need to read the book to make your own decision. See you down the trail.

Well here I go moving away from the western stories that have always been my mainstay. This story won an award, The Tony Hillerman Prize. I read the story and felt that even though it was out of my designated time frame it did justify a review. This southwestern tale is a mystery written by Tricia Fields. The story is set in the desert of southwest Texas. A new town Chief of Police, Josie Gray, is setting on a powder keg of problems. The police force is under staffed because of the economy while the Mexican drug cartels are flooding the area with illegal’s, drugs and the need for guns.

The story begins with an intrusion into the town of Artemis by a gang of killers who are determined to eliminate a previously shot American citizen. He was, a cartel leader, wounded in Mexico and then transported to the emergency clinic in Artemis. Keeping this cartel kingpin alive could cost a trauma unit team its lives. Where and how do you draw the line? How can chief Josie hold on to that line and stop the mayhem? A second amendment proponent is murdered with his body found inside a trailer where it doesn’t belong and a stash of weapons comes up missing. The problems continue to grow and intensify with few solutions showing their heads.

The chief is at her wits end and her strength and mental health are also slipping. She gets help from a source that she doesn’t expect and it seems that this is the boost she needs to stay the course. This female chief of police is not only struggling against the good old boys network but the desert dose surround and encapsulate her completely. The story moves with steady and interesting twists and turns. As a reader I felt the intensity and complex of the story grow and expand as I progressed through the book on to the conclusion.

Personally I felt that the conclusion could have been stronger but I have no clear-cut recommendations for the writer. I would recommend this story to all readers and the mystery reader may be disappointed but you the reader must be the ultimate judge of this stories success or failure.

When you are famous specifically as a man hunter and killer of men you develop a group of people who would like to see you gone from this life. They wish you dead and someone has Luke Starbuck targeted for that fatal trip. Having accepted a job to find a way into the infamous Wyoming outlaw strong hold known as the Hole-in-the-Wall and shot a bad man dead. Luke immediately begins to feel that maybe he is a target after he successfully eliminates a couple of men who were trying to stop his clock.

Normally he has been the hunter now he has become the hunted. Not liking his new position he heads on in to the Hole-in-the-Wall and ends up in a position that he wont be able to get himself out of with out help from the man he was sent to kill. He needed to go back to the beginning and start over by asking questions of the lawyer who was the set up person on this case. Having survived the confrontation inside the Hole-in-the-Wall with Cassidy’s help he had determined their connection had been Dutch Henry Horn a man Luke had killed in Pueblo tying him to Cassidy. In his bargain for his life Cassidy had ask that Luke not divulge anything he had learned about getting into the Hole-in-the-Wall. Luke had given his word and now he was in pursuit of why and who was out to have him killed. Dutch Henry had a son and all Luke had to do track him down and then stop this attack on his life and it would begin in Deadwood in the Dakota Territory. The story has many more ups and downs that muddy the water but Luke is tenacious in his pursuit of the man that has targeted his life.

I recommend this story to western readers to increase their historical knowledge and receive joy from a story told well by an expert western writer.s