Barry Cord

 Trouble in Peaceful Valley

by

Barry Cord

(Peter Germano)

After riding into Peaceful Valley at the request of a letter warning of dire trouble, Deputy Marshal Matt Vickers faces a war between cattlemen and sheep herders. Trouble has been brewing for years and now it is about to explode. The sheep herders are backed by a gunman who had once been a school teacher. The other side were led by a foreman who was tough and fast on the draw. Throw into the mix a band of rustlers and a feisty woman and Vickers has more than his share of trouble.

Barry Cord (Peter Germano) delivers what feels more like a mystery‑driven western than the action‑heavy stories I usually associate with the genre. There’s still some solid action, just not at the level I’ve come to expect from other westerns. Even so, the story moves well and the characters have real strength to them.

Trouble in Peaceful Valley originally appeared as an Ace Double under the title Hell in Paradise Valley, though I’m not sure what prompted the title change.

While it’s not my favorite Barry Cord novel so far, it certainly doesn’t put me off reading more. The good continues to outweigh the bad—and to be clear, this one isn’t that bad at all.

4/5

Jon Sharpe

 Dakota Deception

Trailsman #217

by

Jon Sharpe

(David Robbins)

Skye Fargo wants to help a lovely heiress...

But where there's no will, there's no way!

Normally, when the Trailsman says "no" to a job, it's final. But wealthy spitfire Charlotte Weldon has the knack for arousing his curiosity. Especially when Charlotte's sister runs off with their father's will--and without it, the family fortune is lost. All Charlotte actually wants now is her sister dead....

And since Fargo knows the truth, she wants him dead, too...

Skye Fargo turned the job down at first, but curiosity finally got its hooks in him. It didn’t take long to track down Darlene Weldon—and even less time to learn the ugly truth. Her family wanted her dead. And once they realized Fargo knew it, they added his name to the kill list.

As if that wasn’t enough, trouble was riding hard in the form of the renegade Moon Killer, a blood‑crazed butcher who left no one alive. For a while, it looked like Fargo might be headed for an early grave.

I’m told that “Jon Sharpe” on this one was actually David Robbins, and it shows. The writing has his trademark pull, tight action, sharp tension, and a story that keeps you turning pages. It’s one of the stronger entries I’ve read in the series.

5/5

 

Barry Cord

 Cain Basin

by

Barry Cord

(Peter Germano)

Drifter Steve Crystal travels from town to town, searching for his missing wife and child. Then an attack on him outside Cain Basin leads him to assume a new identity...

In a case of mistaken identity, Steve Crystal, who happens to be looking for his missing wife and child, and he is beaten and left unconscious on the trail into Cain Basin. His attackers thought he was Marshal Jim Bretman, summoned there by Sheriff Arch Akers. They were wrong—and when Crystal finally came to, he discovered the killers had eventually found their real target, for the marshal lay dead beside him.

With a score to settle, Crystal takes on Bretman’s identity and rides into Cain Basin, straight into the trouble brewing there. This time he intends to show the men responsible just how tough he is—and that they should have finished the job when they had the chance. But as the situation begins to unravel, Crystal may have taken on far more than he can handle.

Another strong story by Barry Cord (Peter Germano), filled with great characters and fast‑paced action. I read it in a single day because I had to know what was coming next.

Sam Bowie (Todhunter Ballard)

 Thunderhead Range

by

Sam Bowie

(Todhunter Ballard)

Dale Thorne returned home with one purpose: vengeance.

His target was King Parson, an ornery, brutal tyrant of a man—the same man who’d driven Dale off Thunderhead Ranch and driven Dale’s mother into an early grave. Waiting for him, too, were the remnants of a broken family: two half brothers. Les—already dead, killed the night before Dale’s return—and Ford, simmering with resentment toward both his father and his brother.

And then there was Lucy Colton, who despised everything and everyone connected to Thunderhead Ranch.

But Dale hadn’t come back empty‑handed. He carried one crucial piece of knowledge: His father had rewritten his will the night before he died, leaving everything not to Dale’s mother nor King Parson, but to Dale himself. Now Dale was home to uncover that will—and reclaim what should have been his all along.

The story was solid—maybe not great, but certainly engaging—with action that steadily escalated toward a brutal, satisfying finale. The writing held up well, and the plot kept me entertained throughout.

The characters were equally strong, especially Lucy, a fiery, strong‑willed woman who added real spark to the narrative. There was also a welcome thread of mystery as Thorne tried to uncover who murdered his brother.

And for those who enjoy digging into author backgrounds, Sam Bowie is yet another pen name used by the remarkably prolific Willis Todhunter Ballard.

4/5

Lee E. Wells

 Vulture's Gold

by 

Lee E. Wells

Hank Allen owned The Golden Vulture mine, The Golden Vulture saloon, and most of the rest of Paso Grande lock, stock and lawman. New people may come into his town from time to time but not for long, unless he says it s all right.

Kate Brent hires Jerry Crane to escort her to Paso Grande, determined to uncover the truth about her brother’s death. Everyone insists Apaches were responsible — until a letter arrives claiming his own partner, Hank Allen, was behind it.

No sooner do they reach town than Crane is jumped by Allen’s hired muscle, and things only escalate from there. Allen isn’t the type to let trouble simmer, and Crane soon realizes the only way to deal with a deadly crew like this is to cut the head off the snake.

Unfortunately, the best thing about this book is the cover. I struggled to stay engaged and found myself skipping sections. The writing is serviceable and the action is plentiful, but something essential just isn’t there.

3/5

William Heuman

 Gunhand from Texas

by

William Heuman

Standing out in front of the Elkhorn National Bank, unshaven, his black hair beginning to curl at his neck, his clothing about as badly worn as that of any of the trail riders who'd come up with him from Texas, Emmett Kane definitely did not look like a man who had a bank draft for 12 thousand dollars in his shirt pocket. It was no surprise that Madge Wilson offered him a job as a ranch hand. What was a surprise was when a cowboy warned him not to take the job.

After finishing a long cattle drive and ignoring a clear warning to stay out of Madge Wilson’s troubles Emmett Kane does exactly what he was told not to. His grit and capability don’t go unnoticed, and before long Madge appoints him as her new foreman, a decision none of her hands see fit to challenge.

The action comes hard and fast as two rival outfits start pushing their stock across Squaw Run, aiming to take over Pine Tree’s winter range in Vermilion Valley—the only decent grazing left once the snow sets in. But nothing is quite what it seems, and Kane digs in, tough as rawhide, to defend the brand he’s sworn to ride for.

This is my second Heuman novel, and it’s every bit as strong—if not stronger—than my first. Kane is a hard-bitten lead who shoulders the job he’s given, while the supporting cast each brings their own weight to the story. The winter setting is painted in broad, vivid strokes; you can almost feel the cold rolling off the page.

Read in one sitting in front of a warm fire, Gunman from Texas is a gritty, well‑crafted, action‑packed tale that cements Heuman firmly on my must‑read list of Western authors.

5/5  

Barry Cord

 Boss of the Barbed Wire

by

Barry Cord

Ben Sladeen left New Orleans to move to a ranch at Two Mile called the Barbed Wire. An old enemy follows him there and buys an adjacent ranch. His painful past in New Orleans returns to haunt him in the guise of the King brothers and Curly Temper. 

Ben Sladeen tricks his boss, John Cross, into signing over the Barbed Wire ranch partly to honor a promise to a dead woman, partly to keep it out of the hands of Curly Temper, his sworn enemy. He tells himself he’s doing the right thing, but as events unfold he starts to wonder whether his motives are as noble as he claims.

At the same time, rustlers are bleeding the Barbed Wire dry.

Adding to the trouble, Cross’s daughter Laura wants the ranch sold  so she can take her father away on the next stagecoach. Sladeen, however, is certain of one thing: whatever his reasons—good or bad—he’ll fight like hell to keep Curly Temper from getting his hands on the Barbed Wire.

I really enjoyed Cord’s (Peter Germano’s) writing. It’s sharp, well‑paced, and reads like an old‑school western film—the kind I prefer over most modern ones. Maybe that makes me old‑fashioned.

I read this one in large print. Maybe that’s a sign of getting older… or maybe it’s just the only way to get many of the classic westerns through the library these days.

5/5