Book Review: Deadwood Gulch

September 14, 2011 – 1:11 am

This is a new story involving two characters that have been previously written about in a book called “Sidewinders”. The two characters are Scratch Morton and Bo Creel, they are drifting across the western landscape getting into various adventures risking their lives on many occasions.  William W. Johnstone and J.A. Johnstone collaborated on this western tale that unfolds in the country surrounding Deadwood, South Dakota in the Black Hills.

A band of outlaws have been on a mission to rob all the gold shipments that are trying to get to the bank or out of the area. Their success has crippled the mining community causing a veil of terror to descend over the area and a mystique about the robbers who have gained the title of Deadwood Devils. They earned this moniker by carving a devils pitchfork on the foreheads of all their victims. No one has survived their attacks until Bo and Scratch make a successful gold run to the bank. By joining forces with an equally old wagon driver as they search for where the outlaws have their hideout and who is really in control of this rouge band of devils. The military arrives in the form of a platoon of cavalry.  They are almost totally eliminated, in short order, as they are cut to shreds, by the outlaws who take advantage of a rooky first lieutenant.  He was trying to make a name for himself by eliminating this band of outlaws.

Many things happen and as Bo, Scratch, Chloride and the Army close in, the confusion and action moves to a level above most westerns and then there is a twist that surprises all of the people involved. This new story has some original patterns for typical westerns as the author introduces an event that is not expected and is able to carry the reader to the end of the story. I am recommending this book to all readers. I suggest that the western readers enjoy the new wrinkles that the author has inserted into the story process to get us all entangled in the happenings of the story. I certainly enjoyed the new way to hook the reader into the story.

By Jay | Posted in Book Review, Western | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Apology

September 13, 2011 – 2:10 pm

My son got married and this post didn’t happen.

By Jay | Posted in Uncategorized | Comments (0)

Book Review: Massacre of Eagles

September 6, 2011 – 1:11 am

This is unusual but I have here a western story that disappointed me. The story has three man characters Falcon MacCallister, Buffalo Bill Cody and Means to His Horses a Cheyenne Chief. Being such a fan of all western writings I am struggling with the reason why this story failed to win me over. The rule of a number of book bloggers, is if the story doesn’t grab you in the first fifty pages you put it away and go on to another book. My personal problem is that when I have invested my time on the first fifty pages I feel compelled to finish the book so that I can reasonable find the factors that lead me to not like the book or get immersed in it.

The story, Massacre of Eagles, is based on an actual event and the story is built around that event and pushed on to a conclusion. This process has worked for me in the past but it was way to disconnected in this instance to get me hooked. The true event didn’t push me to be involved in the happenings or to produce a viable story for me. I do not claim to be a sophisticated reader but still I am one who likes a believable story and one that gets me mentally involved in the tale. This would let me see the actual events unfolding in front of my eyes with out having me to reach for conclusions.

Let me reintegrate again that I was disappointed in the authors attempt at getting a real story from a news paper article in a New York Register Journal: Ghastly Raids Against Innocent Families The cause was a new Indian religion that was called ‘Spirit Talking”. My recommendation would initially to skip this book but maybe you should actually read the story and review in your own mind the validity of this particular tale. The reader should always decide what he or she reads.

By Jay | Posted in Book Review, Western | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Book Review: The Last Gunfight

August 31, 2011 – 1:11 am

I have always wondered why the gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone Arizona was such a big and publicized clash. In this book by Jeff Guinn he highlights the days leading up to and threw the event that went on to change the western landscape into a picture that I could see and better understand. All of the potentially bad things shown in man were singled out in the explanations and visions presented by Jeff Guinn. Criminals were visibly involved, egos were bruised and battered, ambition and the rivalry of factions along with individuals exploded on the streets of Tombstone. Both sides felt that they were right but as it turns out both were flawed.  Men both good and bad would not back down they would rather fight and die before conceding to the opposition.

The Last Gunfight turns the wind against the smoke, dust and myth that has always hidden the facts of why it happened and the real reasons of why it was shrouded in the context of western pop culture. The true make up of the Earp clan along with Doc Holiday facing up to the opposing faction the Cowboys presents to the reader a new way of viewing the event.  The reader can now look at why and how this event changed the way we viewed the west. The true conflict was between wealth and town people facing the independent and strong minded small ranch owners not good against evil.

I recommend this book to readers who want to get a new and clearer picture of what happened and why it happened on the afternoon in the streets of Tombstone Arizona October 26,1881.

By Jay | Posted in Book Review, Historical Fiction, Western | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Book Review: Kinch Riley

August 24, 2011 – 1:11 am

Matt Braun takes a true historical happening and generates a real western story that will captivate the reader. How can I keep telling you that this author has grasped the essence of western stories that have happened all across the western landscape?

This story begins with Mike McCluskie showing up in Newton Kansas as railroad security guard. His arrival is secret but he is there to secure the site for a large shipment of gold. His arrival and purpose is a sign to anyone looking that something big is going to happen shortly. Mike surveys the town and tries to get a handle on all of the players.

The shipment arrives in the middle of the night and out of the dark a shadowy figure emerges from one of the cars.  Mike assumes the worst and attacks the shadow and finds out it is an emaciated boy who has stolen a ride on the rails.  He is severely beaten by Mike and he needs immediate care.  Mike feels responsible and steps forward. The boy who has TB is not expected to live and the drama continues as he struggles from his beating, from Mike.  The consumption that has been tapping out his stamina and wearing him down to a mere whisper of his former self. The drama plays out and he is getting better but not expected to live.

Mike finds out his name is Kinch Riley and he begins to follows Mike all around.  He is continually watching and learning the skills of a man in railroad security. The use of a gun is a major factor and Mike practices every day.  Kinch is copying everything Mike does or thinks about doing. Kinch helps Mike in his duties and things were stringing along just like they were father and son. Mike imparted all of the codes that he lives by and Kinch seemed to write them permanently in his mind.

The story continues to move toward the shoot out and as it does I became more engrossed in the story and could not put the book down until I had completed it. I recommend this story told by Matt Braun as one that will hook you in the beginning and keep you going until the final sentence.

By Jay | Posted in Book Review, Historical Fiction, Western | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Book Review: Indian Territory

August 17, 2011 – 1:11 am

This classic western story as told by Matt Braun continues to make him famous. The main character is John Ryan who takes a job with the “Katy” railroad as they prepare to cross Indian Territory. John is a gun for hire and he assumes that he will be working on maintaining law and order. The end of track is where he thinks his job is with all the prostitutes, toughs and gamblers trying to separate the money from the employees of the railroad. In theory that is his job but he is called to do a lot more than just keep law and order at the end of the tracks. This is where the story truly evolves.

Thing get complicated as the Chief of the Cherokee Nation continues to resist the intrusion of the railroad on to and through his peoples land. There are many players but the author uses his skill in story telling to confuse and befuddle the reader as to who is really the bad guy. Lets just say that we have the good, bad and the beautiful. All the characters are major players in the politics of an Indian Nation. Now lets throw in another railroad and the competition and confusion of who the good and bad guys are in this story grow by leaps and bounds.

John Ryan has to deal with all the players and his confusion can be felt through the words in the story. At this point I think you need to participate in the evolution of the story and use your mind to unravel the tale, as it is perceived in your mind. I recommend this story to the western readers as well as to those readers who would be new to this area of literature.

The author Matt Braun has done a masterful job of telling this story using historical facts with the broad brush of fiction to make the story interesting and easy to read.

By Jay | Posted in Book Review, Western | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Book Review: Tenbow

August 10, 2011 – 1:11 am

This story written by Matt Braun, has the main character Jack Stillman in disguise as a gambler.  He is coming into town looking for a person or group of people who are killing landowners in the Tenbow Valley. These murders have all been done from long range using a high-powered rifle. This veteran lawman doesn’t seem to waste any time in getting a pool of suspects but the killing continues with all of them plainly in view.

The story has you going one way with the possibility of money and land hogging as viable scenarios.  The railroad could be involved.  This is the place where I move away from telling you what is happening and what can happen. If you have a close eye and a devious mind you might figure out what is happening and going to happen before it does. The author does an excellent job of giving the reader many blind trails to explore before he begins to revel what is happening and who the guilty ones are and how the story is finally resolved.

I enjoyed the deception and confusion of thought that the author generated and yet it was still a very complete western story. It was told with many more hidden plans than an older western writer would have had in his stories. I highly recommend this book to the western readers who need a fix but want some new kinds of wrinkles in their western stories.

By Jay | Posted in Book Review, Western | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

Book Review: Texas Empire

August 3, 2011 – 1:11 am

This western novel is based around a true story with the main character of Jack Jordan mirrored after the legendary Charles Goodnight. Some literary license was taken but the core of the story and what finally happened patterns Goodnights life in a more compressed manner to meet the stories framework. The author Matt Braun writes the story hitting all of the high points and many of the low spots in Jack Jordan’s life to make a story well worth the time to read and enjoy.

The beginning of the story has an episode that sets the pattern of how men and women tried to survive on the Texas Frontier after the end of the War Between the States. The Indians were in control and they exercised their will on the people who were trying to survive in this hostile environment. The least of the problems would be the loose of cattle and horses while the ultimate sacrifice would be losing your family as well as your own life.

Jack had been an Indian fighter while serving as a Texas Ranger during the Civil War.  His ultimate skill was in tracking the Indians and enabling a group of Rangers to run down and reacquire the stolen property and put the hostile Indians on the point of swift and total justice.  This justice was usually permanent and determined by the commander of the Ranger.  Life moved along with the passing of time.  Jack had become more civilized and in the process he had become a successful rancher and property owner. In a short span of time the decision to be more than a cattle rancher was his down fall and he lost every thing in the Panic of 1873.

Jack Jordan’s vision continued to grow in his mind.  He was ask to be an army scout to search out the leader Quanah who was leading a fierce accumulation of tribes out onto the stacked plains. The various bands were heading for Llano Estacado the legendary wintering grounds for these warrior bands. No white group of military or Ranger command had ever found this hidden ground. Jack Jordan with time on his hands and the need to think about his future consented to lead the military to where the Indians had their wintering grounds.  He helped the military kill and capture the hostiles. Jack Jordan recognized the potential of the hundred mile canyon as his survival and future.

Surrendering the field he locked onto his vision that had grown into a real plan.  He begins to think of a partner or possible partners that might embrace his vision of a cattle empire in Llano Estacado. Jack was given a name of a successful Irish financier. Things move along and everything fell into place.  The story continues to grow like the relationship of a man and a woman as well as between equal partners. The story is fast moving and makes an exciting read. I enjoyed this story and recommend it to all readers who are interested in western history even in fiction.

By Jay | Posted in Book Review, Historical Fiction, Western | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Book Review: Sidewinders

July 27, 2011 – 1:11 am

This is a western story that highlights two seasoned partners who have gotten into trouble together many times. William W. Johnstone kicks off a new series of stories and is assisted by the writing of J. A. Johnstone. Scratch Morton and Bo Creel are two likable western characters who get involved in the survival of a stage business. Saving the stage in the first few pages sets the picture for the reader. Things turn out to be much more complicated than they originally appear.

The two western characters are honest easygoing drifters that trouble seems to roll into their lives every day. This by itself would be enough to wear out a normal person but these two campaigners of the west seem to take it in stride. They don’t know anything else and they charge head long into any problem that sits in front of them. The struggle of two freight lines draws a line in the sand and conflicts begin. The stage business in the Arizona Territory is marginal at best and the key factor is keeping the mail contract.

The outlaws seem to have inside information and they are always Johnny on the spot to hold up the stage and steal the mail. The stage line that Scratch and Bo align with and go to work for is owned and operated by an attractive widow with two sons. The appearance is that one is good and one is bad. Things are not always as they appear on the surface. Being tough characters the two sidewinders can not stand unanswered questions.  This particular quirk of their characters continually puts them in spots that present them with problems that result in shootings and opportunities that cause them to have conflicts with both good and bad characters.

I recommend this story for any western reader who likes a little mystery with his western stories. I am now in search for additional stories in this series.

By Jay | Posted in Book Review, Uncategorized, Western | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Guest Post: The Big Sky by A.B. Guthrie

July 20, 2011 – 10:23 am

My wife, Margot, is only an occasional reader of Westerns but when she does read them, she picks some good ones. Recently she read one of the classics in the genre. I asked her to come here and tell you about it.

The Big Sky spans the years 1830 to 1843. The story centers around Boone Caudill who ran away from his Kentucky home at 17 with his father’s special rifle. His goal was to head out west where he knew his mother’s brother was a mountain man. He longed to be on his own and to spend his life outdoors.

Boone’s goal was not necessarily to have a lot of adventures but he gets them anyway. Near the beginning of the novel is an interesting frontier trial. Someone steals Boone’s rifle and when he tries to get it back he’s arrested. The impromptu trial doesn’t get Boone off but it was fun to read the crude legal wranglings.

Boone encounters people who take advantage of him, but he also meets good people as well. Boone becomes good friends with another young man, Jim Deakins. Together they make it to St. Louis and beyond.

They team up and become good friends with Dick Summers, a master hunter and guide. Boone greatly admires Summers. This is the first positive adult male he’s known and Summers serves as a personal guide for Boone as he matures.

Boone and Deakins make it to the mountains and learn to trap. They have numerous encounters with Indians and Boone falls in love at first meeting with an Indian girl, Teal Eye.

It’s a jam-packed novel of one scrape after another. It’s impossible not to love the character of Boone Caudill. Even though he did some pretty stupid things and has a hot temper, I was always rooting for him. The dialogue seemed very true to the time period as did the descriptions of people, surroundings and landscapes.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Big Sky. It’s not only a good Western, it’s a good study of the people who populated the country during the 1830s to 1840s.

The Big Sky (published 1947) is the first book in a trilogy. You may be more familiar with the second novel, The Far West, which won a Pulitzer Prize. But the noted scholar Wallace Stegner evaluated all of Guthrie’s books and believed that the story in The Big Sky was significant. He called The Big Sky A.B. Guthrie’s best novel. I won’t argue with a noted scholar. I recommend you check it out yourself.

By Jay | Posted in Book Review, Western | Comments (0)