The main character is Mike Bastian and he has all the skills to lead and control a gang of thieves if he so desired. The doubt of this life style was playing heavy handed on this young mans life and he didn’t want the way that was offered. A young woman catches his eye and he learns that she is the daughter of the man who has raised him to be the outlaw he didn’t want to be.

With the leadership slot open for who ever could take it the story gets complicated and the reader needs to keep his eyes open as the events of the day accelerate and all events take on a will of their own.

I recommend this western to the lovers of westerns and the storytelling ability of Louis L’Amour. Keep reading your western writers.

This western story by Peter Dawson has his main character Streak Mathiot get out of jail with the help of Commissioner Gilford. Streak becomes a lawman directed to handle the search for Ed Church a Deputy U.S. Marshal who is his best friend. Ed’s disappearance is of great concern to both Streak and Commissioner Gilford, and bad things are expected to happen in this area with Ed’s disappearance. The lid is off the kettle. Trouble will spread everywhere with the cattle and sheep conflict as the major event. Before arriving at his destination Streak is again caught by the local law and jailed. His surely attitude gets him detained in the local jail for ninety days. He could get out by showing his badge, but he doesn’t know whose side the sheriff is on. The jail time would stop his investigation and if their had been a killing the killer would have a ninety day head start with his escape.
With some planned deceit Streak is able to manage a jailbreak for his advantage. Helping the ranch that he thought to be the one in the right he pushed ahead with their plans and helped them attain their goals of getting sheep into the valley. Hidden agendas began to unfold and the things that seemed to be black are white and vice versa. The confusion overwhelmed Streak as he struggled to right the wrongs and find his friend whether dead or alive. As Streak turns up answers things began to become more confusing for him and he knows the commissioner will need answers. As the story nears its conclusion people who were assumed dead weren’t and true love is not the everlasting kind. This love could possibly be viewed as only a passing crush as the integrity of one of the characters turns out to be truly bad.
This is a western that will pull you along and get you totally involved in the story and characters. I recommend this western to all western readers. I feel that the intricacies of the story could help other western writers get readers more involved in their stories with renewed twists and turns.

The chase of Blue Sky took on epic proportions. Alfred was almost killed in a confrontation with a Cheyenne war chief called Shouting Thunder. His other two companions Dan Curry and Colonel Pratt owed their lives to this man who loved the horse that was the color of the sky. The four me chase the horse call Sky Blue with the hunger of men wanting the most out of life. The story contains all of the elements of a lifelong chase with friends being set free so that the hunt could continue. A final twist unfolds when the spiteful Josiah teams up with Alfred to execute the final capture of Blue Sky.

This is truly a western story written to hold the reader in complete suspension, as the events of the chase continue and wrap the reader into the tale. I recommend this book to those western readers who want more than just a black and white western.

An old guide who knew some information about the mystery is murdered from ambush. The rookie policeman turns out to be smarter and more inquisitive than the people he is investigating. Why would any one want the mystery hidden and pushed into the abyss? Having other things to deal with that seem to be more important at the moment like cattle rustling slow the solution to the unsolved murder. The mystery is not pushed until the people that should have limited or no interest become totally engrossed with how the investigation is going.

Joe Leaphorn reads a news report of a skeleton found on the mountain and it triggers a memory of an unsolved mystery from his past. An offer to investigative the mystery becomes a job. With more questions being asked about the case more questions arise. The story being set in the southwest stimulates my mind and draws my curiosity. The mystery will be solved with plain organized thinking and persistence. Many more people get involved and the right questions are asked as the mystery heads for solution. Both Joe and Jim have some of the solution but they only get the final answers by working together.

I personally have enjoyed all of Tony Hillerman’s western mysteries partly for the characters and totally because of his ability to weave a story around the Navajo people, their customs and being attentive to detail. I recommend this book to western readers as well as to all mystery readers. The loss of Tony Hillerman to tell us any new stories is sorely missed. Thanks for your gifts of books.

This western story by Charles E. Friend captures one of the many adventures of Sheriff Clay Shannon. In this particular tale the author has the retired sheriff back in harness working as a marshal for the territorial governor of Montana. The governor wants Clay to help search out and arrest the lawless element that is creating trouble for the new railroad as it tries to cross the high mountains.

The main character is immediately thrown into the melee with shots being fired in his direction. All manner of coercion is thrown in his way to miss direct him from his goal of finding the culprits and stopping the dangerous activities. The multitude of suspects grows and shrinks with each chapter.

The confusion of the crime seems to be settled when a new event almost has the railroad owner lose his life. The event is survived, but a second attempt is successful. Is it death by natural causes or is it murder? The story gains in complexity as the chapters fly by. Who are the murders and why does it seem they all have the same goal? The conspirators appear to be joined together in more than one way.

The complexity of the arrangement seems to be way over the top. Greed is the driving factor behind the face of the plan. Being unable to complete the design as they had drawn it out will drive desperate people to do stupid things. Conceiving of a way to get out without getting caught by the law should have been in the sketch but if there was any idea it went past my vision with out creating a shadow.

This western book seems to try to hard to confuse the reader with complicated characters in a multitude of human failings. Let us just go on record that the book had some definite interest but you should judge whether it should be put on the list for others to read.

Zachary Tarrant is the main character and he accepts the role of government spy trying to uncover the facts around this massacre at Mountain Meadows. The only survivors had been seventeen small children and they had witnessed this atrocity. Bishop Lot Drake was the main suspect to these murders but nothing was given as proof. Then a sheet of paper was recovered highlighting his guilt and a witness who was there and saw Lot kill her mother is revealed. The chase is on and many pit falls and dead end trails are followed. A mans determination is highlighted and the growing of a love drives the search and finally Lot is captured. The story has to many truths and the Mormons are not cast in a very becoming light.

This western story could be hard to read if the reader has a thin skin. If the reader were looking in appositive light toward the western settlements of the Mormons he would be disappointed. I still think it is worth the time to read and then make your own determination. If you think it is a good book to recommend to others so be it. My personal take is that it is an average to poor book to read.

This young teamster turned miner had picked up this name after he had brokered a safe passage by Indians who had appeared aggressive and hostile. The name put on him certain responsibilities. The problems now were winter was coming and miners taking their gold out of the Redhawk mining district were getting robbed and killed when they resisted. This western tale has many twists and turns that would stop or at least slow down any person trying to survive and escape.

A plan had been formulated and execution of that plan was up to Johnny Montana. No time was left he would leave tonight as things began to tumble down around this mining camp. Leaving was not easy as gunfire almost pulled him back to the claim to help his friends. Some had died already and hopefully he wouldn’t be one more notch on some ones six-shooter. The Cut-throats had all the out going trails sealed off.

Shooting his way clear of the cut-throats on several occasions he was getting close to the point that he would be secure but he picked up an accidental traveler and things got more involved around her traveling with him. The situation was complicated by his drive to survive the shooting of the leaders brother, the woman being chased by a twisted minded murder of women and the blizzards of early winter.

This western tale by Michael Zimmer has the complexity of any modern story and the black and white struggles of right and wrong. I definitely recommend this western to every one who likes a good story and intrigued by the western take on this particular set of circumstances.

I was drawn to this western tale about a father and his four sons. I recognized the events as how when things go wrong they can really go wrong in a hurry. Ethan Wilder the oldest son and main character had been in the mountains hunting. Returning home he finds his father and younger brother Ben in a major altercation with the father being locked in the outhouse. The father Jacob is fuming mad and Ethan struggles to calm the situation by sending his youngest brother to the mountains. Ethan needs some cash money so he heads to town with his meager summer furs.

In town he can see first hand the hostility of the town folks toward he and his family. It becomes evident that something is brewing and it feels likely that it will be getting the whole family involved. Dropping off his furs he goes to the saloon and the story opens up with Joel a younger brother having gotten himself involve with the town handy mans daughter. Joel is being hunted down because it is believed that he beat this, eighteen years old, girl up. Finding out this story in the saloon Ethan is then confronted by Nolan Anderson and he is saved from being shot down by the owner of the saloon a fistfight
ensues.

The story gets all of the brothers involved and the father is shot down at the ranch with the youngest brother being held responsible. Now two brothers are in jail and a lynching is on the menu. Many more things go wrong and the future of this family looks very bleak. But like in all good westerns the right will prevail. The evil and greedy characters will always suffer the vengeance of those who are in the right after many additional twists and turns in the story.

I recommend this western as an additional volume that has an interesting story that should capture your imagination and pull you along in the story. A must read from your library search out this copy and continue your western voyage.

The story begins on the streets of Yucca Flats with four trail hardened outlaws ridding into the town while Marshal John Banning was returning to town. Needless murder is carried out on several town folk and specifically the nephew of the Marshal. Davey Culwell, who was John Banning’s nephew, was shot dead center as he tried to see what was happening down the street. He died in the dust of the only street of Yucca Flats. Having just returned and seeing the mayhem caused by these murdering bank robbers created a driving force to push Marshal Banning to pursue the outlaws instantly. Rounding up a posse was not very hard but keeping them chasing the murders turned out to be more than Marshal Banning could keep up with. The chase would lead Banning into the desert alone.

In the desert he would find a camp with no water and a sick and dieing man in the wagon. There was also a woman and a cowhand at this camp. The cowhand had shown up from out of the desert sand with no horse carrying his saddlebags. He came to the camp looking for water and a horse. When Banning showed up he got a bad feeling about the cowboys motives. Banning wanted to be on his way looking for the bank robbing murders even though he knew that he was obligated to help out.

Giving the woman a map to water he proceeded to ride away. When out of sight, he hears gunshots and rushes back to find the cowboy gone with a horse and the map. Going back Marshal Banning knew that he would now have to help these two pilgrims to find water and give up his chase of the murdering outlaws. Many additional things would happen and the outlaws would close in also looking for water and the gold. The results would be predictable to most western readers.

I recommend this story to those readers that like the way a western winds them around the facts and continues to keep us guessing on how the story will finally fold open. This Duo Western was available at my library good searching.

This western story is in a Duo Book by Ray Hogan. The tale begins with the main character receiving a letter from possibly an old friend asking for help. Dan Wade hadn’t heard from Big Bill Krask for several years. The letter was completely out of the blue and stirred Dan to immediate action. Arriving in Burnt Springs was deja vu. The names on the storefronts all were similar to when he had left and it seemed like time had stopped here in Burnt Springs. His confrontation with three hard cases in the middle of the day on the main street shocked his memory of the man who should have come to his help. Where was the marshal and why had he not come out on the street when he had heard the entire ruckus caused by these troublemakers maybe he was to late.

Finding the marshal was a shock to Dan’s mind because the marshal was Big Bills son. This boy as Dan remembered had been a regular hell raiser and Big Bill had continually bailed him out of troubles since he had been a teenager. Now he was a marshal and had written for Dan’s help. Why didn’t he handle his own problems? All of the important questions swirled around in Dan’s head.

The problem was a complete role reversal between father and son. A big gold shipment was due to arrive having the potential of a high stakes robbery. A confrontation between father and son generates a distraction and in the confusion the robbery is attempted. The surge to action snaps Big Bill out of his teenage wonderland and he surges to help his son and recognized the bad things that were trying to overrun him and his son.

This is a good short story and I recommend it to all my western readers. I found my Duo book Desert rider in the Library. Good hunting.